More than half the Jews in Venezuela left the country since Chavez has been in power, and those who remain say there is official antisemitism in the country.
“I am not even horrified anymore when I see swastikas and Antisemitic slogans such as ‘Hitler didn’t finish the job’ on walls near my synagogue,” says a former Israeli who lives in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.
“This is an influence that trickles down from the top – from the government – against the Jews. I know that Chavez is exerting efforts not to appear Antisemitic to the outside world, and that he welcomed the leaders of the Jewish community, but I haven’t heard of him ever punishing someone for Antisemitic writings or remarks.”
She would rather her name not be mentioned. “This gets translated and immediately appears on various internet sites. I don’t need trouble,” she says. “A few years ago it was heaven here, who could have believed that it would turn into such a burdensome place?”
She isn’t the only one who feels this way. According to data from the Venezuelan Confederation of Israelite Associations, the number of Jews in Venezuela sharply decreased in the ten years President Hugo Chavez has been in power.
In 2000, there were some 18,000 Jews listed, and today the number stands at a little less than 9,000. The outward flow of people amplified in the last two years, when more than 5,000 Jews left the country, in particular to Miami in the United States.
“This Antisemitism worries us all, and it must be immediately stopped,” David Bitan, vice president of the Jewish community inVenezuela, recently said. “We aren’t saying that it is government policy, but the government does have the power to stop this phenomenon.”
Double target
Huber, a Jew from Europe, immigrated to Venezuela in the 1980s and assimilated in the Jewish community. He built a successful business and is very satisfied with his job. Nevertheless, he says that he would pick up and leave tomorrow if he was able to afford it.
“My older children are studying abroad, I sent them far away from here,” he says. “Caracas is an extremely dangerous place. Crime is a daily occurrence, people get murdered over nothing, and all the honest people live under heavy security. Our situation is frightening, since if you ask anyone here they would tell you that the Jews are always rich, so we are a double target.”
According to Huber, there is official Antisemitism in Venezuela. “I think it is a combination of dark catholic beliefs,” he says. “It’s the fearless embrace of senior government officials with people such as [Iranian President] Ahamdinejad – who are vocal Israel-haters – and also partially the government’s attempt to distract the people’s attention from everyday troubles.
“There’s inflation? Missing products in stores? No employment opportunities? As always, the newspapers can write that the Jews are smuggling the wealth to the United States, that the Jews here are double agents, that the Protocols of the Elders of Zion already proved that there is a world-wide Jewish connection – this time against Chavez – since he is a stark opponent to the Israeli occupation. Every time the television shows the Israel Defense Forces bombing Gaza, they tell me at my job: ‘Why are you guys murdering those poor people? You act toward them just like Nazis.’ That is what they see and hear in the media.
Feeling lonely
“When Chavez cut ties with Israel he was applauded everywhere. As of right now this isn’t necessarily the general public sentiment, but the feeling is that we are treading on the edge. A few swastikas here, an attack on a Jew there – and it is always defined as a criminal act and not an Antisemitic one.”
The special envoy for the battle against Antisemitism, Hannah Rosenthal, was the first senior U.S. diplomat in years to receive a visa for Venezuela. Rosenthal recently visited the country and tries to transfer the concerns of the Jewish community to the government officials and the national council.
Rosenthal said that she tried to meet with the most important people upon her visit, but Chavez and the foreign minister were in Iran so she didn’t meet them.
She added that the foreign ministry official who handles the Middle East affairs and Antisemitism seemed very concerned when she told her about her impressions from the visit.
According to Rosenthal, the Jewish communities in Venezuela “are a dynamic group, well-connected, they are informed.” She added that “about six weeks ago they had a meeting with Chavez. Some of them refused to go because they didn’t want to give him any credibility, but others went there to express to Chavez face to face their concern about government-sponsored media depiction of Jews and the rants that President makes that includes degrading the Jewish community. They had this opportunity to speak to him – nobody believes there has been a change”.
Chavez did not guarantee that he would make an effort to change things although Jews testify to not feeling safe in Venezuela.
“Intimidation, vile statements that were made about Jewish bankers – that comes from Chavez, but they don’t feel that it’s on the streets of Venezuela. They don’t’ feel it from neighbors or the people they know. They feel it is really coming from Chavez and every single youth I met – in Jewish school, Catholic and other Christian denomination at the University – they intend to leave Venezuela. It has nothing to do with Antisemitism., it has to do with danger they feel that living in Caracaz which is where most Jews live – it’s so dangerous to be on the street. They all have someone in the family or the extended family or close friends – all of them know someone who has been murdered, kidnapped, – everybody has been mugged – and their businesses have been expropriated, so they don’t see a future for themselves in Venezuela, and that was very painful to see,” she said.
She added that “The Jewish community said that whenever there is activity in the Middle East, additional Antisemitism would eco that.”
Meanwhile the situation is far from ideal, and the American government doesn’t have many ways to deal with Chavez.
Beyond expressing her support for the Jewish community, all Rosenthal can do it raise the world’s awareness to the situation and guaranteed that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would also hear about it.
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