Ahmadinejad nixes visit (to Brazil) after Jewish protests

[oberliner]

SAO PAULO, Brazil (JTA) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad canceled his visit to Latin America one day after Jewish-led protests in Brazil.

No reason was given for the cancellation, which was announced Monday by the Iranian news agency IRNA.

Thousands of Brazilians Jews and non-Jews demonstrated in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro on Sunday against Ahmadinejad's visit to their country, scheduled for Wednesday, which would be his first stop in Latin America.

In Sao Paulo, some 1,000 people including secular and Orthodox Jews, as well as Evangelical Christians, homosexuals and Gypsies, gathered in a major square to protest. In Rio, another 1,000 demonstrators walked along Ipanema beach carrying signs and shouting messages against terrorism, homophobia and racism.

http://jta.org/news/article/2009/05/04/1004894/iran-cancels-visit-after-jewish-protests

[madeline_con]

1. "No reason was given for the cancellation..."

I'm sure it was a coincidence. :sarcasm:

I guess the Big Bad Bloviator is scared of a little free speech.

[Howardx]

2. brazilian jews sure seem to be

scared of a little free speech that is.

[oberliner]

3. Brazilians protested when Bush came to visit their country

Brazilians Protest Upcoming Bush Visit

Protesters, most of them women from the Via Campesina farmworkers movement, briefly shut down an iron ore mine, invaded an ethanol distillery and took over the Rio de Janeiro offices of Brazil's National Development Bank on the eve of Bush's visit.

Fresh graffiti reading "Get Out, Bush! Assassin!" in bright red letters popped up along busy highways near the locations in Sao Paulo where Bush will appear as he kicks off a five-nation Latin American tour.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0308-07.htm

Why wouldn't they do the same for Ahmadinejad?

[Howardx]

4. this article isnt about "brazilians" as you well know

lets just skip your usual game here oberliner, im sick of it.

[oberliner]

5. Can you explain what you mean?

Did you think that the Brazilians who protested the Bush visit were "scared of a little free speech" or were just disgusted by the actions of President Bush?

I do not understand why you claim that those Brazilians who protested Ahmadinejad's visit were "scared of a little free speech" rather than expressing their disgust with a similarly unpleasant world leader.

[Sezu]

6. Gays too, smart guy? n/t

[IndianaGreen]

7. Jewish protests had nothing to do with it!

Our racist and Holocaust-denying boy is in deep trouble back home:

Khamenei Scolds Ahmadinejad Over Dismissed Official

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's supreme leader publicly rebuked the president over his removal of a top official, a rare show of discontent with the hard-line Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by the country's most powerful figure.

The rebuke, issued in the press Monday, quickly raised questions whether the supreme leader is backing off support of Ahmadinejad in the president's tough battle for a second term in June 12 elections.

If so, that could be a heavy blow to Ahmadinejad. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei holds ultimate power in Iran, at the top of the clerical hierarchy above elected figures. If he is seen as moving away from Ahmadinejad, the president's conservative base could take it as a signal to back an alternative candidate.

The flap centered around control of a body that organizes the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, which traditionally comes under Khamenei's vast powers. The supreme leader overturned the government's removal of the head of the organization.

The dispute may appear like a minor turf battle. But some observers saw it as a sign of Khamenei distancing himself from Ahmadinejad, whose popularity has fallen among some Iranians because of the ailing economy. His critics also accuse him of hurting Iran with comments denying the Holocaust and by taking a tough stance over Iran's nuclear program.

Political analyst Saeed Leilaz called the rebuke "unprecedented" and said it "clearly means that Khamenei doesn't insist that Ahmadinejad deserves to remain as president. That's the message."

Ahmadinejad faces a strong challenge in the elections from reformists, who call for greater freedoms at home and better relations with the West. At the same time, Ahmadinejad has a challenger from within his conservative camp, former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezaei.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/04/khamenei-scolds-ahmadinej_n_195710.html

[rabs]

8. The visit has not been canceled but merely postponed.

There seems to be a problem with semantics regarding the word Portuguese "adiamento" and "adia."
(adiamento in Portuguese = postponement, delay, putting off .)


-------------------------------------
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad adia visita à América do Sul para depois de eleição presidencial iraniana.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad puts off visit to South America until after the Iranian presidential election.

Itamaraty this afternoon said Almadinejad had spoken with Lula today and asked "his excellency to accept the postponement of his official visit for another time, after the presidential election in Iran ..." the date to be set by the two foreign ministries.

"... pedia "à vossa excelência aceitar o adiamento da visita oficial para outra oportunidade, depois da eleição presidencial do Irã, cuja data será oportunamente definida pelas duas chancelarias."

The more than 100 Iranian business leaders will be going to Brazil, according to Itamaraty Under Secretary Roberto Jaguaribe.

Itamaraty said the protests in Rio and Sao Paulo had nothing to with the matter. Sao Paulo police estimated the crowd at about 400.


Source; Estadao.com.br