The Israel-Hamas War Is Inflaming Polarization in Latin America
SÃO PAULO—While Latin America has the privilege of being far away from the world’s geopolitical hotspots, the region has not escaped the global polarization unleashed by war between Israel and Hamas, producing a heated and increasingly venomous public debate. That is partly because, in numerous countries, divisions over the conflict in the Middle East fall largely along domestic partisan lines—contrary to the war in Ukraine, where left and right hold largely similar positions.
On a number of basic issues regarding the conflict, the left and the right tend to agree: The vast majority of policymakers condemned the attacks committed by Hamas on October 7 (with the exception of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela). Most Latin American countries, irrespective of the ideological orientation of their government, also diplomatically recognize the state of Palestine, and unlike much of Europe and the U.S., most have not designated Hamas a terrorist…
