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Spanish, Venezuelan Foreign Ministers Visit Synagogue
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
July 29, 2009

CARACAS (JTA) – The foreign ministers of Spain and Venezuela visited a Caracas synagogue attacked earlier this year.

“We’re very happy that they visited a synagogue that was the victim of an anti-Semitic attack,” said Claudio Ethelma, director of the Latin American Jewish Congress.

“They sent a strong message repudiating anti-Semitism,” said Ethelma, who travelled from Buenos Aires to attend the meeting.

This week's visit was the second time that Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro visited the Tiferet Israel Synagogue since it was attacked in January. The foreign ministers also met with memebrs of Venezuela's Sephardic Jewish community.

Over one dozen assailants broke into the temple, desecrating holy objects and spraying anti-Semitic messages on the walls before escaping with a database of the community’s personal information.

The attack occurred during a heightened period of tension following Israel’s incursion into the Gaza Strip, which President Hugo Chavez strongly criticized, eventually severing diplomatic relations with the Jewish State.

“This visit to the synagogue from Chancellor Maduro fortifies the dialogue between the Venezuelan government and the Jewish community,” said Jack Terpins, president of the Latin American Jewish Congress, in a news release.

Thirteen people have been arrested for the break-in.

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