From: wolda002@umn.edu
Date: Tue Jul 21 2009 - 21:57:32 EDT
Report: Brazil official calls Israeli FM 'fascist'
By STAN LEHMAN, Associated Press Writer Stan Lehman, Associated Press
Writer 2 hrs 23 mins ago
SAO PAULO – Israel's foreign minister ran into controversy on the first
day of a Latin American trip Tuesday when an official of Brazil's ruling
party reportedly called him a "fascist."
Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported that Valter Pomar, secretary of
international relations for the Workers Party, said that Avigdor "Lieberman
is a racist and a fascist" during an interview.
Haaretz reported that Pomar also said that "the Brazilian left is
organizing protests" against Lieberman "and against the policy he
represents."
The left-leaning Workers Party has long been sharply critical of Israel's
policies toward Palestinians, and Lieberman has advocated a tough line on
Israel's Arab minority.
He has suggested redrawing Israel's borders to push areas with heavy
concentrations of its Arab citizens outside the country and under
Palestinian jurisdiction, while requiring those who remain to sign an oath
of loyalty to the Jewish state. Some 20 percent of Israel's 7 million
citizens are Arabs.
Lieberman's 10-day trip is meant to battle growing Iranian influence in the
region and to push trade. He is expected to meet with Brazil's President
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva — a founder of the Workers Party — on
Wednesday.
Pomar was traveling and unavailable for comment, a party spokeswoman said.
She declined to comment on the Haaretz report.
A spokeswoman for Silva said Pomar's words "were just his own opinion and
have nothing to do with the government. In fact, they were quite rude." She
spoke on condition of anonymity, citing department rules.
Iran's ambassador to Brazil, Moshen Shaterzadeh, said Monday that Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will also visit Brazil. He didn't give a
date.
Lieberman was meeting with an industry group, leaders of the local Jewish
community and the governor of Sao Paulo state on Tuesday.
He also has planned stops in Argentina, Peru and Colombia, but is bypassing
the South American nations most closely allied with Iran — Venezuela and
Bolivia.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales are
strong supporters of Ahmadinejad and have solidified links with Tehran
through trade deals.
Both countries broke off ties with Israel in January to protest a military
offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Dorit Shavit, a top Israeli diplomat for Latin America, told the Colombian
newspaper El Tiempo that Hezbollah cells are operating on Venezuela's
Margarita Island and along the Venezuelan-Colombian border.
"There are many mosques that serve not only as places of worship, but also
to collect money that's sent to the Middle East," she was quoted as saying
in an interview published Sunday.
In a statement on Tuesday, Venezuela's Foreign Ministry called those
allegations "ridiculous."
President Hugo Chavez, meanwhile, complained that the allegations —
combined with a recent U.S. congressional report criticizing Venezuela's
anti-drug efforts, and Colombia's decision to allow the U.S. to expand its
military presence in that country — constitute "aggression."
"It's an attack formation against Venezuela," Chavez said.
___
Associated Press writers Bradley Brooks in Rio de Janeiro and Fabiola
Sanchez in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.