Where do Latin American Countries Stand on the Israel-Hamas War?

dome of the rock, Jerusalem seen behind barbed wire

The responses are as diverse as the countries

Most Latin American countries have weighed in on the Israel-Hamas war, ranging from singular statements at the onset to entire breakdowns of diplomatic relations with Israel. The conflict underscores the complex foreign relations between Latin American countries and the Israel-Hamas conflict. Historically, left-leaning countries in Latin America have sympathized with the Palestinian cause, while right-wing countries have followed the U.S. lead, often influenced by their foreign relations with the U.S.

The recent Hamas-led assault, which killed citizens from various Latin American countries, has prompted different stances and various needs for response, including humanitarian ones such as the case with Mexico, which sent planes to Israel to rescue Mexican nationals stuck in the country.

One day after the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, Colombia and Israel got into a foreign relations dispute when President Gustavo Petro compared Israeli attacks on Gaza to the Nazi persecution of Jewish people during World War II. This comparison led to tensions between the two countries. President Petro criticized Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's statements about Palestinians, likening them to Nazi rhetoric.

In response, Israel announced a “halt in security exports” to Colombia, which included fighter jets, surveillance equipment, and assault rifles used in Colombia's fight against drug traffickers and armed groups. President Petro didn’t back down, saying in a statement posted on X, “If we have to suspend foreign relations with Israel, we will suspend them. We do not support genocides. The president of Colombia will not be insulted.”

The remainder of Latin America's Countries responses vary:

Argentina, home to a significant Jewish community, saw President Alberto Fernandez state his country’s condemnation of the Hamas attack on Israeli people. He stated through a statement on X that he called President of Israel Isaac HerzogI and conveyed the solidarity of the people and the Government of Argentina. He went on to state that Argentina strongly repudiates the atrocious attacks that Hamas perpetuated against the Israeli people.

Belize called for immediate de-escalation, supported a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and demanded that displaced Palestinians have the right to return to their displaced homes.

Bolivia’s Foreign Ministry expressed deep concern about the violence on both sides, with former President Evo Morales criticizing the official statement saying, it "does not denounce with political coherence the true situation that the Palestinian people are going through. "

"From Bolivia we condemn the imperialist and colonial actions of the Israeli Zionist government."

Brazil's Foreign Minister called for an end to violence on both sides and expressed concern about Israeli actions in northern Gaza saying Brazil had “received with dismay the news that Israeli forces called for all civilians – more than one million – living in northern Gaza to leave within 24 hours.”

Chile, home to the largest Palestinian diaspora outside of the Middle East, condemned both Hamas attacks and Israel's indiscriminate attacks against civilians, opting to underscore a two-state solution. Chilean President Gabriel Boric added that “use of force against civilians was never acceptable in armed conflicts.”

Colombia: President Gustavo Petro has consistently brought attention to the level of violence that civilian Palestinians are experiencing noting, “I was already in the Auschwitz concentration camp and now I see it copied in Gaza.”

Cuba’sMinistry of Foreign Relations issued its statement via X,” #Cuba expresses serious concern about the escalation of violence between Israel and Palestine, which is a consequence of 75 years of permanent violation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.’

Ecuador’s President issued a statement declaring full-throat support of Israel. Just recently in 2022, the Ecuadorian President became the first sitting president of his country to visit Israel. His delegation of 100 people was welcomed by President Isaac Herzog at the President’s Residence.

El Salvador, a staunch Israel ally, condemned the Hamas attack on Israel, with President Nayib Bukele saying, “...the best thing that could happen to the Palestinian people is for Hamas to completely disappear.” The president’s statement was noteworthy in that he distinctly differentiated between Hamas and Palestinians using the comparison between El Salvador’s notorious MS13 gang and everyday Salvadorans, noting that similarly, they are different groups.

Guatemala: President Alejandro Giammattei issued his statement on X, “On behalf of the people of Guatemala and its Government, I express our deepest condolences and support for Israel in these difficult times after the unjustified aggressions. We stand in profound solidarity with the families of the victims.”

Mexico: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was one of the last leaders to speak out on the war saying he wants to keep his country neutral in the conflict. Meanwhile, the president and Mexican government leaders are focused on attempting to secure the safety of Mexican nationals by asking Israel to open a humanitarian corridor that will allow foreign nationals to evacuate Gaza, which Israel is currently prohibiting.

Panama: “Panama firmly condemns the recent attacks against the people of Israel. We deeply regret the victims and injuries, and we reject all forms of violence. We express our solidarity with the Isrselí people in these difficult times,” said President Nito Cortizo on X.

Paraguay: President Santiago Peña issued an aggressive statement of support saying, “All our support to the sister nation of Israel in the face of the cowardly terrorist attacks it has suffered. We condemn, repudiate and reject these inhuman actions that threaten the peace of the world and that hurt us greatly by affecting a nation with which we have strong fraternal ties.”

This isn’t a surprise given that Paraguay’s new president announced just months before the October 7 Hamas-led attack that Paraguay intended to open an embassy in Jerusalem, ending a 5-year disagreement that began in 2018 when outgoing Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes announced that his country would open an embassy in Jerusalem, but just five months later, the embassy was moved back to Tel Aviv by Cartes’ successor Abdo Benitez, who said he hadn’t been consulted in the original decision and said that it hurt efforts to maintain a more neutral approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel promotes Jerusalem as an embassy site because it believes that in doing so, it strengthens its claim to the city as its capital. After Cartes moved the embassy back to Tel Aviv, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moved to have Israel’s embassy in Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, closed in retaliation.

After Peña’s recent announcement that Paraguay’s embassy would be moving back to Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen then announced that Israel planned to reopen its embassy in Asunción.

Peru: Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has largely remained absent from any definitive statement of support or denouncement of any group or country, choosing to instead make a statement on the safety of Peruvian nationals.

“The Consular Section of the Embassy of Peru in Israel has reported that so far there are no Peruvians affected by the situation of violence that the Middle East region is experiencing. The Foreign Ministry remains attentive to the status of our compatriots.”

Venezuela voiced concern about the situation in Gaza and called for an end to violence, emphasizing the need for international law to address Palestinian rights. Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said in part, “Venezuela expresses its deep concern about the evolution of recent events in the Gaza Strip, while considering that the escalation is the result of the impossibility of the Palestinian people to find multilateral international legality.”

Latin American countries' responses to the Israel-Hamas conflict demonstrate that just as Latinos in the U.S. can't be categorized as a singular group with a majority overlap in beliefs, neither can Latin American countries. Their politics, interests, and leaders land on every inch of the political spectrum.

List of Latin American countries sourced from the Washington Institute.

hands holding up yellow protest signs that say Hands Off Our Bodies
Photo Credit: Gayatri Malhotra via Unsplash

Originally published in Common Dreams. Reprinted with permission.

The Latino electorate will prove decisive in securing reproductive freedom and abortion access through ballot measures around the country, particularly in states where Latinos are a significant portion of the electorate.

In November, abortion rights measures will appear on ballots across ten states, including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and New York, where Latinos make up a significant portion of the electorate. For decades, pundits and politicians have recycled long-held misconceptions about Latino voters and abortion access, citing our conservative and religious beliefs.

Anti-abortion extremists have long fueled these misconceptions through misinformation and disinformation campaigns targeting Latino communities with egregious lies and inflammatory rhetoric about abortion. Yet, polling, focus groups, and direct interactions with Latino communities have debunked these outdated tropes.

The Latino electorate will prove decisive in securing reproductive freedom and abortion access through ballot measures around the country, particularly in states where Latinos are a significant portion of the electorate.

For Latinos, the freedom to decide, a pillar of our American democracy, is critical. Meanwhile, Latinos are being hit directly with anti-abortion efforts that take away that freedom such as the six-week abortion ban put into effect by the Florida Supreme Court and the 1864 abortion ban upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court. In the wake of the Dobbs decision, people of color and Latinas have felt the impact of a lack of abortion access, an element of basic healthcare.

A 2023 report by the National Partnership for Women and Families estimated that nearly 6.5 million Latinas, or 42% of all Latinas of reproductive age in the country, live in a state that either had or was likely to ban abortion. Ironically, it will be abortion access and anti-choice efforts to restrict freedom of choice that will mobilize Latino voters this election.

In a poll conducted by three national reproductive justice organizations, 87% of Latinas named abortion and women’s rights as one of their top priorities as they head to the polls. Another battleground poll conducted by Somos PAC and BSP Research found that 61% of Latino registered voters expressed a more positive/favorable view of Kamala Harris after hearing that she will protect abortion rights, versus only 19% of Latinos who said they had a more negative view of Harris after hearing that.

In key states to secure the White House and both chambers, Latinos make up large chunks of the electorate: Arizona (25%), Colorado (15%), Florida (20%), Nevada (20%), and New York (12%). In the face of unprecedented attacks on basic healthcare access and targeted attempts by extremists to mislead and divide our community on this issue, this November Latinos will be key deciders on abortion access across the country.

Mari Urbina, Managing Director of Indivisible, Battleground Arizona Lead and former Harry Reid advisor.

Héctor Sánchez Barba is president and CEO of Mi Familia Vota (MFV).

This Viral Video Game Is Changing the Face of Voter Outreach

In 2024, voting campaigns have evolved greatly, to say the least. Creativity is now the name of the game and tongue-in-cheek humor is expertly leveraged to drive action. One example of that is Bop the Bigot, a revival of a viral game created in 2016 by Bazta Arpaio, an Arizona activist group, as part of a campaign to unseat Maricopa County’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio lost his re-election to Paul Penzone that year.

The game has now been updated for the current election cycle and relaunched by On Point Studios, with new features added to enable players to find out what’s on their ballot, confirm voter status, and register to vote.

Much like its former 2016 version, the game allows users to take out their political frustrations by virtually “bopping” GOP candidates in the head. It’s very similar to whack-a-mole, except the mole is replaced by former President Donald Trump, Ohio’s Senator J. D. Vance, and Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation, which is spearheading Project 2025.

cartoon renditions of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance around a Bop the Bigot logoPromotional image provided by On Point Studios.

B. Loewe, Director of On Point Studios, came up with the concept for this game when working as the Communications Director at Bazta Arpaio in 2016, and is the executive producer of this revamped version. In the first version of the game, Bop the Bigot players used a chancla (flip flop) to “bop” the characters, tapping into Latino culture by leaning on the childhood experience of being set right by a flying chancla from a fed-up mother or grandmother.

This year, the chancla is replaced by a more current element, a green coconut, referencing Kamala Harris’ coconut tree meme. There are also side characters like “the couch,” cat ladies, and more coconuts. All references to jokes about Vice-Presidential candidate Vance, or insults Vance has made about women on the campaign trail.

Another new addition is that Harris’ laugh is immortalized as the game-over sound effect, an unexpected detail that adds even more humor and levity to the game.

cartoon renditions of Donald Trump, Kevin Roberts, and J.D. Vance around a Bop the Bigot logoPromotional image provided by On Point Studios.

Bop the Bigot, which is playable on desktop and mobile, is intended not just as a way to vent political frustrations, but also as a tool for activism and securing voter engagement.

For example, the game supports the work of Mexican Neidi Dominguez Zamorano, Founding Executive Director of the non-profit organization Organized Power in Numbers by using the “game over” screen to prompt players to donate to it and support their efforts.

Organized Power in Numbers is focused on empowering workers in the South and Southwest of the U.S. through collective action and comprehensive campaigns. Their mission is to create a large-scale movement that challenges the status quo and advocates for workers' rights, and racial and economic justice.

Currently, Dominguez Zamorano is leading worker outreach to 2 million working-class voters in the South and Southwest through doorknocking, texting, and calls with the help of local groups in North Carolina, Arizona, New Mexico, and more.

“We have been blown away by the enthusiastic reception for the video game. We knew we wanted to be part of its creative approach because our movement needs more fun and laughter. We need more ways to connect with nuestra gente so we can feel joy among all the absurdity we witness every day,” Dominguez Zamorano shared with Luz Media via email.

“Our people are gente trabajadora and we deserve to feel uplifted even in our toughest moments. We are deeply involved in the South and Southwest so we know what’s at stake in this election and we’re happy this can be a resource to mobilize, raise spirits, and get out the vote," she concluded.

Dominguez Zamorano is a committed activist for immigrants and workers' rights, known for her strategist skills and expertise. She played a key role in the campaign to win DACA and has also held roles in major campaigns, including as Deputy National States Director for Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign. In addition to her work with Organized Power in Numbers, Dominguez Zamorano is serving as a Senior Advisor to Mijente’s Fuera Trump Initiative.

Grassroots efforts like these have taken on new life in 2024, with Bop the Bigot adding to the larger, ongoing fight against political apathy and disinformation. Just as it did during the 2016 race, the video game uses humor to soften the serious task at hand—getting people to the polls.

"We want the game to be a fun and comical outlet for anyone who’s been insulted, frustrated, or harmed by Trump in the past and everyone who is ready to move forward as a country after election day," explained Loewe in a press release. "The proposals in Project 2025 and the beliefs of Trump and Vance aren’t just weird, they’re truly harmful. We wanted to give people a humorous and peaceful way to smack down their racism and sexism. We hope it makes people laugh and also feel empowered and motivated to get to the polls on or before election day."

With a mix of satire, sharp political critique, and nostalgia, the game is a call to action. The upcoming election, which is getting closer by the minute, has sparked fierce activism and creative yet grounded initiatives like these aim to ensure voters are engaged, especially young Latinos and disenfranchised groups.