History of the Jews in Latin America and the Caribbean

The history of the Jews in Latin America and the Caribbean began with conversos who joined the Spanish and Portuguese expeditions to the continents. The Alhambra Decree of 1492 led to the mass conversion of Spain's Jews to Catholicism and the expulsion of those who refused to do so. Many conversos, Jews who converted to Christianity under pressure during the Spanish Inquisition, did travel to the New World. While the Spanish Crown required settlers to be of Catholic lineage, conversos often presented themselves as devout Catholics to meet this requirement. Some sought refuge in the Americas to escape persecution of the Inquisition, which followed them even to the Spanish viceregal towns.

In places like Mexico and New Mexico, conversos maintained their faith in secret while outwardly adhering to Catholic practices. Their migration was driven by both the hope for greater economic opportunities and the desire to escape religious oppression. The first Jews came with the first expedition of Christopher Columbus, including Rodrigo de Triana and Luis De Torres.

Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries a number of converso families migrated to the Netherlands, France and eventually Italy, from where they joined other expeditions to the Americas. Others migrated to England or France and accompanied their colonists as traders and merchants. By the late 16th century, fully functioning Jewish communities were founded in the Portuguese colony of Brazil, the Dutch Suriname and Curaçao; Spanish Santo Domingo, and the English colonies of Jamaica and Barbados. In addition, there were unorganized communities of Jews in Spanish and Portuguese territories where the Inquisition was active, including Colombia, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Peru. Many in such communities were crypto-Jews, who had generally concealed their identity from the authorities.

By the mid-17th century, the largest Jewish communities in the Western Hemisphere were located in Suriname and Brazil. Several Jewish communities in the Caribbean, Central and South America flourished, particularly in those areas under Dutch and English control, which were more tolerant. More immigrants went to this region as part of the massive emigration of Jews from eastern Europe in the late 19th century. During the Nazi period, Latin America became one of several regions of refuge for German-speaking and other European Jewish refugees, although admission policies varied by country. The Jewish Museum Berlin has described the forced emigration of Ashkenazi Jews after 1933 as extending to more than one hundred countries, including countries in Latin America. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee also supported emigration and relief efforts in the region, including the Dominican Republic Settlement Association in Sosúa, refugee assistance in Cuba, and partnerships with local committees in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and Uruguay. These efforts included agricultural settlements, refugee homes, work programs and community relief. In the 21st century, fewer than 300,000 Jews live in Latin America. They are concentrated in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Mexico and Uruguay.