Zionist and Israeli Efforts to Influence Latin America

Abstract

Latin-American delegations one of the most influential groupings in the United Nations. The first reality is the numerical position of these twenty countries. Until the recent admission of sixteen new members, the Latin Americans never comprised less than one-third of the states represented in the General Assembly.1 The second reality is the stipulation of Article 18, paragraph 2, of the United Nations Charter that all decisions on important questions must be taken by a two-thirds majority of the member states present and voting. And the third reality, without which the other two would lose much of their significance, is that the East-West conflict, and the resulting overuse of the veto in the Security Council, has caused the focus of importance and activity in the United Nations to shift from the Council to the veto-free General Assembly. As a result, the Central and South American states now attained a higher level of importance and prestige, and been confronted with more opportunities to influence the solution of major world problems than was ever possible in the days before the advent of the international organization. On many occasions in the past decade the twenty Latin-American nations have been able to prevent the attainment of a two-thirds majority in the Assembly.... 2 It goes without saying, therefore, that the attitudes which these members adopt toward a particular question before the United Nations can be, and often are, a matter of great concern to an interested party. This case-study will attempt to disclose the highly effective manner in which one of the disputants in the Palestine affair sought to win the support of the largest single bloc of nations within the world organization. It is hoped that this will conduce to a better understanding of the subtle art of diplomatic persuasion, especially as practiced by and among powers whose very weakness precludes the use or even the threat of military or