Antisemitism in Venezuela has occurred throughout the history of the Jews in Venezuela. However, under the presidencies of both Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, allegations of antisemitism grew following actions and statements by the Venezuelan government, while also occurring in public incidents. The Bolivarian government would also use the words of "Jewish" and "Zionist" interchangeably in order to avoid accusations of antisemitism.
The Jewish population also declined rapidly under the Bolivarian government according to the Algemeiner Journal, with an estimated population of 22,000 in 1999, falling to under 7,000 in 2015. Though specific leaders have used antisemitic language, Venezuela's broader history of antisemitism is not large or unusual.
19th century
At the turn of the 19th century, Venezuela were fighting against their Spanish colonizers in wars of independence. Simon Bolivar, the liberator, found refuge and material support for his army in the homes of Jews from Dutch colony of Curaçao. In Willemstad Jews such as Mordejai Ricardo and brothers Ricardo and Abraham Meza offered hospitality to Bolivar as he fought against the Spanish, thus establishing brotherly relations between Jews and the newly independent Venezuelan republic. Several Jews even fought in the ranks of Bolivar army during the war. The ties between Jews in the Dutch island colonies and Venezuela increased more dramatically between 1819 and 1821 after its new constitution called for religious freedom. In 1820, the first Jewish family settled in the town of Coro, which has a Jewish cemetery with tombstones dating back to 1832.
In 1827, a group of Jews moved from Curaçao and settled in Coro, Venezuela. Other Jewish communities began springing up in Caracas and Puerto Cabello in the 1840s. In 1844, groups of Jews from Morocco came to the town of Barcelona and, in 1875, they were granted permission to establish a Jewish cemetery. In 1855, rioting in Coro forced the entire Jewish population, 168 individuals, to seek refuge in their native Curaçao. As they claimed Dutch citizenship, the consul-general for the Netherlands, Van Lansberge, informed the home government, and three war ships were sent to La Guaira, the principal seaport of Venezuela, and the redress demanded was at once granted. The Venezuelan government agreed to salute the Dutch flag; to restore to the Jews their property; and to pay an indemnity of 200,000 pesos ($160,000), the last clause being carried into effect in 1859, after lengthy diplomatic negotiations with the ambassador of the Netherlands, Jhr. O. van Rees.
Assimilation of Jews in Venezuela was difficult, though small communities could be found in Puerto Cabello, Maracaibo, Villa de Cura, Barcelona, Carupano, Rio Chico, and Barquisimeto.
20th century
In response to rising political tension between the Netherlands and Venezuela, in March 1902, compelled the Jews of Coro again to seek an asylum in Curaçao, tendered to them by the governor of the island, Jhr. J. O. de Jong van Beek en Doorn, who, upon learning the facts, dispatched the Dutch warship to protect them. It returned to Curaçao with eighty Jewish women and children on board. In July following, the same vessel and the were sent to La Vela de Coro for the remainder, and only a few Jewish residents remained behind to protect the property of the exiles.
Immigration restrictions were placed on Jews in the early 20th century and were abolished in the late 1950s. By 1950 there were around 6,000 Jewish people in Venezuela and the biggest waves of immigration occurred after World War II and the 1967 Six-Day War, The Jewish population in Venezuela was largely centered in Caracas, with smaller concentrations in Maracaibo. Most of Venezuela's Jews are either first or second generation.
Venezuela was hospitable to Jewish life, and Jews "developed deep ties to the country and a strong sense of patriotism".
21st century
Emigration
According to the Latin American Jewish Congress, Venezuela's Jewish community had an estimated 22,000 people when Chávez took office in 1999. In the first few years of the 21st century, the number of Venezuelan Jews emigrating to Israel grew steadily. The Algemeiner Journal stated that the Jewish emigration from Venezuela occurred due to "the country’s economic crisis ... as well as the anti-Semitic rhetoric that has marked the left-wing regime’s support for Iran, Syria, and Palestinian Islamist organizations like Hamas" and that "first Chavez and now Maduro have found political uses for anti-Jewish rhetoric".