Episode 57: Latin America for Palestine

First aired on 25 February 2023

Latin America and Palestine: Latin America is a support hub for the Palestinian cause. From Venezuela to Brazil to Chile, the call for the liberation of Palestine is a powerful force to be reckoned with.

There have been many examples of Latin American leaders taking strong stands to support the Palestinian resistance.

On the political level, Chile, Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Ecuador, and Venezuela have all recognized Palestinian sovereignty over the West Bank and Gaza.

Chile is home to almost half a million Palestinians, who constitute around 2.5% of the country's population. The feeling of solidarity with Palestine in Chile is palpable, and while significant Israeli interests do exist in Chilean society, there have been some interesting developments.

In 2022, the newly elected President of Chile, Gabriel Boric, canceled the credentials ceremony for the new Israeli ambassador and promptly dismissed him from the Presidential Palace when he heard of the Israeli military killing of Odia Salah in Jenin. It has since been announced that a Chilean embassy will be established in Palestine.

Aside from the political side of the equation, there are also material connections between the resistance and Latin America. But there have even been several fighters from Latin America who joined the ranks of Palestinian resistance groups and directly participated in operations, like Carlos the Jackal, who attempted to assassinate the Vice President of the British Zionist Federation at his home in London.

The late great President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, refused to condemn Carlos the Jackal, even under pressure from the French embassy, stating that he was a good friend and a steadfast fighter for the Palestinian people.

The US government and other nefarious actors have long accused Hugo Chavez of harboring active cells for the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah in Venezuela. It was alleged that Chavez provided safe haven to the only group which has successfully driven Israel out of Lebanon, the mighty Hezbollah, in the Venezuelan territory of Margarita Island.

The current Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro, who himself has been the target of several US assassination attempts, has publicly spoken of his close relationship with the late resistance leader General Qasim Soleimani.

Maduro claims that when Venezuela was subject to US cyberattacks, it was Soleimani who came and secured Venezuela's systems from North American skullduggery.

When asked about his country's commitment to the liberation of Palestine, Maduro responded, "No one in this world dares ask us to abandon Palestine. It is a sin just thinking about abandoning Palestine. Palestine is the sacred land of mankind; Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people will be paid for by the occupation one day."

Despite Israel's best attempts to subvert the will of billions across the world, Palestine is not alone, and Latin America stands firmly with it.