JOURNALfor the STUDYof ANTISEMITISM

56 JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF ANTISEMITISM [ VOL. 3:51
institution in the capital was entered and searched under the pretext of looking
for arms, and Tiferet Israel synagogue was profaned.
In June 2008, the Venezuelan ambassador in Moscow denounced a
coup d’etat against his government and blamed the Mossad and “Venezuelan
but Jewish citizens” as participants in the plot. On Christmas 2005, Chávez
expressed public regret that “some minorities, among them the
descendants of the assassins of Christ, have seized the wealth of this
world.” Ever since Chávez assumed power, nearly 50 percent of the Jewish
community has emigrated from Venezuela.
The relationship of Brazil with Iran has caused great surprise in some
corners. Like other emergent world-wide regional powers, such as China,
India, Russia, and South Africa, Brazil has positioned itself as a nexus
between the First and Third Worlds, able to play a constructive global role.
Between 2005 and 2010, Brazil gave millions in worldwide aid: million in
loans and cancellations of debt to poor countries and millions in humanitarian
aid, scholarships for study and technical qualification, and other supportive
acts. Domestically, it has reaped appreciable profits: Brazil will host
the 2014 World Cup, the world’s most highly anticipated and watched tournament,
and the 2016 Olympic Games; its economy has grown remarkably,
and Lula da Silva and his successor Dilma Rousseff have enjoyed high
approval ratings (Lula had 80% of popular support when leaving office, and
Rousseff, the first woman president of the country, is endorsed by 73% of
Brazilians). Walt Disney Company even set one of his last animated
films—River in Brazil—in this prospering environment!
Nevertheless, toward the end of his second mandate, President Lula
seemed to defy the interests of the United States in the region in several
areas and consolidating a bond with Iran that seemed inconceivable just a
short time before. Like Chávez, Lula endorsed the doubtful electoral results
of Iran, invited the Iranian president to its country, and he himself visited
Tehran. In addition, he supported the right of Iran to have a civil nuclear
program. The ayatollah opposed the application of sanctions against the
regime and opened a dialogue with Tehran that was seriously questioned by
several global leaders. During the meeting of the Annual Assembly of
Interpol in Morocco, in 2007, Brazil abstained in the voting that validated
the emission of “red notifications” against prominent figures of the Iranian
government for its role in the attack against the AMIA in Argentina, brother
republic of Brazil, which had initiated the order.
Again Brazil abstained, in the 2009 International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) conference in Vienna, when the Iranian nuclear question
came up about the favorable votes of Argentina; the United States struggled
with Russia, China, and the European Union. In May 2010, Brazil joined
Turkey in an attempt to protect Iran, through diplomacy, from the imminent