Chavez' War Against Venezuelan Jews
A colleague of mine -- Jennifer London -- who works as a freelance correspondent filing stories for CBS, CNN, TruTV and World Report on HDNet, filled me in on a story that she's been working on for 6 months.
It's an investigation into claims of government sponsored anti-Semitism in Venezuela that led London and her producer, Nora Zimmett, to the capitol city of Caracas.
I asked London to give me a little more background on her reporting of the story, especially since it was on a topic that I was not familiar with.
What she told me was startling -- as is the preview of the upcoming World Report story (below).
Here is an excerpt from her notes to me:
The Jewish community here says they have been attacked, threatened and constantly harassed by their own government -- more than half of the Jewish population has fled the country because of what they say is a hostile and dangerous environment fostered by Hugo Chavez.
Those who have chosen to stay say they live in constant fear. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has placed Venezuela on a watch list where religious freedom is being threatened, and the Organization for American States has denounced the attacks and threats against the Jews.
What did not surprise me was the government's reaction to claims of state-sponsored anti-Semitism. After trying for months to get an interview with Chavez or someone in his government, we were finally granted an interview (on our last full day in Caracas) with Roya Daza of the National Assembly.
He was extremely defensive during the interview and told me not only is there no government sponsored anti-Semitism in Venezuela but there is no anti-Semitism at all, anywhere in the country and "it's absurd that we even talk about this."
When I asked him why there is anti-Semitic graffiti on the walls of one of the largest synagogues in Caracas, he threatened to stop the interview.
