Latin America
From JudaismWiki
LATIN AMERICA. All of the Western Hemisphere south of the U.S.-Mexican border and north of Antarctica, including South America, Central America, Mexico, and the islands of the Caribbean. This large and variegated portion of the globe is known as Latin America because of the mark left upon it by its Spanish and Portuguese colonizers who spoke Romance languages that were derived from Latin. Spanish or Portuguese is still spoken in most Latin American countries.
Christopher Columbus had ventured to cross the Atlantic in search of the “Indies.” He believed that by sailing westward he would discover a sea route to India, the home of silk, spices, elephants, gold, and all the “riches of the Orient.” Instead, he stumbled on the Americas, which he believed to be the “West Indies.” It was soon realized, however, that this was neither India nor the Indies, but a “New World” no less rich and exotic than the fabled Orient. Within 30 years this New World was overrun with Spanish and Portuguese adventurers intent on exploiting the wealth of their newly discovered empire which they came to call “New Spain.”
As colonists settled in the Americas, traffic sprang up between New Spain and European countries. Ships bore rich ores to Europe and returned with manufactured goods for the colonies. Soon it was discovered that the riches of the New World lay not in metals alone. Sugar, tobacco, coffee, and other items that could be grown in the fertile valleys and tropical islands of the Americas commanded high prices on the markets of the old world. Trade boomed.
Among the masters of this trade were Marranos, Spanish Jews who had converted to Catholicism rather than go into exile or be burned at the stake. The year 1492, when Columbus discovered America, was a monumental year in the annals of Spain—but a dreaded one for Jews. That year, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Columbus’s patrons, finally expelled the last Moorish invaders from their land. Declaring Spain a Christian kingdom, they had banished all Jews from their dominions. Only those Jews who accepted Catholicism could remain. Though most chose exile, a good number, however, were baptized, continuing to practice their faith in secret. Such Jews were known as Marranos, or “new Christians,” and were singled out for persecution by a branch of the Church known as the Inquisition. . Seeking to escape the watchful eye of the Inquisition, many Jews had immigrated to the colonies. Experienced in trade and management, they soon prospered. Within a few decades, Marrano communities flourished in Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, and Brazil—in fact, wherever Spanish or Portuguese colonists had settled. In Brazil, they were pioneers in the sugar-growing and refining industry; in Bolivia, they monopolized local shipbuilding; elsewhere, they engaged in international commerce.
But their prosperity was short-lived, for the long arm of the Inquisition soon reached out to the New World. Established in Peru in 1569 and Mexico in 1570, it slowly succeeded in destroying virtually all Marrano settlements. In Mexico, even Don Luiz de Carvajal, governor of a province, was burned at the stake. Peru alone had 34 auto-da-fes, or acts of faith, between the establishment of the Inquisition and its abolition in 1806. Today, the only known survivors of the old Marrano communities are the Sabbatarios, descendants of Chilean Marranos who escaped to the middle of the continent and intermarried with Indians and Spaniards, and a community of 3,000 in Mexico who claim similar descent.
Not all the Marranos of New Spain and New Portugal were lost. Even at the peak of the Inquisition, there were some places of refuge for Jews in the New World. England and Holland, the two great mercantile powers of the 17th century, soon demanded a share of trade in the Western hemisphere. By force and by treaty they gained a number of colonies in Latin as well as North America. To such colonies persecuted Marranos could flee. Thus, when Portugal in 1654 expelled Brazilian Jews who had confessed their true faith during a brief period of Dutch rule, the exiles made their way to Dutch colonies in the Americas. Twenty-six of them reached the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, forming the nucleus of the first Jewish congregation in what would become New York. Others found their way to Surinam (Dutch Guiana), Curacao, Jamaica, and other colonies held by either the British or Dutch. There they founded communities which survive to present day, the oldest with continuous history in the Western hemisphere.
Over the last 300 years, these settlements made up an historically important but numerically insignificant part of Latin American Jewry, for the bulk of the approximately 400,000 Jews who now live in Latin America are either immigrants or the children of immigrants who arrived fewer than 100 years ago.
Modern immigration began in the 19th century after most Latin American countries had gained their independence. First to arrive were traders and merchants chiefly from the Sephardic communities of the Balkans and the Middle East. After 1890, the pace of immigration quickened. Encouraged by the Jewish Colonization Society (I.C.A.), an organization which believed that Jewish suffering might be eased by a return to the soil, several thousand newcomers settled on farm colonies in Argentina and Brazil. The greatest influx, however, came between World War I and II. After the U.S. curtailed immigration in 1924, the stream of newcomers from Eastern Europe turned to Latin America. During the 1930’s, thousands of German Jews fleeing Nazi persecution settled there. Partly because of the pressure of this immigration and partly because of Nazi propaganda, most Latin American countries closed their gates to refugees in the mid 1930’s. Only after World War II were the doors opened to limited numbers of refugees and displaced persons.
Bringing new skills and initiative, these Jews played an important role in the development of Latin American commerce and industry. Most of the immigrants settled in cities where they pursued their old occupations: trade, manufacturing of textiles, furs, furniture, and crafts. New business techniques included installment and direct sales, techniques which opened consumer markets to even the poorest. To the field of banking they introduced “people’s banks,” cooperative institutions that lend small sums at low interest rates.
The various Latin American communities vary widely in size, organization, and problems. Argentina, the largest settlement, has 250,000 Jews in a highly organized community. All organized settlements participate in the World Jewish Congress. Although most communities are clearly subdivided into Sephardic, Ashkenazic (East European), and German Jewish sectors, these subsectors generally unite to participate in national Jewish organizations. One problem shared by most of the settlements is antisemitism. During the 1930’s and 1940’s, Nazi agents actively instigated hatred toward the Jewish population, but their efforts were only partly effective. Since the end of World War II, the problem has become less acute. One sign of change is the favorable attitude of most Latin American governments toward Israel, reflected in their voting record in the United Nations. Countries such as Argentina have favored Israel in matters of trade.
Having suffered persecution in their lands of origin and sometimes in their new home as well, Latin American Jews are for the most part ardent Zionists. Almost all communities have Zionist organizations, through which they have made considerable contributions to the development of Israel. Many Latin American Jews, particularly the young, have immigrated to Israel in the past 35 years. In some countries, the Jewish schools are under Zionist control.
In the 21st century Latin American Jewish communities are facing an uncertain future, as their numbers have dwindled and many of the young continue to leave. As the continent itself experiences economic and political difficulties, the middle and upper middle classes in general, of which the Jews are part, tend to look for a better future elsewhere.
