Antisemitism in Venezuela has occurred throughout the history of the Jews in Venezuela. However, under the presidencies of both Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, allegations of antisemitism grew following actions and statements by the Venezuelan government, while also occurring in public incidents.Annual Report 2004: Venezuela. Stephen Roth Institute. Accessed August 11, 2006.Berrios, Jerry. S. Fla. Venezuelans: Chavez incites anti-Semitism. Miami Herald, August 10, 2006.Report: Anti-Semitism on Rise in Venezuela; Chavez Government 'Fosters Hate' Toward Jews and Israel. Press release, Anti-Defamation League, November 6, 2006. Accessed April 3, 2008.The Chavez Regime: Fostering Anti-Semitism and Supporting Radical Islam. Anti-Defamation League, November 6, 2006. Accessed April 3, 2008. The Bolivarian government would also use the words of "Jewish" and "Zionist" interchangeably in order to avoid accusations of antisemitism.
The Jewish population also declined rapidly under the Bolivarian government according to the Algemeiner Journal, with an estimated population of 22,000 in 1999, falling to under 7,000 in 2015. Though specific leaders have used antisemitic language, Venezuela's broader history of antisemitism is not large or unusual.
19th century
At the turn of the 19th century, Venezuela were fighting against their Spanish colonizers in wars of independence. Simon Bolivar, the liberator, found refuge and material support for his army in the homes of Jews from Dutch colony of Curaçao. In Willemstad Jews such as Mordejai Ricardo and brothers Ricardo and Abraham Meza offered hospitality to Bolivar as he fought against the Spanish, thus establishing brotherly relations between Jews and the newly independent Venezuelan republic. Several Jews even fought in the ranks of Bolivar army during the war. The ties between Jews in the Dutch island colonies and Venezuela increased more dramatically between 1819 and 1821 after its new constitution called for religious freedom. In 1820, the first Jewish family settled in the town of Coro, which has a Jewish cemetery with tombstones dating back to 1832.
In 1827, a group of Jews moved from Curaçao and settled in Coro, Venezuela. Other Jewish communities began springing up in Caracas and Puerto Cabello in the 1840s. In 1844, groups of Jews from Morocco came to the town of Barcelona and, in 1875, they were granted permission to establish a Jewish cemetery. In 1855, rioting in Coro forced the entire Jewish population, 168 individuals, to seek refuge in their native Curaçao. As they claimed Dutch citizenship, the consul-general for the Netherlands, Van Lansberge, informed the home government, and three war ships were sent to La Guaira, the principal seaport of Venezuela, and the redress demanded was at once granted. The Venezuelan government agreed to salute the Dutch flag; to restore to the Jews their property; and to pay an indemnity of 200,000 pesos ($160,000), the last clause being carried into effect in 1859, after lengthy diplomatic negotiations with the ambassador of the Netherlands, Jhr. O. van Rees.
Assimilation of Jews in Venezuela was difficult, though small communities could be found in Puerto Cabello, Maracaibo, Villa de Cura, San Cristobal, Barcelona, Carupano, Rio Chico, and Barquisimeto.
20th century
In response to rising political tension between the Netherlands and Venezuela, in March 1902, compelled the Jews of Coro again to seek an asylum in Curaçao, tendered to them by the governor of the island, Jhr. J. O. de Jong van Beek en Doorn, who, upon learning the facts, dispatched the Dutch warship to protect them. It returned to Curaçao with eighty Jewish women and children on board. In July following, the same vessel and the were sent to La Vela de Coro for the remainder, and only a few Jewish residents remained behind to protect the property of the exiles.
Immigration restrictions were placed on Jews in the early 20th century and were abolished in the late 1950s. By 1950 there were around 6,000 Jewish people in Venezuela Krusch, David. The Virtual Jewish History Tour: Venezuela. Jewish Virtual Library. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. Accessed 13 August 2006. and the biggest waves of immigration occurred after World War II and the 1967 Six-Day War,Luxner, Larry. A precarious democracy threatens Venezuelans — Jews and non-Jews. JTA, 14 July 2003. Accessed from Luxner News, Inc. on April 3, 2008.Drucker, Julie. Jews in Venezuela: A Vanishing Community? JTA, 15 January 2003. Accessed from JewishJournal.com on April 3, 2008. The Jewish population in Venezuela was largely centered in Caracas, with smaller concentrations in Maracaibo. Most of Venezuela's Jews are either first or second generation.Harris, David A. Letter from Caracas. American Jewish Committee, 20 October 2005. Accessed on April 3, 2008.
Venezuela was hospitable to Jewish life, and Jews "developed deep ties to the country and a strong sense of patriotism".
21st century
Emigration
According to the Latin American Jewish Congress, Venezuela's Jewish community had an estimated 22,000 people when Chávez took office in 1999. In the first few years of the 21st century, the number of Venezuelan Jews emigrating to Israel grew steadily. The Algemeiner Journal stated that the Jewish emigration from Venezuela occurred due to "the country’s economic crisis ... as well as the anti-Semitic rhetoric that has marked the left-wing regime’s support for Iran, Syria, and Palestinian Islamist organizations like Hamas" and that "first Chavez and now Maduro have found political uses for anti-Jewish rhetoric".
In 2007, it was reported that emigration had resulted in a drop of almost 20% of Venezuela's 20,000 strong Jewish population amid concerns of rising allegations of antisemitism. The Latin American Jewish Congress estimated that in 2007, only between 12,000 and 13,000 Jews still resided in Venezuela. By November 2010, more than 50% of Jewish Venezuelans had left the country since Chavez came to power, with some of those remaining behind complaining of "official antisemitism". See also By early 2013, only 9,000 Jews lived in Venezuela and in early 2015, it was reported that under 7,000 lived in the country. By 2026, only around 4,000 Jews lived in the country and the community had been left decimated according to the American Jewish Committee."The Venezuela Crisis and the Case for Global Jewish Engagement in the Americas", Dina Siegel Vann. American Jewish Committee. February 5, 2026. Accessed July 13, 2026"Venezuela’s Jewish Diaspora Is Relieved to See Maduro Deposed. But Can They Imagine Returning?", Larry Luxner. Washington Jewish Week. January 16, 2026. Accessed July 13, 2026
The United States was the prime destination, particularly Miami, Florida. Others went to Israel, as well as to Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Guatemala.Post-Chavez, Venezuelan Jews plant roots elsewhere - The Times of Israel.
Media In its 2002 report, the Stephen Roth Institute said a Venezuelan journalist in the U.S., Ted Cordova-Claure, "published an article in the privately owned, pro-democracy Tal Cual equating Sharon and Hitler".Annual Report 2002–3: Venezuela. Stephen Roth Institute. Accessed April 3, 2008."A Former Guerrilla Reinvents Himself as a Candidate". The New York Times, 1 July 2006. Accessed April 3, 2008. The Roth Institute also said that Frontera journalist Alfredo Hernandez Torres justified suicide bomb attacks against Israel, saying that "Sharon displays more hate than the Nazis had for the Jews." Torres called Sharon a "beast" and said that Israel engaged in "genocide in Jenin ... which would have embarrassed even insensitive Hitler". The Roth Institute reported that Venezuelan newspapers El Universal and El Nacional have accused Israel of genocide, with an editorial written by Maria de los Angeles Serrano in El Nacional stating Israeli Jews "are today strangulating, deporting, placing under closure and killing the Palestinian people with the same enthusiasm as that of their persecutors, the Nazis". According to the Roth Institute, when Últimas Noticias interviewed Lebanese-Venezuelan"Venezuelan Pro-Chavez Deputy Says U.S. Refuses Visa" Excite News, October 2, 2002. Accessed April 3, 2008. politician and Fifth Republic Movement leader Tarek William Saab and Franklin González, director of the School of International Studies at the Central University of Venezuela, both bemoaned that the United Nations had disappointed Palestinians, and that "the roots of the conflict lay in the creation of the State of Israel, in 1947".
The 2009 World Conference against Anti-Semitism claimed that anti-Jewish articles had been printed in the Chavez-sponsored media "an average of 45 pieces per month" during 2008 and "more than five per day" during the month-long January 2009 operation in Gaza (Operation Cast Lead).Lomnitz, Claudio and Rafael Sanchez. "United By Hate." Boston Review. July/August 2009. 29 August 2009.
On April 4 2011, during a news program, presenter Cristina González of the state run Radio Nacional de Venezuela endorsed "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" which is an old forgery claiming Jews are conspiring to control the world. The Confederation of Jewish Associations of Venezuela filed a complaint to the Attorney Generals Office. They also condemned the incident and called on the government to examine and sanction those culpable for circulating it while adding that they didn't think there was a formal policy directed at Jews.
According to the Antisemitism in Venezuela 2013 report by the Venezuelan Confederation of Israelite Associations (CAIV), "distorted news, omissions and false accusations" of Israel originate from Iran's Press TV and Hispan TV, are repeated by the Russia's RT and Cuba's Prensa Latina, and Venezuela's state media, including SiBCI, AVN, TeleSUR, Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), Alba TV, La Radio del Sur, Radio Nacional de Venezuela (RNV), YVKE Mundial, Correo del Orinoco and Ciudad CCS. CAIV continues, stating that the media accuses Zionism of being a "predator movement", that "anti-Semitic authors pretend to establish differences between Jewish religion and the Zionist movement" and that the Venezuelan government's media uses anti-Semitic themes.
Accusations of Chávez antisemitism The Simon Wiesenthal Center criticized President Hugo Chávez after he compared Spain's José María Aznar to Hitler.Perelman, Marc. "Venezuela's Jews Defend Leftist President in Flap Over Remarks". Forward.com, January 13, 2006. Available from the Accessed April 3, 2008. In late 2005, Rabbi Henri Sobel of Brazil, a World Jewish Congress leader, also accused Chávez of antisemitism.