This over 80 page report pursues two different aims: on the one hand, it responds to an interest shared by several people from this continent to understand the impact of Israeli militarism in their countries and the consequences it can have on their social freedoms; on the other hand, it responds to the call for a Military Embargo against Israel made by the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee.
The result of the report is part of the joint effort to unite struggles against militarism and Israeli Apartheid.
In the interest of understanding the general framework of militaristic trade between Israel and Latin America, the following pages aim to fulfill the following specific objectives:
- Describe the commercial exchange between Israel and the countries of Latin America in terms of arms, security, cybersecurity and military technology, and surveillance in the public and private spheres.
- Describe the exchange of militaristic knowledge between Israel and the countries of Latin America through agreements in the public and private spheres.
- Analyze the model of militarism that Israel exports to Latin America.
- Present the strategy of a military embargo on Israel and the global campaigns and actions that have contributed to this strategy.
- This study focuses on the last 40 years (this period coincides with the trade relations established between several military dictatorships in Latin America and Israel) but concentrates especially on more recent trade relations, given that this period has seen an increase in commercial relations have had an increase due to the new Israeli drive to sell its products in the region. Data has been obtained by analyzing the information collected from reliable sources. Some of the information has been obtained from the official websites of the different States involved. Likewise, information from the press has been used, as well as information from the websites of the companies themselves.
The document that follows is divided into four parts. The first part is a brief description of Israeli militarism in the world, this includes a description of the situation in Palestine, of Israel’s position in the world and of the way in which relations between Israel and Latin American countries has been consolidated. In the second part, the document focuses on militaristic trade exchanges, describing the companies, actors and products that are distributed in Latin America. In a third part, there is an in depth analysis of the different institutional agreements and exchanges identified in several countries of Latin America, which account for the general trend of formal alliances favoring militarism. By way of conclusion, the final part discusses how commercial and institutional exchanges are part of models that Israel has tried to position globally, and warns of the risks that these models imply for Latin American societies. The text closes with an explanation of the Palestinian call for a Military Embargo on Israel, a campaign that is part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
Those of us who prepared this report hope that it can provide more reasons to fight against militarism as an authoritarian model for the management of our societies. We especially hope that the reflections here presented will motivate readers to promote campaigns in solidarity with Palestine because as say activists in Argentine have reminded us: “the weapons that assassinate Palestinians are the same weapons used to repress Latin Americans”.