Venezuelan Jews

Venezuelan Jews

Jewish immigration to Latin America began with seven sailors arriving in Christopher Columbus' crew. Since then, the Jewish population of Latin America has risen to more than 500,000 — more than half of whom live in Argentina, with large communities also present in Brazil, Chile and Mexico.

The following is a list of some prominent Latin American Jews, arranged by country of origin:

The history of the Jews in Latin America dates, ACCORDING to some INTERPRETATIONS, back to Christopher Columbus and his first cross-Atlantic voyage on August 3, 1492, when he left Spain and eventually discovered the New World. His date of departure was also the day on which the Catholic Monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon decreed that the Jews of Spain either had to convert to Catholicism, depart from the country, or face death.