Latin America and the Gaza war/ the only countries that have relations with R

Mehr News Agency, International Group: After more than One year since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa storm operation and the Zionist regime’s attacks on Gaza, many countries have reduced the level of their relations with this regime at different levels. Meanwhile, the approach of Latin American countries towards the Zionist regime is of considerable importance. Most of the countries in this region have criticized Tel Aviv’s approach towards the Palestinians, and four countries in this region, namely Bolivia, Belize, Colombia and Nicaragua, are the only countries that have severed official relations with this regime.

Latin America and the Palestinian conflict– Zionist regime

The Latin American region has long been decisive for the Zionist regime. Latin American countries played a prominent role in Resolution 1801 The United Nations, which is also known as the Palestinian partition plan, had This resolution ended the British protectorate over Palestine and allowed the establishment of a Jewish state. The support of Latin American countries for the resolution of the partition of Palestine was decisive for the acceptance of the Zionist regime’s membership in the United Nations. Especially the fact that these countries made up more than one third of the members of the United Nations. Edward Glick, a political science scientist, considered the influence of the Zionist elite and the Arab diaspora to be important in this matter. In the 1950s and 1980s, the Zionist regime pursued foreign policy initiatives to establish and strengthen relations with the countries of the region. Amir Shimeon, the former director of cooperation and international affairs of this regime, argued in early 1974 that Tel Aviv “dedicates its experience and expertise to cooperation projects with these countries”.

In the 1990s, the attacks on the Zionist embassy and AMIA headquarters in Buenos Aires led to the security of the interests of the Zionist regime in Latin America and led to an increase in the pressure of this The regime pressured Latin American countries to declare Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Since 2009, the emergence of some pro-American rightists in the region, such as Bolsonaro in Brazil, Macri in Argentina, Boquele and Javier Miley in El Salvador and Argentina, gave the Zionist regime an opportunity to deepen its influence. Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Latin America in 2018 aimed to compensate for the lost influence. During this trip, Netanyahu visited Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia, Mexico and Brazil. He said before this trip: “We are currently developing our relations with Latin America, where very important countries are present in this continent. We are entering a new field”

Netanyahu also tried to show the region’s alignment with Tel Aviv by attending the inauguration ceremony of former Brazilian President Bolsonaro (2019-2023). Before this trip, he said that “(the regime) of Israel has no better friends and allies in the whole world than the Anglican community.” However, the recognition of Palestine by most Latin American countries in 2005-2018 was a fundamental change in Tel Aviv’s relations with this region. After the establishment of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in 2008, the recognition of Palestine by eight of its twelve member countries between December 2010 and March 2011, shows a high level of regional integration and coordination of the policies of the countries in the region, as well as a decrease in the influence of the United States. United was on them. Celso Amorim, the former foreign minister of Brazil, mentioned the suspension of the peace process and the refusal of the Zionist regime to stop the expansion of settlements as effective factors in the recognition of the Palestinian state.

The reaction of Latin American countries to the crimes of the Zionist regime in Gaza

The war in Gaza has had a great impact on the political situation and relations of some Latin American countries with the Zionist regime, and many governments in this region have strongly criticized Tel Aviv’s actions. . Since the beginning of the Gaza war, four countries, including Colombia, Bolivia, Belize and Nicaragua, have cut ties with Tel Aviv, all of them from Latin America. Mexican President Manuel Lopez raised crimes against humanity against this regime. Venezuelan President Maduro also raised the issue of genocide from Tel Aviv. Brazil, Chile and Colombia recalled their ambassadors from Tel Aviv.

After South Africa complained and the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Zionist officials, Mexico also joined the case against Tel Aviv. Brazil and especially Argentina, which has the largest Jewish population in Latin America with 200,000 people, while condemning the military attacks of the Zionist regime, did not cut off diplomatic relations. In the meantime, most importantly, the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, suspended the purchase of weapons from the Zionist regime; While the Zionist regime supplies a significant part of the equipment used by the Colombian armed forces to deal with internal rebellions. There are several important points regarding the approach of Latin American countries to the Zionist regime:

Leftist leaders in Latin America

Latin America has always been the arena of the existence of diversity of ideologies and different political spectrums. The presence of left-wing leaders at the top of power in these countries has an impact on the position of these countries on the Palestinian issue. Not all Latin American left governments have the same position on this issue. Some governments have taken strong positions in support of the Palestinian cause and defend the autonomy and right of self-determination of the Palestinians and condemn the occupation of the Israeli regime. The governments of Venezuela, Colombia, Nicaragua and Cuba are in this category. At the same time some of these other leaders follow the moderate approach and demand dialogue, negotiation and solution between the two countries according to the plans of the United Nations. The leaders of Brazil and Mexico are included in this category.

Colombia’s impressive action

Colombia’s action in severing relations with the Zionist regime is of considerable importance. The data shows that the economic relations of the Zionist regime with the three countries of Bolivia, Belize and Nicaragua are less than 30 million dollars. But the relations of this regime with Colombia are different. According to the report of the BBC site in May 2024 about Tel Aviv’s relations with Latin America, Colombia’s exports to the occupied territories in 2022 amounted to one billion and 80 million dollars, and the amount of imports from this region was also about 120 million dollars. In terms of security, there is a deep dependency between the two parties. The weapon of the soldiers of the Colombian army is the Galil rifle made by the Zionist regime. The Colombian Air Force has a squadron of about 20 old planes of the Zionist regime, which are the main fighters of this army. The Spike and Nimrod anti-tank missiles in possession of the Colombian army are also made by Tel Aviv. There have also been plans to export electronic weapons, anti-aircraft systems, communication equipment and cyber security software from the occupied territories to Colombia. With this amount of dependence on the Zionist regime, in May 2024, the president of Colombia decided to cut off diplomatic relations and suspend military contracts with this regime.

The importance of relations with Arab countries for Latin American countries

For most Latin American countries, developing relations with Arab countries is important from the point of view of finding new allies in international forums, diversification of export markets and political independence from America. These approaches are particularly reflected in the foreign policy of da Silva in Brazil and Cristina Fernandez, the former president of Argentina. Trade exchanges between the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council and Mercosur in 2001-2010 show a growth of about 330 percent. Just as economic relations with the Arabs have been important for Latin American countries, in the current situation, the support approach of most Latin American countries to Palestine, especially the support of the UN General Assembly resolutions regarding the Gaza ceasefire, is important for the Arab countries.

Result

Although it seems that supporting Palestine and protesting against the policies of the Zionist regime in Gaza are exclusive to Islamic countries, but most Latin American countries have committed crimes since the beginning of this war. Tel Aviv has been criticized against the people of Gaza. The importance of these supports becomes more clear when we find out that these countries have a significant weight in the UN General Assembly and some of them, such as Colombia, have cut ties with Tel Aviv despite having strategic economic and military relations.

Sajad Moradi Kalardeh; International relations researcher