Latin American Nations Start Breaking Diplomatic Ties with Israel Over its Brutal US-Sponsored Assault on Gaza
Jose Nino
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On October 31, 2023, the government of Bolivia announced that it would be slashing all relations with Israel. It did so “in repudiation and condemnation” of the punitive military campaign Israel is waging inside the Gaza Strip.
“Within the framework of our principled position and the respect for life, we are sending this official communication to Israel, in which we make known our decision as the Plurinational State of Bolivia to break diplomatic relations with Israel,” Deputy Foreign Minister Freddy Mamani said on October 31, 2023 during a press conference with the Minister of the Presidency, Maria Nela Prada.
“We demand an end to the attacks, which have so far caused thousands of civilian deaths and the forced displacement of Palestinians,” Prada continued.
Bolivian-Israeli relations have been deteriorating over the past 15 years starting in 2009 over Israel’s alleged war crimes committed in Gaza. These relations further frayed in 2014 over the same reason. In light of this development, former president Evo Morales declared at the time that Israel is a “terrorist state.” After a presidential crisis in 2019, Bolivia restored relations with Israel.
On November 1, other Latin American countries such as Colombia and Chile recalled their ambassadors to Israel for consultations, criticizing Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and pushing for an immediate ceasefire.
“I have decided to recall our ambassador to Israel for consultation. If Israel does not stop the massacre of the Palestinian people, we cannot be there,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro proclaimed on social media.
In a similar vein, Chilean President Gabriel Boric accused Israel of allegedly committing “unacceptable violations of International Humanitarian Law” and of carrying out a policy of “collective punishment” against the people of Gaza. Chile has the largest Palestinian community outside of the Arab world.
Other Latin American leaders have criticized Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks.
“We will not accept any selective indignation that seeks to ignore the danger of the genocide that is being perpetrated against the Palestinians, portray the Israeli side as the victim, and ignore 75 years of aggression, occupation, violations, and exclusion,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel declared. The Cuban leader added that Washington “is the historical accomplice of Zionist barbarism.”
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was also critical of Israel urging the international community to “react and say no to the genocide against the people of Gaza, no to the genocide against the Palestinian people.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also chimed in on the Gaza crisis declaring that Israel’s military campaign “Is not a war. It is a genocide that led to the killing of [thousands of] children who had nothing to do with this war. They are the victims of this war.”
Indeed, the world is beginning to gradually revolt against Israel. While Hamas’ attacks were horrific and merited a proper response from the Israeli government, it appears that the Netanyahu regime is using this conflict to advance an ethnic cleansing agenda to appease the hard Right based that has kept his coalition government afloat.
All of this military campaign is bankrolled and supplied by the United States government.
If the US is actually serious about promoting human rights and geopolitical stability abroad, it would do everything possible to stop sending military aid to Israel and recalibrate its relationship with the Jewish state.
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