Costa Rica became the sixth Latin American country to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, following in the footsteps of Argentina, Guatemala, Uruguay, Colombia, and Panama, which have either adopted or endorsed it.
Costa Rica’s Foreign Affairs Ministry announced the move at the IHRA Alliance in Berlin, Germany, on July 23, just a day before Brazil withdrew from the alliance.
The IHRA definition, established on May 26, 2016, states: “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions, and religious facilities.”
The Costa Rican ministry said it considers the definition “an instrument for guiding institutional and international efforts in the fight against antisemitism and Holocaust distortion” and recognizes it as a “fundamental reference tool to promote education, awareness, and the prevention of antisemitism.”
Praise for Costa Rica
The Simon Wiesenthal Center Latin America reposted the ministry’s letter and thanked President Rodrigo Chaves Robles and Foreign Minister Arnoldo André Tinoco specifically for their work.
“We are grateful that Costa Rica has joined the growing number of nations that consider the IHRA definition an essential guide to recognizing antisemitism in its various forms and addressing it appropriately,” said Dina Siegel Vann, the director of the American Jewish Committee’s Institute for Latin American Affairs.
Siegel urged all nations to follow suit in order to protect their Jewish communities.
The World Jewish Congress praised the Costa Rican government “for taking significant action against antisemitism.”
Gilbert Meltzer, president of the Costa Rican Jewish Community (CIS), stated that “the rise in hate speech and attacks against Jews around the world, especially after October 7, demands ethical decisions and firm actions like this.
“We thank Costa Rica for joining the group of countries in the international community that support morality and combat discrimination.”
“Defining hate is the first step in combating it,” wrote the European Jewish Congress on X/Twitter – “a principled action that should inspire others.”
The OAS (Organization of American States) Commissioner for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism, Fernando Lottenberg, said Costa Rica has “reaffirmed its commitment to truth and human rights.”
On Thursday, Israel’s foreign ministry and Brazilian media announced that Brazil has withdrawn from the IHRA, where it had served as an observer member since 2021.
“Brazil’s decision to join [South Africa’s] legal offensive against Israel at the ICJ while withdrawing from the IHRA is a demonstration of a profound moral failure,” wrote Israel’s foreign ministry on X.
“At a time when Israel is fighting for its very existence, turning against the Jewish state and abandoning the global consensus against antisemitism is both reckless and shameful.”
WHILE THE Brazilian government has not officially confirmed the withdrawal from the IHRA, the move has been confirmed by various anti-Israeli Brazilian groups. The Brazilian paper Metrópoles also claimed that the Israeli embassy in Brasilia has been informed.
Sources from Brazil’s foreign ministry told another paper, UOL, that one of the reasons for the withdrawal is the financial resources that are needed in order to remain with the alliance.
Lottenberg said on X that “the Brazilian government’s decision is a mistake.”
He noted that Brazil has the second largest Jewish community in Latin America and that being integrated into the IHRA is a way of demonstrating commitment to a culture of peace, to promoting education about the Holocaust, and to combating antisemitism.
“The IHRA definition of antisemitism represents an important tool that, although not legally binding, is adopted by over 45 countries and 2,000 institutions worldwide to inform, identify, and combat antisemitism,” said Lottenberg.
“Especially at a time of rising hate cases, as has been recorded in Brazil, great care must be taken so that actions unrelated to diplomatic tensions do not affect the safety of the large Jewish community living in the country,” he added.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center Latin America said, “Withdrawing Brazil from an international organization that seeks to preserve the memory of the Holocaust and combat antisemitism is not a measure against the State of Israel.
“It is contempt for Jews and will allow [President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva] to compare us to the Nazis without remorse.”
The Palestine Arab Federation of Brazil (FEPAL) however, celebrated the withdrawal from the IHRA, which it called “an arm of Zionism created to hijack the memory of the Euro-Jewish Holocaust by the Nazis and instrumentate [implement] it at the service of the colonial and genocidal project of “Israel” in Palestine.”
In its statement on Friday, FEPAL said the IHRA has been used to “aid the extermination of Palestinians” by “shielding ‘Israel’ from criticism, legitimizing racist, supremacist, genocidal, colonial, and apartheid Zionist policies against the Palestinian people and, not least, persecuting and criminalizing those who dare to denounce the Palestinian Holocaust.”
FEPAL went on to criticize attempts from Brazilian figures to push the country’s adoption of the IHRA definition, specifically mentioning Bill 472/2025, authored by Deputy Eduardo Pazuello (PL-RJ), which it called “the Zionist Gag Bill.”
“This Federation celebrates the decision of the Brazilian government to withdraw from the IHRA, rejecting the Zionist intimidation and the attempt to make the Brazilian State and society hostage to the interests of ‘Israel’ and the USA, the greatest murderers in human history.”
It also celebrates Brazil’s decision “to join South Africa’s lawsuit against ‘Israel’ for genocide at the International Court of Justice,” it concluded.