Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro, denying that his government has an anti-Semitic bent, said his grandparents were of Sephardic Jewish descent. “My grandparents were Jewish, so many of the Maduros, same as the Moors [Muslims], converted to Catholicism in Venezuela,” Maduro told Apporea, a pro-government media outlet, last week. “The mother of the Minister of Communication and Information Ernesto Villegas is of the same tradition.” During the interview, Maduro rejected allegations he …More

The Jewish community of Caracas officially dedicated the Venezuelan city's new Sephardic synagogue, Tiferet Israel Este. Hundreds gathered Sunday at the multi-million dollar synagogue in the Las Palos Grandes neighborhood for the ceremony, which was led by Isaac Cohen, the chief rabbi of the local Sephardic community. "As Kohelet said, there is a time for everything,” Cohen told JTA last week. “[The new synagogue] shows that people seek religion in their lives, and we have freedom of religion …More

Henrique Capriles Radonski, the non-Jewish grandson of Holocaust survivors, said he will once more run for Venezuela’s presidency in the election to succeed the late Hugo Chavez. Capriles, who identifies as a Catholic, announced his candidacy on Sunday. He will run against Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's chosen successor and the acting president, in the April 14 elections. Last October, Capriles won 44 percent of the vote but lost to Chavez by 11 percentage points. Over the weekend, Capriles challenged the …More

Chabad centers and Jewish communities around the world are on high alert ahead of Passover. [Ynet] Quinoa is emerging as a point of contention in the kosher-for-Pesach debate. [Jewish Press] A new Arabic and English Web site tells the story of Middle Eastern Jews. [JC] Leaders are calling France's honoring of a terrorist who killed an Israeli minister an "insult" to justice. [Arutz Sheva] A controversial documentary suggests Jewish day school killer Mohamed Merah was disturbed, not hateful. [Jewish Journal of …More

Hugo Chavez's body will be embalmed and put on display "for eternity." [Yeshiva World] World Jewish leaders will show support for Greek Jews at an upcoming event. [WJC] An exploration of the Israeli obsession behind Jonathan Pollard. [Daily Beast] Israel's mission to the moon--can a small nation win a big prize? [TIME] Bibi may have his coalition, as rumors emerge Yair Lapid is dropping his foreign ministry demands. [Israel Hayom] The Satmar hit and run killer is officially charged. [Forward] Leviticus, …More

Ben Cohen, JNS.org Like one of those telenovelas that are so popular on Latin American television stations, the slow yet inexorable deterioration of Venezuela’s President, Hugo Chavez, was soaked in drama and cloying sentimentality. Chavez died March 5 following a two-year fight with cancer. And for most of that time, he claimed—falsely—to have been cured. But less than two months after winning a fourth term in last October’s election, Chavez was spirited back to Cuba, where Fidel …More

Gabby Giffords returns to the scene of her shooting to plead for tighter gun laws. [Forward] A pro-Hitler, anti-American Egyptian woman will reportedly receive the Secretary of State's Women of Courage Award. [Times of Israel] The mother of the Toulouse shooter says her son was a "good and kind kid." [Forward] Iran charges Israel with genocide at an IAEA meeting. [Jewish Press] Jewish groups are closely monitoring the transition of power in Venezuela. [JPost] Scotland's education secretary has pledged to …More

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died at the age of 58. The news came as a general shock to the international community. Chavez, who ruled the South American nation for 14 years, was quietly suffering from cancer for two years. Last summer, the leader announced doctors had pronounced him "cancer free." Chavez had a tumultuous relationship with the Jewish community in Venezuela and abroad. The Simon Wiesenthal Center and World Jewish Congress frequently pointed out anti-Semitic incidents during …More

Venezuela's secret service, SEBIN, is spying on the country's Jewish community, according to leaked documents said to be from the spy agency. Last week, Analisis24, a right-leaning Argentinean news website, released 50 documents attributed to the Venezuelan intelligence agency containing private information on prominent Venezuelan Jews, local Jewish organizations and Israeli diplomats in Latin America. The Anti-Defamation League, among others, believes the documents are authentic based on the wealth of detailed …More

Incumbent Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was reelected last night, narrowly beating out a challenger with Jewish heritage. Henrique Capriles, the grandson of Holocaust survivors, was closely watched within the Jewish community both locally and abroad. His race to the presidency opened new conversations about the Jewish voice in Venezuela, where anti-Semitism often makes headlines. Chavez has notoriously criticized the US and Israel, and has been seen as a friend of Iran and Palestine. Some media has reported …More

When the Sao Paulo Hebraica Sports Club and Community Center in Brazil opened the Aleph School earlier this month, it welcomed 450 students and had 120 more on the waiting list for next year. Hebraica, which is similar to an American Jewish community center, has reached 24,000 members and has a $30 million budget. Meanwhile, Sao Paulo's oldest synagogue, Temple Beth El, recently dedicated a new building, leaving the original one to become the Jewish Museum of Sao Paulo. In Panama, the Jewish community has grown …More

Anti-Semitism in Venezuela has spiked during the electoral race for president between a Catholic man of Jewish descent and President Hugo Chavez, according to a new report. State media and supporters of Chavez, who has ruled the country for the past 14 years, regularly “vilify” his opponent, Henrique Capriles Radonski, derisively referring to his Jewish roots, a study by Tel Aviv University’s Kantor Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism found. “This is done in a variety of methods, such …More