Raphaël Confiant, in his novel “Rue des Syriens,” - de voyage ofhisfamilymembers toCuba.In2012, ouf, in“Origins” givespiquantdetailsofthe (2004), Middle-East immigrants to Latin America. Amin Maal- Many writershaveendeavoured totelllifestoriesof America in Latin Diaspora Arab The in thosesocieties. for generationsandtodayperfectlyintegratedwith- 10 million people,livinginLatinAmericancountries ly supportedbyanArabdiasporanumberingover South-South partnership,strengthenedandstrong- gained by both Arabs and Latin Americans from this nomic developments and show the mutual benefits The present text aims to take stock of these eco- trade hasexperiencedaspectacularupsurge. first LatinAmerica-ArabWorld Summitin2005,this century, trade remained relatively modest. Since the this historicalproximity, untilthedawnof21st vention by foreign powers in Arab countries. Despite posed interference,manoeuvresandmilitaryinter- the wakeofSecondWorld War and haveop- Arab movementsofnationalliberationemergingin in Americancountrieshavegenerallysupported the UnitedStatesordirectlyunderitsinfluence,Lat- And apartfromcertainsmallcountriestoocloseto ganizations, especiallytheNon-AlignedMovement. tained relations through numerous international or- Arab andLatinAmericancountrieshavelongmain- Catholic UniversityofMurcia Pablo Blesa Université catholiquedeLouvain Khader Bichara Partnership South-South Long-standing Migration, Expanding an The World Arab and Latin America: |The Euro-Mediterranean Overview PartnershipGeographical and Actors Other first yearswere difficultandnotexemptof conflicts languages andcustomsthey knewnothingof.The The firstimmigrantsdisembarked incountrieswhose with Yet Path, Crowned Migratory A Difficult 10 to12million. glean, themostrealisticestimatewouldputthemat By puttingtogetheralltheinformationIwasableto the fancifulestimatesrangingfrom10to30million. tinent, it is very difficult to gauge their number, hence several generations. Scattered across an entire con- als”: theyarenowLatinAmericanandhavebeenfor peared from the statistics insofar as “foreign nation- The majorityofthese“Arab immigrants” havedisap- family networksofpeoplealreadylivingthere. American migratoryadventure,takingadvantageof abs, aboveallfromtheMashreq,toattemptLatin conditions anddrovehundredsofthousandsAr- (1975-1990) causedgeneraldeteriorationofliving Arab War of 1967 and theLebanese Civil War the PalestinianNakba,andmorerecently, theIsraeli- thecreationofStateIsrael(1948)and 1948), French andBritishmandatesintheMashreq(1922- sion. Inthe20thcentury, theFirstWorld War, the confessional conflicts,povertyandTurkish repres- century? Historianspointoutanumberoffactors: settle inLatinAmerica,andasfarbackthe19th Palestinians tocrossoceansandbravestorms But whatdrovethousandsofLebanese,Syriansand il Gibranbeingthemostemblematicofitswriters. is called“AdabalMahjar” Kahl- (DiasporaLiterature), expatriates andtheirdescendants.Thisbodyofworks there arecountlessnovelspublishedbytheseArab to Martiniqueintheearly 20th century. InArabic, scribes thetumultuousjourneyofaSyrianimmigrant Success

IEMed. Mediterranean Yearbook 2020 255 Geographical Overview | The EMP and Other Actors Panorama IEMed. Mediterranean Yearbook 2020 256 Geographical Overview | The EMP and Other Actors Panorama the textile sector “large companies,” in especially industrial workshops became “department stores” and small Small tofrom temporary permanent. nature: in immigration changed With the second generation, tinos ysirios.” oft pejorative name; they became “Libaneses, - pales fortunes, theArabswerenolonger“losturcos,” an by “Arabs.” Withtheireconomicriseandamassed of textilesinArgentinaweremadefactoriesowned produced inBrazil,90%oftextilesChileand50% silk articlesand25%ofcottonwoolproducts delwahid reportedthatbeforeWorld War II,75%of panies,” especiallyinthetextilesector.AkrimAb- and smallindustrialworkshopsbecame“largecom- Very quickly, smallshopsbecame“departmentstores” Paulo in1907. anese, Ne’meYafet, did the samein the cityof São er, he opened branches in Chile and Bolivia. A Leb- a textilefactoryinLimatheearly20thcentury. Lat- tinian fromBeitSahur,oftheSahoriafamily, opened tion immigrantsengagedinindustryaswell.APales- members. Inadditiontocommerce,second-genera- erally, marriage took place among family or tribal old countrynowundertookthetripintheirturn.Gen- to familial.Parentswhohadremainedinthe vidual in nature:fromtemporarytopermanent,indi- With the second generation, immigration changed held byArgentineArabswereestimatedat3,701. than 320“Arab shops” in1907.In1916,theshops and openingshops.InSãoPaulo,therewerenoless than ageneration,immigrantsbegansettingupstalls in whichtheyengagedwasitineranttrade.Inless with the autochthonous community. The only activity olutionary movements, but they increasingly marry olutionary movements, buttheyincreasingly marry political partiesandlabourorganizations, orevenrev- frequent universitiesandprestigious schools,join children ofthesecondand subsequent generations Having climbedtheladderof economicsuccess,the shops became the 1970s,ten LatinAmericansofLebanese, Pales- And finally, afactthatweoftenignoreisthat,since amples amongstthousands. in CubaunderFidelCastro. Thesearebutafewex- Movement; andFernandoNadra, Minister of Justice Party; JabbourMaalouf,ofthe BolivianRevolutionary Sergio Bitar, member oftheChilean Communist centración delasfuerzaspopularesofEcuador; Pedro Saad;AsaadBucarem,founderoftheCon- is thecaseof:labourunionleaderinEcuador, amply documentedbyLatinAmericanauthors.This left-wing andevenrevolutionaryparties,hasbeen partially, sincetheirpresenceinlabourunions,and conservative, right-wingparties.Thisistrue,butonly these “LatinAmericansofAraborigin” wouldvotefor Given theireconomicstatus,onecouldassumethat although toalesserdegree. they arepresentinallLatinAmericanparliaments, number ofseatsintheBrazilianParliament.Indeed, the descendantsofArabimmigrantsheldalarge country’s CentralBank.Morerecently, inthe2000s, Achkar. InChile,CarlosMasadlikewiseheadedthe would besucceededbyanotherLebanese,Camilo becoming the Economy Minister, a post in which he was president of the Central Bank of Brazil before tries. Forinstance,RicardoYafet, ofLebaneseorigin, economic andpoliticallifeofLatinAmericancoun- to demonstratethediaspora’sinvolvementin presidents ofrepublics.Afewexampleswillsuffice nors, ministers,andevenpresidentialcandidatesor held posts of bank presidents, army generals, gover- plete listofLatinAmericansAraboriginhaving tional one.Itwouldbetedioustodrawupacom- scale, thenontheprovinciallevel,andfinallyna- in America” openspoliticstothem,firstonthelocal The economicsuccessofthe“Arab diaspora inLat- Politics and in Business Origin” Arab of Americans “Latin of Breakthrough Significant their “hermanospalestinos,” astheycallthem. in Palestineanddisplayunwaveringsolidaritywith keep verystrongtieswiththeirfamilieswhoremained ian heritageisemblematicinthisregard,forthey parents. ThecaseoftheLatinAmericansPalestin- roots andlandoftheirgrandparentsorgreatgrand- outside “thefamily.” However,theydonotforgetthe to Lebanon and Syria was justified by the presence in to Lebanonand Syriawasjustifiedbythepresence in This choiceofcountrieswas notfortuitous.Thevisit Sha’ath. Libya, andmetwithPalestinian representative,Nabil ed Syria, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and first touroftheArabcountries, PresidentLulavisit- Pedro II(1825-1891)inthe19thcentury. Onhis Brazilian presidentsincetheonebyEmperorDom Lula totheMiddleEastin2003,firstvisitbya Everything beganwithavisitbyBrazilianPresident Summits Countries America-Arab South Four World partnership. in 2002,spearheadedthenewLatinAmerican-Arab zilian president,LuladaSilva,who,afterhiselection lead toasignificantrapprochement.ItwastheBra- what stiflingembraceoftheirtraditionalallieswould kets, andtheirwishtofreethemselvesofthesome- two groupstodiversifytheirexportandimportmar- The endoftheColdWar, thewillexpressedby eration. to LatinAmerican-ArabWorld, South-Southcoop- Europe most certainly constituted serious obstacles cus ontheUnitedStatesandArabcountries on nal divisions within each group, Latin America’s fo- existent. TheColdWar, geographicdistance,inter- Latin American and Arab countries were nearly non- Until theyear2000,economicrelationsbetween EconomicDiplomatic Breakthrough Opening, Countries: Arab and the America Latin Paraguay sinceApril2018. and mostrecently, MarioAbdoBenítez,Presidentof MichelTemer,2009), PresidentofBrazil(2016-2018), Elías AntonioSaca,PresidentofElSalvador(2004- Flores Facussé, President of Honduras (1998-2002), Carlos Mahuad, President of Ecuador (1998-2000), Jamil Bucaram, PresidentofEcuador(1996-1997), Abdalá nem, President of Argentina (1989-1999), CarlosMe- dent oftheDominicanRepublic(1984), JacoboMajlutaAzar,Presi- lombia (1978-1982), JulioSamirTurbay,(1980-1989), PresidentofCo- idents: EdwardSeaga,PrimeMinisterofJamaica lons ofstategovernmentasprimeministersorpres- tinian andSyrianoriginhavereachedthetopeche- States feared the constitutionofablocopposed to Israel lookedfavourablyon this summit:theUnited Neither the United States of America nor, a fortiori, countries and Arab between Latin America exercisefirst in multilateral diplomacy in 2005.in This Brasilia was the American-Arab Countries was held Summit initial of South The en culturaldialogue. gional politicaldialogue,intensifytradeandstrength- the participantsassertedtheirwilltodeepenintrare- America andArabcountries.IntheFinalDeclaration, exercise in multilateral diplomacy between Latin Thiswasthefirst nine LatinAmericanpresidents). Arab headsofstateattended,ascomparedto (six Arab countriesand11fromLatinAmericanones 2005, andinvolved33delegations,22ofthemfrom The initialASPA SummitwasheldinBrasilia nership between Latin American and Arab countries. Latin America,butalsooftheurgentneedforapart- not onlyofstrengtheningtiesbetweenMoroccoand Latin Americainlate2004andbecameanadvocate wise notrandom,fortheKingofMoroccohadtoured 23 March2005.ThechoiceofMarrakeshwaslike- paratory meetingtookplaceinMarrakeshon22and American-Arab Countries (ASPA) wasborn.Apre- This ishowtheideaoforganizingaSummitSouth and findnewtradepartners. gentina, feltthesameneedtodiversifytheirmarkets tain LatinAmericancountries,namelyBrazilandAr- foster South-Southcooperation.Coincidentally, cer- of theArabstogobeyondbilateralagreementsand made him realize that there was a real will on behalf The warmreceptionaffordedtheBrazilianPresident solidarity intheirstruggleagainstIsraelioccupation. ians, theyhavealwaysenjoyedunfailingBrazilian ucts in the Arab region. With regard to the Palestin- Egypt isthe3rd-largestimporterofBrazilianprod- products and apotential source of investments; and Emirates areanimportmarketforBrazilianagricultural ly influential on the political and economic levels; the Brazil ofasignificantSyrian-Lebanesediaspora,high-

IEMed. Mediterranean Yearbook 2020 257 Geographical Overview | The EMP and Other Actors Panorama IEMed. Mediterranean Yearbook 2020 258 Geographical Overview | The EMP and Other Actors Panorama mated thatLatin Americameetsnearly17% ofArab Today, thesituationiscompletely different.Itisesti- soy andmaize. of sugar,75%coffee,50% ofmeatand40% supplied nearly75%ofArab chickenimports,80% were higherforcertainproducts. LatinAmerica two regions’ totaltrade,althoughthe percentages mained modest,rangingfrom1.5%to3%ofthe tween LatinAmericaandtheArabcountriesre- And yet,beforethe2005BrasiliaSummit,tradebe- ry natureisthusevident. America isshortofinvestments.Theircomplimenta- lookout forprofitableinvestments,whereasLatin sources (thefamoussovereignfunds)andareonthe the Gulf,havebuiltupconsiderablefinancialre- oil countries,abovealltheUnitedArabEmiratesin Latin Americagenerallyneeds.Moreover,theArab exporters ofgas,oilandphosphates,resourcesthat But atthesametime,Arabcountriesaregreatest Chinese demand. mand per inhabitant of 350 dollars, three times the bill isestimatedat120billiondollars,thatis,ade- ers ofagriculturalproducts:theoverallfoodimport stress orshortageandarethenumberoneimport- Arab countries,ontheotherhand,sufferfromwater surprising that it has become a “global water bank.” It is not (60% of the world’s reserves in fresh water). Latin Americahasconsiderablewaterresources Relations Economic Increasingly Strong it doesnotpreventtradefromexpanding. This diplomatic blockage may lastfor some time,but regional meetings. prisonment ofLuladaSilva,kingpinthesebi- bility andBrazilianimbroglioshavingledtotheim- Cooperation Council,aswellVenezuelan insta- to MiddleEastturbulenceandfissuresintheGulf ties hangovertheholdingofnextsummitdue Uncertain- Saudi Arabia(10-11November2015). andfinallyRiyad, Lima, Peru(1-2October2012), then held:inDoha,Qatar(31March2009), been After Brasiliain2005,threeotherSummitshave as scheduledandwasasuccess. and LatinAmericancountries,theSummitwasheld cause. DespiteAmericanpressureoncertainArab tempt tomobilizeLatinAmericansforthePalestinian their interestsandtheIsraelissawitasanArabat- investments commerce: namely, for cross for otherAmerica areason than GulfThe countries interest Latin reason other than commerce:namely, forcross in- But theGulf countries interestLatinAmericafor a an Gulf,thatis,10billiondollars . Latin American and Caribbean exports to the Arabi- which ultimatelyonlyrepresents 55-60%oftotal bean wasexpectedtoexceed 6billiondollars, riculture exportsfromLatinAmericaandtheCarib- It isestimatedthatin2018,thevalueoffoodandag- Ecuador (nutsandfruit). Chileand followed byArgentina(meatandgrains), takes thelion’sshare(aboveallinmeatandsugar) amount of 4.3 billion dollars. In this trade, Brazil were from LatinAmericaandthe Caribbean, tothe port estimatesthat9%oftheGulf’sfoodimports teeming withenlighteninginformation.The2016re- and 2018bytheEconomistIntelligenceUnitare ers. Inthisregard,tworeportspublishedin2016 American countrieshavebecometheirmainsuppli- duce andfoodstuffs.ItisthereforenaturalthatLatin meat, sugar,coffee,fruitandotheragriculturalpro- The ArabGulfcountriesaremajorimportersof Partners Economic Main Countries’ American Latin States: Gulf ence builtinlessthan20years. These are but afewexamplesofaninterdepend- Mexico’s demandinphosphatesanditsderivatives. Morocco, by 2012itwas supplying nearly 70% of Insofaras 8% andAlgeria12%(namelyrefinedoil). Arabia meetsnearly12%ofBrazil’soilneeds,Qatar essentially consistofgas,oilandphosphates.Saudi significant buthardlysurpass10billiondollarsand Latin AmericanimportsfromArabcountriesarealso countries. 25 billion dollars in Latin American exports to Arab to well asotherindustrialproducts,iteasilyamounts ports (iron,zinc,copper)andotherrawmaterialsas if we add the other, non-food Latin American ex- food needs (i.e. nearly 20 billion dollars’-worth) and, 2005, ontheinitiativeofBrazilianPresident, together thetworegionswasheldinBrasilia relatively recent.ThefirstASPA Summitbringing The LatinAmerican-Arabcountriespartnershipis Conclusion ar andchickenfarmingindustriesinBrazil. guay, whereasHassanFoodhasinvestedinthesug- agricultural firmpresentinArgentina,BrazilandUru- tar. Al-GharrafahasboughtstocksinAdecoagro,an the HassanFoodandAl-GharrafacompaniesofQa- ra AgriculturalCompanyofAbuDhabi,andaboveall tites ofnumerousGulfinvestors,namelytheAl-Dah- The agriculturesectorhasalsowhettedtheappe- an investmentof2billiondollars. 50% ofthesameBrazilianbank,whichrepresents Qatar Holdingfollowedsuit,acquiringawhopping vesting some350milliondollars.InOctober2010, into the Brazilian branch of Banco Santander, in- Aabar InvestmentFundofAbuDhabihasbought aroused keeninterestamongGulfinvestors.The The Latin American banking sector has likewise 250 milliondollars). Peru orthePort ofMarielinCuba(aninvestment Latin Americanports,suchasthePort ofCallaoin ed intheconstructionormodernizationofnumerous World (oftheUnitedArabEmirates)hasparticipat- investment ofnearlyabilliondollars.Foritspart,DP stance, hassetupasteelmillinOmanfortotal vestments. TheBrazilianmininggiant,VALE, forin- trends willnotobstructthepathsoffuture. ulist leaderssupportedbypro-Israelievangelical to powerin certain LatinAmericancountries of pop- turbulence, LatinAmericaninstabilitiesandtherise day. Inanycase,letushopethattheMiddleEast and expand,giventheinterdependencesevidentto- This South-Southpartnershipisclearlyboundtolast dollars, amplyatteststothis. imports fromLatinAmericaamounttosome6billion The caseoftheArabianGulfcountries,whosefood tural imports,LatinAmericaisnowamajorpartner. But withregardtoArabcountries’ foodandagricul- India, theirthirdtradepartner(140billiondollars). oreven second tradepartner(240billiondollars), orChina,their trade partner(350billiondollars), is farfromrivallingtheEU,Arabcountries’ top ed at30-35billiondollars.LatinAmerica,itistrue, ment, given that today, their overall trade is estimat- economic dividendsofthisdiplomaticrapproche- The tworegionsdidnottakelonginreapingthe evident today given the interdependences boundclearly to and expand, last This South-South is partnership since then. daSilva.ThreemoresummitshavetakenplaceLula

IEMed. Mediterranean Yearbook 2020 259 Geographical Overview | The EMP and Other Actors Panorama