Unstable political and economic conditions in Argentina and other Latin American lands have enabled certain groups, calling themselves nationalists but in fact “typical Nazi formations,” to secure added strength, Dr. Isaac Goldenberg, World Jewish Congress leader and president of the DAIA, representative body of Argentine Jewry, said here today.
Dr. Goldenberg, on his way to Israel for Zionist meetings, told a news conference, that these neo-Nazi groups had recently taken advantage of the situation to perpetrate a number of anti-Semitic attacks. “The problem is not confined to Argentina, ” he declared. “It is Latin American in extent, although we in Argentina have given it special attention and placed emphasis on exposing the danger.”
Contending that racial anti-Semitism was “ridiculous in Latin America,” Dr. Golden-berg said the neo-Nazi elements practiced political anti-Semitism with emphasis on the position of the Jews. The more recent Nazi-fascist formations had still not won great numbers to their cause but, “if social insecurity, unemployment and anxiety continue, they can attract great popular sectors.”
“But the risk is not merely that of physical or moral attacks,” Dr. Goldenberg said. He stated there is a danger, not immediate, but rather long term, that, in the event of social restructuring, “certain Jewish sectors may be left helpless.” While the Latin American Jewish community was alert to, and concerned by, the situation, it remained calm, the DAIA president affirmed.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
