Aj Congress Officials to Meet with Latin American Jewish Leaders

Twelve officers of the American Jewish Congress will meet with Jewish community leaders in Latin America next week in a study mission that will take them to Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Peru. The AJ Congress delegates will return to New York Sept. 2.

The mission was organized in consultation or coordination with officers of the World Jewish Congress in South America and leaders of local Jewish communities there, according to Phil Baum, associate executive director of the AJ Congress and director of its Commission on International Affairs, who will lead the group. Mark Turkow of Buenos Aires, secretary-general of the Latin American branch of the World Jewish Congress, will accompany the mission.

In a statement explaining the purpose of the visit, Baum said: “Recent political changes in South America confront Jewish life with a series of new and complex challenges. The leaders of Latin American Jewry believe it imperative that American Jews be apprised first hand of the implications of these swiftly evolving political events.” He noted that “our visit will be private and informal. Our hope is to obtain as much accurate information about the conditions of Jewish life in Latin America as is feasible within the short compass of our stay.”

The AJ Congress delegates will be received by the Federacao Israelita do Estado de Sao Paulo and Federacao das Sociedades Israelitas, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Comite Central Israelita del Uruguay, Montevideo; Congreso Judio Latino Americano and Delegacion de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas (DAIA), Buenos Aires; Comite Representative de la Colectividad Israelita de Chile, Santiago; and Asociacion de Sociedades Israelitas de Peru, Lima.