B’nai B’rith International is deeply concerned over Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s welcome to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Brasilia for talks. As the largest nation in Latin America, Brazil carries a responsibility toward the international community to not grant legitimacy to such a tainted leader.

By meeting with Ahmadinejad, a vibrant democracy such as Brazil confers undue influence on the world’s largest state sponsor of terror, and on a leader who came to office in a fraudulent election. Iran continues its pursuit of a nuclear weapons program, and is led by a Holocaust-denying ruler who promises to wipe Israel off the map. It’s a dangerous precedent to provide Ahmadinejad with such a respected platform as a meeting with Brazil’s president.

Iran has extended its influence in Latin America in countries like Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Nicaragua. The visit to Brazil now is indeed troubling.

Earlier this month, B’nai B’rith wrote a letter to the Brazilian president expressing concern about the meeting.

In the letter, B’nai B’rith noted: “The official visit to Brazil of a leader that openly promotes the destruction of a democratic state, denies the most horrific crime in the history of mankind - the Holocaust, exports terrorism throughout the world, and conducts an aggressive and dangerous nuclear proliferation program, sets a very negative example in the region.”

And later, the letter went on to say: “Now more than ever, given the high state of uncertainty over Iran’s nuclear proliferation program, responsible democratic nations such as Brazil should not facilitate Iran’s increasing penetration in Latin America. Closer ties with the countries in the region will make it easier for Iran to escape international sanctions, frustrating the efforts of the international community.”

Time and again, Tehran has demonstrated that its values are diametrically opposed to those of democratic nations. A meeting between a thriving democracy and Ahmadinejad damages legitimate international efforts at sanctions and isolation.