Xenophobia in Chile

The substantiation of Chile’s conquest of territories from neighboring Bolivian and Peruvian states in the 19th century was associated with a significant racist mentality. ^[1] Chileans saw themselves as members of a superior white race conquering a lower race ^[1] .

This attitude was maintained in the Pinochet junta that remained in power until 1990 : the Chilean admiral José Toribio Merino described the Bolivians as metamorphic representatives of camelids ( Spanish auquénidos metamorfoseados ), who learned to speak but not to think ^[1] .

Despite the considerable districts of the local population ^[2] , among Chileans, even nowadays, there is a widespread disregard for the indigenous Indian population, in particular, for the Mapuche who have distinguished themselves by their significant insubordination.

In Chile, for a long time there were practically no Negroid minorities. Today, such a minority most often consists of labor migrants ^[3] . Skinheads pursuing blacks were recorded in the country ^{[4] [ page? ] [5]} .

According to the Chile as of 2015 is the country with the most powerful and dangerous anti-Semitic trends in all of Latin America ^[6] .

The first case of large-scale incitement of anti-Jewish hysteria in Chile was ideas about the Plan Andinia formed in the 19th century in parallel with the beginning of the migration to the American continents of Jews from the Russian Empire : fears among Jews in Chile’s population to steal the lands of Patagonia to form their own state were inflamed ^{[7 ]} .

In the course of the 20th century, ex- SS officers and other Nazi criminals from the post-war Germany to this country (along with Argentina ) contributed to the strengthening of anti-Semitism in Chile, as well as the formation of the largest foreign community of Palestinian Arabs in Chile, which despite a considerable number of in its composition of Palestinian Christians, differs great sympathy for Hamas ^[6] .

According to the Anti-Defamation League , in Chile, there are cases of desecration of Jewish cemeteries and abusive ones, or calling for reprisals against Jews, graffiti on synagogues ^[7] .

Conspiracy theories based on Plan Plane are some of the most popular anti-Semitic arguments in modern Chile. Thus, in 2012, during the trial, a 23-year-old Israeli citizen Rotem Zinger, who, according to the Chilean prosecution by negligently handling toilet paper in the forest, led to a forest fire, was widely spread in Chile, according to which Zinger acted on behalf of Israel in pursuance of the plan to burn down the forests of Patagonia, in order to achieve the transfer of this sovereign territory of the country under the UN mandate with the subsequent formation of a new Jewish state on it ^[7] . Senator Eugenio Touma , who holds the post of president of the Chilean Senate’s Foreign Relations Commission, said that Israel annually sends tens of thousands of troops to Chile as tourists ^[7] .

A large part of the anti-Semitic manifestations in Chile is connected with the attitude of the inhabitants towards the State of Israel. In 2015, the incident with Tal Jaakobi, an Israeli citizen, who was allegedly thrown by a Chilean border guard at the intersection of the Argentine-Chilean border in 2013, first reportedly threw a passport in the face, then drew a penis in it and attributed, “Long live Palestine!” ^[8] . The Student Council of the Faculty of Law of the University of Chile has voted in favor of a resolution on the boycott of individuals and organizations associated with Israel; subsequently the resolution was canceled. ^[9]

On August 22, 2016, the Simon Wiesenthal Center addressed a letter to the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, who noted that the growing hostility in Chile to the Jewish state threatens the Jews of Latin America. ^[9]