Over the last few years, several events have taken place that have deeply impacted the international relationships. In Fundación Abravanel we are specifically concerned with three tendencies unequivocally affecting the future of democracy in Latin America, the welfare of the Jewish communities in such countries and their relationships with the State of Israel:

a) Crisis in the International System:

First, in view of the fact that national states are being called into question, some "lawless spaces" are emerging, favorable for new political-religious players to consolidate, which pose a threat not only to the domestic stability of democratic states, but also to international peace and security. The democratic system is clearly challenged not only by the lack of democratic legitimacy of such players but also by their despise of human rights, evidenced, for instance, by the attacks that struck Argentina in 1992 (Embassy of Israel) and 1994 (AMIA). These attacks were committed in the sovereign territory of a constitutional democracy to strike and isolate a minority, in this case, the Jewish community.

The legitimacy of violent actions such as the above must be energically repelled as the attacks themselves. Otherwise, it would mean a justification of the destruction of our constitutional democracies, where the dialog implies respect for the other person (and their life), the absolute prohibition against human sacrifices to achieve an ulterior goal, and the respect for the minorities that make up a nation. Likewise, these and other acts in violation of human rights (such as the terrorist attacks in the United States in September 2001 or those committed throughout the world to this date) must be always investigated applying international constitutional mechanisms. Not to do this would cause the final destruction of our democracies and the guaranties protected by our constitutions. To strive for the survival of democracy outside the legal framework is an unsustainable immoral contradiction.

Faced with this common scourge, democratic states and their inhabitants acknowledge the need to implement a proper cooperation and information sharing mechanism among states to persecute, fight and punish those responsible for such acts. Notwithstanding this, Fundación Abravanel is concerned with the lack of consensus on this matter by the political leaders in Latin American countries, where anti-colonialist ideologies of the past still dominate the political debate. We are concerned that, when democracy, sovereignty and the rights of the people of our states are attacked, those violent acts against civilians are condemned by few leaders only who make the quest for justice their own battle. We are also concerned that, sometimes, victims are turned into the perpetrators of crime, and victims of certain minorities are excluded as if they did not belong to our national rich cultural diversity.

Therefore, while acknowledging the international legitimate priorities of Latin American states, we intend to participate in the political and legal debate of such states as a new voice offering its knowledge to better face the challenges of this new international scenario.

b) New Outbreak of Judeophobia:

Every day news are received which reveal a dangerous new outbreak of Judeophobia, especially in Europe. Germany, Italy, Spain and Austria (countries where fascism and Nazism were born and developed) are reliving the Judeophobic totalitarianism that, sadly, came to an end with the "Final Solution" to the Jew question in Europe or Shoá. Regrettably, this reality is not limited to Europe, but also affects our region, where the number of attacks against the Jewish people and their institutions is constantly increasing.

At present, the old Judeophobic prejudice, wrongly called "anti-Semitism", has changed its name (but not its substance) for a more "politically correct" name: anti-Zionism. This post-modern Judeophobia intertwines the old prejudices of classic "anti-Semitism" (the Jewish power, the Jewish Synarchy, the Jewish domination, the blood libel, the Jewish avarice, the Jewish treason, etc.) but, instead of focusing on the "Jews", it centers on the "Zionists" and the State of Israel.

Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people. Hence, with anti-Zionism the State of Israel becomes "the Jewish state", once again systematically condemned and attacked in a totally unfair and selective manner. Anti-Zionism is so Judeophobic that it proclaims Nazi-style "final solutions", like the call for the destruction of the State of Israel and the relocation or annihilation of the Jewish people.

Many groups intend to implement anti-Zionism in this part of the world, stigmatizing the Jewish people, in general, and the Latin American Jewish communities, in particular, by attacking their bonds to the State of Israel. The press and certain sectors of the academia play a very significant role in this respect, through their misinformation and presentation of an account of the Arab-Israeli conflict that constitute the basis of the discrimination against the Jews.

If the democratic societies of the world fail to react against the irrational anger vented on the members of Jewish communities, they will be destroyed by such same violence. It is clear that this new form of Judeophobia abhors the highest values of human dignity: freedom and equality regardless of religion or ethnic group.

Consequently, Fundación Abravanel intends to work in the academia, the community and the media to try to prevent intolerance and prejudice from taking hold of our constitutional democracies and endangering the human rights upon which they rely.

c) Democratic Fragility in Latin America:

For decades, Latin America has been considered as a political unity, based on the interpretation that the countries in the region reacted similarly to similar phenomena.   After the political instability suffered by most states of the region since early in the XXth century, including the military dictatorships of the seventies, in the eighties Latin America went through a political-institutional process for the restoration and consolidation of democracy and the republican form of government. However, several events occurring in many states in the region evidence the inappropriateness of referring to Latin American as a single unit or to a single political process in the region.

At present, Latin American countries are going through very different processes in terms of development of their political institutions. While some states, like Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Peru or Uruguay, consolidate the respect for certain basic democratic rules, like the alternation of political leaders, the respect for minorities and the handing over of power to presidents constitutionally elected through transparent and competitive elections, other countries show signs of a deep backward step, by consolidating "imperfect democracies" where the rule of law is clearly underscored, and highlight the underlying great domestic political challenges to democracy and the rule of law in our region.

Against this turmoil, minorities are threatened in many places by populist anti-democratic rulers who are eager to align with states and groups openly propagating their support to new genocides. This is evidenced, for example, by the political and ideological penetration by the most reactionary and fundamentalist sectors of the Middle East in our region, which appears to be a fertile ground for such propagation.

We are certain that these perils may not, and must not, be tackled single-handedly. Fundación Abravanel strives to strengthen the institutional and democratic authorities in our region, and to prevent the validation of certain actions by governments and political leaders that, under a disguise of unity and progressivism, hide diverse expressions of violence and discrimination, including tolerance and protection of the terrorism advocated by radical Islam. At Fundación Abravanel we believe in strengthening the many bonds existing among the Latin American states and their people and the State of Israel that, apart from common interests, share the same values, such as democracy, the respect for diversity, human rights and freedom of speech, just to name a few.