Costa Rica plans to apply for membership in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, becoming the third Latin American nation to join the organization, which created the widely used working definition of Jew-hatred, JNS has learned.
JNS has also learned that the country intends to name an antisemitism envoy under the auspices of its Foreign Ministry.
The news comes on the heels of a Washington visit by Costa Rican Foreign Minister Manuel Tovar, including a meeting on Wednesday with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A Latin American diplomatic source told JNS that Tovar also met on Wednesday with Yehuda Kaploun, a rabbi and the State Department’s special envoy for monitoring and combatting antisemitism.
It is “unsurprising” that Costa Rica would opt to join IHRA given its previous adoption of the alliance’s working definition of Jew-hatred and efforts by the U.S. government in Latin America to root out and confront Jew-hatred, the diplomatic source told JNS.
IHRA is an intergovernmental organization which addresses “contemporary challenges related to the Holocaust and genocide of the Roma.”
Member governments “strengthen the historical record so the world can better understand and remember what happened,” the alliance states. “We equip leaders with what they need to craft international policies that support democratic and inclusive societies, to help prevent genocide in the future.”
It is best known for its working definition of Jew-hatred, which the United States and many other countries have adopted, as have states, cities and organizations.
There are currently 35 IHRA member countries, as well as observer and liaison nations.
Argentina joined in 2002 as a full member, and Uruguay is an observer nation. Last month, JNS reported exclusively that the Dominican Republic announced that it was adopting the IHRA definition, becoming the seventh country from the region to do so.
