LatAm figures angry over Israeli offensive

Last week we mentioned some of the reactions by Latin American leaders to Israel’s air strikes on Gaza; some were angry while others were more reasoned. Now that Israeli troops have invaded Gaza more reactions from the Americas have come forward.

Mexican Zapatista rebel leader "Subcomandante" Marcos blasted U.S. president-elect Barack Obama for not emitting an official statement on the Gaza situation. Obama’s lack of a statement implies that he implicitly "supports the use of force" against Palestinian people, Marcos said last Friday during a ceremony commemorating the fifteenth anniversary of the Zapatista uprising.

(According to his advisors, Obama’s low profile is in deference to current president Gorge W. Bush who remains in office until the 20th).

Meanwhile, the Nicaraguan head of the U.N. General Assembly criticized the defeat of an immediate cease-fire measure in the Security Council. "Once again, the world is watching in dismay the dysfunctionality of the Security Council," said Miguel D'escoto Brockmann after Saturday’s vote was rejected by an alleged U.S. veto.

Protests over Israel’s actions have taken place worldwide including the Americas. Marchers rallied outside of the presidential palace in Santiago, Chile and have called on the government to review its relations with Israel. Colombia’s Arab community has also spoken out:

Hundreds of people from the Palestinian community in the Colombian capital city of Bogota on Friday protested outside the Israeli embassy against Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

The protest came at a time when the Colombian government condemned, in a statement, the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and expressed its solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Unfortunately, there is a lack of cooler heads to prevail; Hamas’ military attacks on the Israel are without justification. Yet the heavy handed Israeli response is a shortsighted solution that does little too calm rampant violence. In the end, those that suffer most are the civilians on both sides of the border whose lives are turned upside down.

Image- BBC News
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, Xinhua, AP, The Age, PRESS TV, Reuters, LAHT, Prensa Latina