The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), is the protagonist of a controversy with the Jewish community of his country, after pointing out, the 29 June 2022, to one of its members, a critic of the government, of having a Hitlerian thought. López Obrador pointed to press commentator Carlos Alazraki, who, in his opinion, follows an ultraconservative thought that he equates with that of the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
The Jewish community in Mexico “rejects the use of the term Hitlerian to refer to any person” and considers any comparison with the “most bloodthirsty regime in history” to be “regrettable and unacceptable”, replied the Central Committee of the Jewish Community of Mexico in a statement.
The president refused to apologize, affirming that, in the world, the ideas of leaders accused of serious crimes against humanity such as Hitler, the Italian Benito Mussolini, the Russian Josef Stalin or the Spanish Francisco Franco persist.
Aggression through stigmatization
The columnist José Miguel Calderón of sdp news asked the Jewish community, on behalf of all Mexicans, to forgive to AMLO because he “does not know what he says.” Calderón adds that AMLO, “in his eternal rivalry with the journalists who criticize him, surprised us by disqualifying Carlos Alazarki as a “Hitler”, in an absurd reference to the Nazi dictator who led to the death of millions of people in Europe during World War II. World”.
The Simón Wiesenthal Center, whose headquarters in Latin America is in Buenos Aires, documents cases of anti-Semitism in the world, and although it does not include Latin America in the so-called “Top ten”, it does record the recent events and has asked the governments to take measures against it.
Don’t they know what they are doing or what they are saying?
In Latin America, mentions, simulacra, parodies and insults against the Jewish community or that minimize the Holocaust and the tragedy caused by the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler seem to be recurrent. Anti-Semitism, ignorance or both?
One of the most scandalous cases in recent years happened in the city of Tuluá, in western Colombia. In November 2021 a regional police school held a “pedagogical event” with swastikas, Nazi uniforms and a German shepherd dog to ” recreate” a supposedly German environment, in whose scene someone dressed as Adolf Hitler appeared. “The Government of Colombia, beginning with the president himself, Iván Duque, condemned the event unequivocally,” reports El País From Cali.
They ask to “reinforce pedagogy in educational centers”
The embassies of Germany and Israel in Bogotá they did not take long to express their “total rejection of any show of apology for Nazism” in a joint statement. “Events like this are outrageous and directly offend not only Jews, but also all victims of the Nazi regime and its criminals,” said the diplomatic delegations, who called on the Government of Colombia to “strengthen teaching in official institutions and the educational system on the Holocaust.” They also took advantage of the occasion to request that Bogotá join the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
Another notable case this year is the alleged “confusion” of the former candidate for the presidency of Colombia, Rodolfo Hernández, who said “admire Hitler”, when he would have meant “Einstein”. This is another of the shameful episodes of the minimization of the Nazi dictator.
The Peruvian interpretation of the legend of Hitler’s highways
In April of this the Government of Pedro Castillo had to apologize. His prime minister, Anibal Torres, highlighted Adolf Hitler’s “vision” regarding road construction: “Italy and Germany were the same as us. On one occasion, Adolf Hitler visits northern Italy and Mussolini shows him a highway from Milan to Brescia. Hitler went to his country and filled it with highways, airports and turned Germany into the first economic power. We have to make an effort to improve our roads, not only those that lead from one city to another, but from a farm to the market so that the peasants can get their products.” The stupor transcended the borders of the Andean country.
Stigmatization with the blessing of the Venezuelan regime
During the Summit of the Americas in Panama in 2015, the Simon Wiesenthal Center publicly called on the Government of Venezuela “not to be an accomplice in the attacks on the Venezuelan Jewish community ”.
The anti-Semitic background in Venezuela had been denounced since 2013, after defamatory chronicles about Jews published by pro-Chavista media such as “Kikiriki” and “aporrea.org”. These publications took up legends that associate Jews with greed and wealth and linked opposition leader Henrique Capriel to “supposed suspicious connections with Venezuelan Jewish leaders.”
Finally, rejecting the conduct of the president of Mexico, the Central Committee and the Israeli Tribune, expressed: “Any comparison with the most bloodthirsty regime in history is unfortunate and unacceptable.”