{"id":82195,"date":"2023-11-10T04:21:22","date_gmt":"2023-11-10T04:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.estaql.com\/why-latin-americas-pink-tide-is-taking-a-stand-against-israel-israel-palestine-conflict-news\/"},"modified":"2023-11-10T04:21:22","modified_gmt":"2023-11-10T04:21:22","slug":"why-latin-americas-pink-tide-is-taking-a-stand-against-israel-israel-palestine-conflict-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/why-latin-americas-pink-tide-is-taking-a-stand-against-israel-israel-palestine-conflict-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Latin America\u2019s \u2018pink tide\u2019 is taking a stand against Israel | Israel-Palestine conflict News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Why Latin America\u2019s \u2018pink tide\u2019 is taking a stand against Israel | Israel-Palestine conflict News<\/h2>\n

Why Latin America\u2019s \u2018pink tide\u2019 is taking a stand against Israel | Israel-Palestine conflict News<\/p>\n

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Bogota, Colombia \u2013<\/strong> As Israel\u2019s bombardment of Gaza enters its second month, world leaders have increasingly voiced concern over the rising death toll and suspected human rights violations in the Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n

But in the West, few have been as vocal \u2014 or as severe in their criticism \u2014 as the leftist leaders in Latin America, many of whom came to power as part of a progressive wave known as the \u201cpink tide\u201d.<\/p>\n

On October 31, Bolivia severed its diplomatic relations with Israel, citing \u201cthe aggressive and disproportionate Israeli military offensive taking place in the Gaza Strip\u201d. Colombia and Chile echoed that criticism, recalling their diplomats from Israel the very same day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Israel does not stop the massacre of the Palestinian people, we cannot be there,\u201d Colombian President Gustavo Petro posted<\/a> on the social media platform X.<\/p>\n

His message came minutes after his Chilean counterpart, Gabriel Boric, denounced<\/a> the Israeli offensive as a \u201ccollective punishment on the Palestinian population in Gaza\u201d.<\/p>\n

Analysts said these acts of censure send a powerful signal from Latin America, a region that has largely maintained close, if sometimes tense, ties with Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt speaks to a Latin America that is not willing to tolerate such obvious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law,\u201d said Mauricio Jaramillo, an international relations expert.<\/p>\n

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has denounced the \u2018massacre\u2019 of Palestinians in Gaza [Marco Ugarte\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Latin American leaders\u2019 sharp rhetoric, he added, stood in stark contrast with statements from other Western leaders, like United States President Joe Biden, who have been more circumspect in their criticism of Israel.<\/p>\n

In response to Latin America\u2019s diplomatic backlash, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on Colombia and Chile to support its right \u201cto protect its citizens\u201d. To do otherwise, Israel suggested<\/a>, would be to align \u201cwith Venezuela and Iran in support of Hamas terrorism\u201d.<\/p>\n

It also called Bolivia\u2019s decision to cut relations altogether \u201ca surrender to terrorism\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bolivia, Chile and Colombia were not alone in their criticism. By Friday, the leftist government in Honduras had likewise pulled its ambassador<\/a> from Israel for \u201cconsultations\u201d. And after last week\u2019s bombing of Jabalia, Gaza\u2019s largest refugee camp, more left-leaning leaders from Latin America spoke out against the Israeli violence.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Argentina, for instance, home to the largest Jewish community in Latin America, condemned the attack in a statement: \u201cNothing justifies the violation of international humanitarian law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leaders from across the western hemisphere, including Colombia\u2019s Gustavo Petro and Chile\u2019s Gabriel Boric, gather at the White House on November 2, 2023 [Andrew Harnik\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cold War legacy on left-wing politics<\/h2>\n

The current conflict in Gaza, however, is not the first time Latin America\u2019s leftist leaders have taken a stand against Israel.<\/p>\n

Jaramillo pointed out that Cuba\u2019s Fidel Castro became the first Latin American leader to break relations with Israel back in 1973.<\/p>\n

Announced in the midst of the Cold War, Castro\u2019s decision served as a rebuke both to Israeli aggression in the Middle East and to its biggest ally, the US \u2014 Cuba\u2019s adversary at the time.<\/p>\n

The legacy of the Cold War has primed Latin America\u2019s leftist leaders to be sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, according to Jehad Jusef, the vice president of the Palestinian Union of Latin America, an association of Palestinian diaspora groups.<\/p>\n

During the Cold War, the US backed military dictatorships in Latin America that suppressed leftist movements, Jusef said.<\/p>\n

That history, he argued, serves as a parallel for the modern-day situation in Gaza, where the US is supporting Israel in a campaign that has raised grave human rights concerns.<\/p>\n

Israel played its own role in Latin America\u2019s Cold War period, serving as a major arms dealer to the US-backed military dictatorships in places like Guatemala and Argentina.<\/p>\n

\u201cImperialism in Latin America is the same as imperialism in the Middle East,\u201d Jusef said.<\/p>\n

Protesters in Bogota, Colombia, hold a candlelight vigil for Palestinian civilians amid the ongoing war in Gaza [Ivan Valencia\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Experiences with displacement<\/h2>\n

Experts said Israel\u2019s settlement of Palestinian territories has also fostered a sense of recognition among Latin American leaders.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians faced displacement during the 1948 establishment of the state of Israel after a period of prolonged Western involvement in the region. The UN continues to denounce the expansion of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories like the West Bank as illegal.<\/p>\n

That history resonates in Latin America, where an estimated 42 million people identify as Indigenous. They too continue to grapple with a legacy of dispossession from their ancestral lands and racial discrimination, as part of European colonisation.<\/p>\n

\u201cProgressive movements in Latin America approach the Palestinian cause as one of decolonization,\u201d said Manuel Rayran, an expert in international relations. \u201cThey identify with that cause because [many of the inequalities] seen in Latin America today are inherited from colonialism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some political analysts like Cecilia Baeza have noted that Indigenous groups have even taken a leadership role in supporting Palestinian causes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Chile and Bolivia, where this political convergence is particularly strong, it is not unusual to see Palestine solidarity protests called by both Palestinian diaspora organizations and Indigenous movements,\u201d Baeza wrote in a 2015 article.<\/p>\n

Bolivian President Luis Arce severed relations with Israel in response to the \u2018aggressive and disproportionate\u2019 violence in Gaza [File: Mike Segar\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Political divides shape Israel relations<\/h2>\n

Support for the Palestinian cause also falls along stark ideological lines in Latin America.<\/p>\n

In the case of Bolivia, the country\u2019s first Indigenous president \u2014 the socialist Evo Morales \u2014 was also the first to sever relations with Israel in 2009.<\/p>\n

But his successor, the right-wing Jeanine \u00c1\u00f1ez, decided to renew ties within weeks of taking office.<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s current president, Luis Arce, is considered part of the present-day \u201cpink tide\u201d.<\/p>\n

This leftward trend began with the election of President Andr\u00e9s Manuel L\u00f3pez Obrador in Mexico in 2018 and continued with leftist victories in Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Honduras and Chile.<\/p>\n

In Colombia, the 2022 swing to the left was particularly historic: Never before had a left-wing president taken office.<\/p>\n

But Petro\u2019s victory in Colombia has shown some of the weakness of the latest \u201cpink tide\u201d movement.<\/p>\n

A demonstrator shows support for Israel outside the country\u2019s embassy in Bogota, Colombia, on October 9 [File: Ivan Valencia\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Breaking ties comes at a cost<\/h2>\n

Only a year into his term, Petro\u2019s approval ratings have plummeted to 32 percent, as he struggles to implement his domestic platform against a strong right-wing backlash.<\/p>\n

While opposition leaders in Colombia have accused Petro of using the crisis in the Middle East to divert attention away from his domestic troubles, Elizabeth Dickinson, a senior analyst for the think tank Crisis Group, questioned that logic.<\/p>\n

She argued that \u2014 instead of winning public opinion points at home \u2014 Petro\u2019s decision to take a stand against Israel could come at a cost.<\/p>\n

After Petro compared remarks<\/a> made by the Israeli defence minister to those made by Nazis, Israel suspended its military exports to Colombia, including the sale of planes and machine guns used in the government\u2019s efforts against rebel forces.<\/p>\n

Actions and comments from other Latin American leaders could lead to similar repercussions, Dickinson warned. Israel\u2019s defence exports alone are a $12.5bn industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not an easy or obvious decision,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s clearly a political choice that these leaders have made despite the possible risks to their own interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

The diplomatic rebuke from countries like Colombia, Chile and Bolivia is unlikely to deter Israel from escalating the war, she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are countries that don\u2019t have a definitive economic or political relationship [with Israel] that could shift the conflict in one way or another,\u201d Dickinson said.<\/p>\n

It does, however, build pressure on the US, Israel\u2019s closest ally, to call for a ceasefire.<\/p>\n

Dickinson said she suspected that the South American countries timed their actions to coincide with an international summit in Washington last Friday. Both Petro and Boric used the meeting to encourage their US counterpart to condemn Israeli actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a point of entry for Latin American leaders to push this forward with the United States,\u201d Dickinson said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n