Antisemitism inCosta Rica refers to theanti-Jewish sentiment and prejudice in theRepublic of Costa Rica.
The first Jews arriving to Costa Rica were mostlySephardic Jews fromSpain escaping persecution. Most of themNew Christians.[1] Although some may have beencrypto-Jewish it is impossible to know how many wereRoman Catholics and how many were not.
As part of theSpanish Empire theSpanish Inquisition was in place in the province of Costa Rica, however there's no registry of any Jew ever to have been trialed or executed, as the only registry of an Inquisition trial in Costa Rica was against a couple of young women accused ofWitchcraft who were absolved.[2]
After gainingindependence the firstCosta Rican Constitution, thePact of Concord of 1821 established theCatholic religion as the mandatory religion (not only official but compulsory) banning all other creeds for the citizens of Costa Rica and only allowing the practice of other religions for foreigners who were temporary in the country.[3] This, of course, affected the Jews already living in the country who had to practice their religion in secret, inspiring the myth of the "witches of Escazú".Escazú had one of the largest Jewish communities and the Jewish rites (using black clothes and speaking in "strange languages" [Hebrew] among other things made some observers to think that it was some sort of magical ritual).[4] However freedom of religion was established in the following Constitution, 1925'sFundamental Law of the State of Costa Rica as in theFederal Republic of Central America in general of which theState of Costa Rica was a member, allowing Jews to practice freely.[3]
Successive migration fromSephardic Jews from places likeCuracao,Panama andJamaica faced relative tranquility, though Jews did not have their own graveyard and Sephardic Jews were buried (alongsideProtestants,Muslims,Baháʼís and other minorities) in the Foreigners’ Cemetery, a practice that continues to this date.[5] After the foundation ofFreemasonry in Costa Ricaanti-Masonic publications mostly from the Church also associatedMasonry withJudaism, as did the publication of the anti-Masonic Catholic party, theCatholic Union in 1891 accusing it of being the "flesh and bones ofTalmudism".[6]
The first major waves of Jewish migrations came in the late 19th century and early 20th century mainly fromAshkenaziPolish Jews who did not mix with the Sephardic.[7]
These migratory waves escaping theEuropean anti-Semitism and the rise ofNazism were controversial in the Costa Rican society and caused heated debates in the press,[7] producing also a large number of anti-Semitic articles and the births of far-right anti-Semitic groups like the Patriotic Union and the Anti-Jewish Committee.[1][8] Anti-Semitic laws were enacted duringPresidentLeón Cortés Castro's administration. Cortés was a well known anti-Semite andFascist sympathizer.[9] Future presidentOtilio Ulate also spreadanti-Semitic canards in his own newspaper even accusing Jews of poisoning the milk of children and was a prominent anti-Semite.[7]
During theinterwar period theNSDAP/AO tried thenazification of the Costa Rican German community,[10][11] which was led by engineerMax Effinger, who would be a minister in Cortes' cabinet.[1] The issue split the German community among pro andanti-Nazis.[12][13][14][15]
Cortes' successor, Dr.Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia, has also being accused of anti-Semitic and anti-Masonic ideas, however Calderón was closer to SpanishNational Catholicism than any form ofFascism and was loyal to theUnited States even visiting theWhite House during his tenure. After thePearl Harbor attack Calderón declared war on Germany and aligned the country with the Allies following a persecution of Germans, Italians and Japanese (including Effinger who was deported to the United States although release after the war). However most laws limiting the rights of Jews were kept in place until Calderón successor's presidency,Teodoro Picado Michalski, himself son of a Polish mother and thus friendly toward the Polish Jewish community.[7]
The outbreak of theCosta Rican Civil War after the1948 election in which Otilio Ulate was the alleged winner split the country in two sides; opponents and supporters of the government. The Jewish community was seen as pro-government whilst Germans and Italians were overwhelmingly anti-Calderón due to the persecutions. After the triumph of rebel forces the Synagogue of San José was set on fire, but no more anti-Semitic attacks happened in part due to the opposition of war caudilloJosé Figueres.[7]
Most of post–1948 period of Costa Rica was characterized by its political stability. The country developed atwo-party system between the center-leftFigueristas and center-rightCalderonistas and in general avoided the extremes with both far-left and far-right parties receiving testimonial results. Costa Rica (as a founding member of theUnited Nations) was also one of the countries that voted in favor of the creation ofIsrael and for many years was alongsideEl Salvador one of the only two countries with the embassy inJerusalem and notTel Aviv. During theCold War period thefar-rightFree Costa Rica Movement was born and active, with a strongparamilitary anti-leftist organization. Although some members of the group were openlyanti-Zionist others were simplyConservative andLibertarian hardliners whoseanti-Communism was not mixed with anti-Jewish ideas.
Controversies regardingLuis Fishman's Jewishness arise during the2002 Costa Rican general election when presidential candidateAbel Pacheco de la Espriella separated Fishman as his running mate in the presidential ticket. Fishman accused Pacheco and his team of making anti-Semitic comments.[16] On the 2010–2014 period, then deputy Manrique Oviedo of theCitizens' Action Party (although he later defected toNational Restoration) accused thenVice PresidentLuis Liberman of using his influence for benefiting a fellow Jew.[17]
And in 2019anti-establishmentright-wing candidateJuan Diego Castro generated uproar due to his video making accusation against businessman and newspaper owner Leonel Baruch, of Jewish origin, calling him "evil banker" and mocking theHolocaust.[18] Anti-semitic comments have been reported insocial media including against Eliécer Feinzaig, president of theLiberal Progressive Party and of Jewish religion.[19]
Around the early 2000s the so call National Socialist Party of Costa Rica was founded, mainly as a fringe neo-Nazi group, accused of minor violenthate crimes andvandalism, but with little to non impact in Costa Rican politics aside from the media coverage.[20] Some other minor neo-Nazi groups also appeared with mostly online activity.[21] In 2012 a police officer identify as Ronald "Murdock" Herrera Borges came into the spotlight for his association with Nazism and being openly neo-Nazi.[22][23] Herrera was fired from the police[24] and committed suicide a few years later.[25][26] In 2015 theSimon Wiesenthal Center denounced that shops sellingHolocaust denial literature andNazi symbols existed inSan José.[27]
In 2018 an anti-immigration rally was controversial due to the presence of neo-Nazis in it usingSwastikas andNazi salutes and administrating far-rightFacebook pages that spreadxenophobic material andFake news.[28][29][30] Several far-right organization were dismantled during the 2019 including aterrorist group that owned one of these pages namedResistencia Costarricense (Costa Rican Resistance).[31]
A 2009 poll measuring the perception of Jews in Costa Rica showed that 32% of Costa Rican have a positive view of the Jews, whilst 29% have a negative and 38% have neither.[32] 8% of Costa Rican considered Jews to be honest citizens, 10% considered that they help each other, 4.7% considered that they help the economy, 4.5% believed they respect the family and 4.8% that they have a clear identity.[32] 7.5% of Costa Ricans believed that Jews discriminate non-Jews, 6.5% believed they exploit who works for them, 11% that they know how to handle money and 4% believed they disrespect theChristian faith. Negative ideas were more prominent among men than women.[32]
Only 1.3% expressed they distrusted Jews (the most distrusted group was that of theColombian immigrants at 34%), and only 0.5% expressed that they have a problem withJudaism as a religion (65% expressed no problem with any religion), 67% expressed no problem with Jewish institutions, 13% express a little of discomfort and only 7% expressed a lot of discomfort.[32] 37% thought that Jews should be more loyal to Costa Rica than to Israel, and 35% were indifferent if they were.[32] 41% of Ticos answered that they think theJews killed Christ or took part in hisdeath, whilst 37% do not answer and 21% think the Jews were not responsible.[32]
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