B’nai B’rith International sent a delegation to the conference headed by President Moishe Smith which also included Chairman of the Executive Dennis Glick, Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin, Honorary President Richard Heideman and his wife, Phyllis, and Board of Governors member Irving Silver and his wife, Frances.

Mariaschin was also a keynote speaker at the event, discussing B’nai B’rith’s work in the international world and its dealings with a global increase in anti-Semitism.

Smith installed new officers including Pablo Grinstein as chair of BBLA, Denis Herrnstadt as vice chair, and Julio Froimovich as mentor.

BBC correspondent Jana Beris, who is also a journalist for La Nacion, El Mercurio, The Jerusalem Post, and ABC Madrid, addressed those gathered with an overview of the relationship between Israel and the Palestinians, and the difficulties with attaining peace in the near future.

Uruguayan Senator and former Foreign Minister Sergio Abreu and leader of the Uruguay Independent Party Herbert Gatto led a dialogue on the increasing anti-Semitism in Latin America and the threat it poses.

Other discussion panels at the meetings included talks on how terrorism and the Middle East impact Latin America, the political and social situation across Latin America, Israel from the point of view of a Uruguayan journalist, and an economic overview of the region.

Before the meetings, on July 20, a B’nai B’rith International delegation including Smith; B’nai B’rith Uruguay and Paraguay President Enrique Jinchuk; and Senior Vice President Jacobo Wolkowicz met with Uruguayan Foreign Minister Gonzalo Fernández. The meeting was held to discuss issues related to Mercosur (the Latin American free trade agreement) and the current situation in Honduras. Also in the delegation were Jorge Loeff, elected president of B’nai B’rith Uruguay and Paraguay, and Franklin Rosenfeld, chair of the Human Rights Commission.

A larger collection of B’nai B’rith leaders, including Smith; Mariaschin; Glick; BBI Latin America Director Eduardo Kohn; Jinchuk; Wolkowicz; and B’nai B’rith Uruguay Chairman for Human Rights Franklin Rosenfeld spent time with Uruguayan President Tabaré Vazquez on July 22, touching on subjects including the regional influence of Iran, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Uruguay’s relationship with the United States, and the agreement between the Weizmann Institute (where Vasquez conduced advanced research) and the Louis Pasteur Institute to establish a presence in Montevideo.