The (Attempted) “Israelisation” of Latin America (Part II)

By News on SantoshHub Aug 14, 2026 0

Israel has accomplished big things in very little time. But is it sustainable?

A couple of years ago, Latin America was one of the regions of the world most stridently opposed to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Four countries — Bolivia, Colombia, Nicaragua and Honduras — had severed or suspended their diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv. Two others, Cuba and Venezuela, had already taken that step years, or in the case of Cuba, decades, earlier.

By mid-2025, eight of the 36 countries that had joined South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice were in Latin America and the Caribbean (Mexico, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Venezuela). That was twice the number of European countries that had joined the case.

But by January of this year, as we outlined in our first instalment of this series, Israel had already begun to turn the situation around — by taking advantage of the rightward political shift taking place across the region as well as Trump’s aggressive revamping of the Monroe Doctrine. Or as Yves calls it, “smash and grab diplomacy”.

For the moment, the so-called “Israelisation” of Latin America is working like a dream / nightmare:

In February, Israel received its first shipment of oil from Venezuela in over five years. Given the Trump administration’s abject subservience to the Netanyahu regime, it did not come as a surprise that one of the first beneficiaries of the US’ hostile takeover of Venezuela’s oil sector would be the Jewish State.
In March, Chile’s first far-right government since Pinochet took office. Within a couple of months, José Antonio Kast had promised to reinstate Chile’s ambassador to Israel after two years of tensions between the two nations. He also said Chile wants to increase cooperation with Israel across all sectors, including agriculture, health, AI, technology and security.
The Isaac Accords were officially launched on April 19, 2026, in Jerusalem by Argentina’s President Javier Milei and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The accords are an attempt to expand the model of the Abraham Accords into Latin America through security cooperation, investment, technology, and political alignment. One of the main goals is to is build a web of Israel-Latin America ties designed to outlast political cycles. According to Jerusalem Post, the governments of 12 countries have signed a resolution backing the expansion of the Accords — including, interestingly Brazil.
In May, the leaked audio tapes of the Hondurasgate scandal were released by Spanish news outlet Canal Red Latinoamerica. The leaks revealed, among many things, the extent to which Washington and Tel Aviv are willing to go to cement their dominance of the region. They also suggested that Israel was behind Trump’s decision to pardon former president (and convicted drug trafficker) Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH).
In June, the State of Israel sent Venezuela a delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Israeli military’s Home Front Command to provide “aid and disaster response” following a deadly twin earthquake in La Guaira. It was the first official engagement between Caracas and Tel Aviv since former President Hugo Chavez severed diplomatic ties in 2009
In late July, JOH returned to Honduras where he faces charges of fraud and money laundering. But according to the Hondurasgate leaks, both Washington and Tel Aviv are expecting the former president to retake the reins of power some time in the not-too-distant future.
Last Friday (Aug 7), Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in as president of Colombia. De la Espriella is another right-wing populist with absolutely no experience of politics who has pledged to strengthen his nation’s relations with Israel.

As readers may recall, Colombia’s former Gustavo Petro administration was one of relatively few governments in the world that spoke out against Israel’s naked criminality in Gaza from the very start. Not only that, but it consistently turned words into actions — first by severing ties with Israel and then imposing a ban on the export of Colombian coal to the Zionist state.

In his last address to the UN General Assembly, in October 2025, Petro delivered a scathing critique of both the Netanyahu regime and the Trump administration. In that speech, he accused Trump of being an accomplice to genocide and warned of the parallels between the genocide in Gaza and the recent developments in the Caribbean — a prescient warning given that at the time, the US had not yet begun its “starvation siege” of Cuba:

“Those who don’t have bombs or big budgets are not listened to here. But now, four years [after my first speech here], the horrific situation in Palestine has led me to believe that the same thing could happen in Colombian’s Caribbean region, where 17 unarmed young people were killed by missiles in the open seas under the pretext of stopping drug trafficking.”

…

“They need violence to dominate Colombia and Latin America. They need to destroy dialogue and impose themselves by launching killer missiles on poor youth in the Caribbean. The anti-drug policy is not to stop the cocaine from arriving in the United States but to dominate the peoples of the South in general.” [1]

In Colombia’s recent elections, Petro’s chosen successor from the left-leaning Historical Pact coalition, Ivan Cepeda, lost by the finest of margins to Abelardo de la Espriella, a Miami-based dual US-Colombian citizen who has served as lawyer to some of Latin America’s most unsavoury drug traffickers and paramilitary leaders [2].

Since his inauguration last Friday (Aug 7), De la Espriella has pledged to sign Colombia up to Trump’s Shield of the Americas initiative, which has been described (including by yours truly) as a Plan Condor 2.0, in return for $1 billion of US funding. According to US Secretary of War Pete Hegsethhe has also authorised the US military to conduct “joint military operations on Colombian soil.

In other words, Plan Colombia is apparently back in action. As Ollie Vargas notes in the tweet below, all three countries that have agreed to joint US strikes in their territory — Ecuador, Colombia and Honduras — are governed, de jure or de facto, by individuals who have either participated directly in the narcotics trade or served as legal counsel to those who have.

These govts are collaborating with the US military in joint operations against Latin America, supposedly to combat drug trafficking:

– Ecuador (President’s family traffick cocaine)

– Colombia (President is a cartel lawyer)

– Honduras (Ruling party led by convicted trafficker) pic.twitter.com/V92OXTYk67

— Ollie Vargas (@Ollie_Vargas_) August 13, 2026

In a matter of days, De la Espriella has also transformed Colombia’s relations with Israel beyond recognition. Not only has he reversed all of Petro’s actions, by re-establishing diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv and removing all impediments on Colombia’s trade with Israel trade, he has also given Israeli (and US) forces permission to enter Colombian territory.

De la Espriella has said he will suspend plans to open Colombia’s embassy to Palestine as well as move Colombia’s mission to Jerusalem. He has also reversed Bogota’s Western Sahara policy, recognising Israeli ally Morocco’s sovereignty over the region. This move is particularly controversial given recent events in Ceuta, in which Israel is suspected (including, apparently, by Chinese intel) of helping to engineer the recent migrant invasion of the Spanish enclave.

“Colombia recognises the sovereignty of Morocco over all its territory, including Western Sahara, and in that context, the position of the Government of Colombia will be to freeze relations with the RASD as of this date,” the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a statement.

Even more controversial is De la Espriella’s decision to recognise Israel’s sovereignty over Syria’s Golan Heights, becoming only the second UN member state after the US to do so. Even Argentina’s President Javier Milei, the self-described “most Zionist president” on the planet, has not — yet — gone that far.

The move has already ignited a diplomatic crisis with the Arab League, which in a letter expressed its categorical rejection of Bogota’s change of position. As El País reports, the decision took by surprise not only the foreign ministries of over two dozen Arab countries but also the citizens of Colombia themselves, who just a few hours earlier had suffered the largest earthquake in almost 50 years.

Nightmare for Colombians right now:

1. President is a cartel lawyer

2. Earthquake hits, but he rejects aid from everyone except US & Israel

3. During earthquake he spends his time:
– Asking US to bomb 🇨🇴
– Recognizing Israel in Golan Heights.
– Recognizing Morocco in Sahara

— Ollie Vargas (@Ollie_Vargas_) August 14, 2026

Meanwhile, Tel Aviv could not be happier. Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar thanked his “good friend” de la Espriella for the “historic” recognition. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his gratitude in a video shared on X:

“Today the [Israeli] people stand with Colombia, as the president, our friend, has recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. I thank you.”

Needless to say, none of these “first-order” policy measures adopted by the incoming administration benefit Colombia in any way; they all respond to Israel’s interests.

As I predicted, Colombia is only accepting humanitarian aid on an ideological/partisan basis. Truly despicable, many will die because this government refuses to let in aid.

Only accepted aid from the far-right autocratic governments in the US, Israel, El Salvador, and Ecuador. https://t.co/nRMs61xwjc

— Joseph Bouchard (@GeopolWonk) August 12, 2026

At the beginning of this year, we pointed out that the rightward political shift in recent elections, helped along by the Trump administration’s direct electoral interference, had resulted in the formation of a long strip of nations in South America that are more or less fully aligned with both the US and Israel.

As the map below, by Yousef Ibrahim, a member of the US Anti-Zionist Political Action Committee (Azapac), makes clear, “South American Israel” is already taking shape.

🇮🇱🇦🇷 BIBI IS HEADING TO SOUTH AMERICA!!!

According to Israeli Channel 14, PM Netanyahu is planning a visit to Argentina soon.

This could kick off a new wave of normalization across the region under the ‘Isaac Accords’ – modeled after the Abraham Accords.

Argentina, under…

— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) January 4, 2026

The Netanyahu government is also hopeful that upcoming elections in Brazil and Colombia could also bring friendlier leaders. As regular readers are well aware, Latin America is one of the regions of the world that has most stridently opposed Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Tel Aviv is determined to change that.

And it is having remarkable success, as the updated map below shows…

Map circulating on South American social media. https://t.co/0Lqut8dNfd pic.twitter.com/2ZSDOW014J

— MenchOsint (@MenchOsint) August 11, 2026

As the US gains increasing political control over South America — and Latin America more broadly — so too does Israel. Venezuela is perhaps the most glaring example of this trend.

Seventeen years ago, then-President Hugo Chavez severed diplomatic relations with Israel in 2009 in response to Israel’s bombing of Gaza in Operation Cast Lead. Seventeen years later, the Delcy Rodriguez government is now restoring relations with Tel Aviv, after first rejecting the US’ attack on Venezuela and Maduro’s abduction, even alleging Zionist undertones.

Venezuela restores diplomatic ties with Israel https://t.co/KmjMwnGowi

— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) August 11, 2026

Brigadier General Elad Edri gave a presentation to Venezuelan president Delcy Rodriguez about the ‘Project for the Reconstruction of the Future’. This is the same guy who was involved in Operation Cast Lead in 2009 against the Palestinians. It was that operation that led… pic.twitter.com/T04mDIS1BK

— Vijay Prashad (@vijayprashad) August 11, 2026

As Dimitri Lascaris and Prashad discuss in depth in the following podcast, Caracas’ restoration of ties with Tel Aviv is definitive proof, for those that needed it, that the Delcy Rodriguez government has betrayed the Bolivarian revolution. But how far and wide does that betrayal go? After all, Nicolás Maduro’s own son, Nicolasito, called for resuming ties with Israel shortly after his father’s abduction.

Delcy Rodriguez has also withdrawn Venezuela from the International Criminal Court, at Washington’s insistence and for the benefit of Benjamin Netanyahu. Washington is pressuring all of its other client states in Latin America to follow suit. Speaking at a security summit in Panama on Wednesday, Pete Hegseth called on all 19 member states of the Washington-led Americas Counter Cartel Coalition (ACCC) to withdraw from the ICC.

Dima Khatib, the managing director of Al Jazeera, describes what is happening in Venezuela as “the end of an era”. A few of her hot takes:

“I have inside intel indicating this is the start of a strategic relationship — with a push from Trump of course. Venezuela will start receiving technology and weaponry from Israel.”
“Obviously many chavistas are very upset about this BUT not all chavistas are. The key word here is: Christian Zionism which has been spreading through evangelism in the past years in Venezuela.”
“Question: will Venezuela now change its language towards Palestine? From my observations: it already has. Not a single statement about Israel’s recent attacks on Gaza has been issued.”

A country whose former president, Hugo Chavez, was one of the first political leaders to use the word “genocide” to describe what Israel was doing to Gaza, more than a decade and a half ago, has now gone silent as Israel massively expands and escalates its war crimes.

Meanwhile, in Argentina, things took a decidedly surreal turn this week when it was revealed that the country’s Airport Security Police (PSA) have begun to teach interested personnel basic Hebrew in preparation for the imminent opening of direct flights between Buenos Aires and Tel Aviv — flights that will be operated by the Israeli airline El Al.

As Israel expands its political influence in Latin America, Israeli businesses are positioning themselves to reap the spoils, especially in energy, minerals and security. As Reuters reported in April, “the presidents of eight binational chambers of commerce from Latin America and Israel signed an agreement to promote trade, investment, innovation and the creation of [business] opportunities.”

In an op-ed for YNet News, Ilan Alon, a professor of Economics and Business at Ariel University, warns that while “a geopolitical window has opened,” such windows “do not stay open for ever”:

Israel should not settle for friendly speeches, supportive UN votes or embassy moves to Jerusalem. It should use today’s political opportunities to build relationships that survive tomorrow’s elections…

Israeli businesses should move quickly and think regionally… Israeli strengths in cybersecurity, AI, fintech, AgTech, water, health technology and defense fit many of the region’s most pressing needs.

The problem for Israel is that even as the growing rash of right-wing governments in Latin America deepen the region’s security, diplomatic and technological ties with Israel, the region’s publics are turning against the Zionist State, for obvious reasons.

In a recent Pew Research Center Study, a median of 55% of Latin Americans consulted (from Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru) held a negative view of Israel while just 26% had a positive view. Those views are, if anything, likely to harden as Israel expands its genocidal campaigns to Southern Lebanon and the West Bank (see below).

Israel is deliberately burning South Lebanon.

Ancient olive trees, forests, farmland — older than Israel itself — all reduced to ash.

Up to 40% of land near the frontline has been completely scorched. 40%.

And yet, no emergency session. No condemnation. No outrage. Nothing. pic.twitter.com/qOkRBENNcz

— sarah (@sahouraxo) August 13, 2026

Finally a serious British broadsheet bothering to cover this outrage: “How Israel is making southern Lebanon ‘unliveable’” https://t.co/S5FHeG0g0t via @FT

— William Dalrymple (@DalrympleWill) August 12, 2026

“What we are seeing in Qusrah is happening throughout the West Bank. Israel is ethnically cleansing the West Bank.” says Shai Parnes @Parnes82, B’Tselem public outreach director, on @BBCWorld.

Over the past few days, settlers have established an outpost in the yards of two… pic.twitter.com/8mcbe03xd7

— B’Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) August 13, 2026

Israel is now theatning to turn Syria into Gaza https://t.co/UU0mhLvLtD

— Bruno Maçães (@MacaesBruno) August 13, 2026

Meanwhile, Israel’s main partner in this neo-colonial endeavour is also losing the support among Latin American communities. Another recent survey published by Pew Research Center finds that views of the United States have grown more negative over the past year in five of six Latin American countries surveyed while views of China have mostly held steady.

Crucially, in each of the six countries surveyed (Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Argentina) large majorities say Wahsington interferes in the affairs of other countries, while far fewer say the same about China. In Colombia, for instance, 75% say the U.S. interferes a great deal or a fair amount, compared with 30% who say the same about China.

Deep down, both the US and Israel have nothing positive to offer Latin America — apart from what we are now seeing play out across the region: a splicing of Plan Colombia with Operation Condor, with a sprinkling of tech surveillance and digital control thrown in for good measure. But just how sustainable is that likely to be?

It is one thing to install US and Israel-friendly governments in the region that are willing to sell out their nations and peoples for the benefit of US and Israeli companies; it’s a whole other thing to keep those governments in power as economic and living conditions rapidly deteriorate. The only way to do that is with ever-escalating levels of state repression and violence, as we are already seeing in Ecuador.

Alleged CIA bombing in Ecuador shows how little we know about US actions in the country

Even as Noboa’s “iron fist” policies fail to show results, the US seems to be doubling down on “kinetic strikes.”

A conversation with @WillGFreeman for PWS https://t.co/mGWr9g3pLs

— Joshua Collins (@InvisiblesMuros) August 13, 2026

In the (alleged) words of Honduras’ former (and perhaps future) narco-president, Juan Orlando Hernández, “if you want to keep people controlled, you need to oppress them“.

Whether that is sustainable over the long term, only time will tell. One thing that is clear is that the next big piece in the US and Israel’s attempted (re)conquest of Latin America is Brazil, which is scheduled to hold make-or-break presidential elections in October. In its latest shot across the bow, the US just placed placed Brazil on a list of more than 40 countries classified as high-risk for so-called illegal “transshipment” of goods.

Meanwhile, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s main challenger in the elections, Flavio Bolsonaro

[1] This accusation from Petro echoes an observation we made in our September 26, 2023 post, “The US Is Once Again Vigorously Stirring the Pot in Its Own ‘Backyard‘” — namely that Washington’s renewed war on the drug cartels in Latin America, which begun under the Biden administration, is nothing but a flimsy smokescreen for a new wave of US neo-colonial (or neo-feudal) domination and plunder of the region.

Now, the Marco Rubio-controlled US State Department is openly bragging that US dominance in the Western hemisphere “will never be questioned again”.

This tweet by the State Department provides an answer to the debate over whether the Monroe Doctrine was about U.S. domination. https://t.co/rgMpN8r4kp

— Glenn Diesen (@Glenn_Diesen) August 12, 2026

[2] Prior to his departure, Petro accused Israeli cyber-intelligence company BlackCore of executing a massive digital disinformation campaign to rig the outcome of the country’s elections. The former president has also asserted that that the National Registry’s vote-counting software had been “compromised,” citing detected alterations in the IP addresses of several core government servers.

As far as I’m aware, there is no definitive proof to back up these claims. However, given the technological capacities of the Israeli State and tech firms, particularly in a country as infiltrated as Colombia, as well as the growing mountain of allegations against companies like BlackCore of election interference in countries around the world, one can’t dismiss them out of hand.