JOURNALfor the STUDYof ANTISEMITISM

58 JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF ANTISEMITISM [ VOL. 3:51
ing the lunch in honor of Obama in Itamary Palace. Rousseff condemned
the bombing of NATO on Libya, and Obama did not support the Brazilian
aspiration to obtain a permanent seat in the Security Council, which
together with pending commercial disagreements suggest that there will be
tension in the relationship. It is evident, however, that Rousseff has separated
from the whistle-blowing, populist diplomacy of last year, particularly
around Tehran.
Argentina as well has maintained an ambivalent policy toward Iran. Its
relationship with the Islamic theocracy changed considerably from earlier
times, when Hizbullah agents perpetrated the first Islamist attack in Latin
America (the blast of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, in 1992; 29 died)
and the worst antisemitic attack in the diaspora from the time of World War
II—the AMIA attack, two years later, in which 85 died. Taking its direction
from the government of Carlos Menem, who obstructed the progress of the
investigation; the marriage of Néstor and Christina Férnandez de Kirchner
gave a considerable impulse to the same, by denouncing Iran in international
forums, asking for Interpol to capture Iranian suspects, and designating
a Jewish public prosecutor, equipping him to make an effective judicial
investigation.
Some facts, however, have created a frame of doubt about the positioning
of bureaucracy before Tehran, i.e.:
a) The ideological proximity of Kirchner with countries allied to
Iran—Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Nicaragua especially;
b) The suspicions of the political use of the AMIA attack to insult the
Kirshner predecessor, Carlos Nemen—although Menem supporters
and Kirchner supporters belong to the same political movement of
Peronism, the little mutual love is public knowledge;
c) The peculiar relationship of government officials with Luis D’Elía,
the popular anti-Zionist leader situated extremely near the Iranian
embassy;
d) The fact that under the presidency of Cristina Kirchner bilateral
commerce has grown 10,000 percent in less than a year;
e) The Argentine delegation before the UN in Geneva had not left the
room when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began to speak within the
framework of the denominated meeting Durban II, in April of 2009;
f) The lack of government support for Argentine diplomat Rogelio
Pfirter in his nomination for an appointment in the Foreign Ministry;
Washington was in favor, but Tehran was not.
By the end of last March, the Argentinian daily Profile published a
story that generated widespread controversy. One of its leading columnists,
mentioning secret documents, denounced the existence of negotiations con-