Why are so many South American countries recognizing the Palestinian state?

Foreign Policy- ...The Palestinian Authority also plans to open an embassy in Ecuador soon, and Pinera plans to visit the West Bank in three months.

As blogger Greg Weeks notes, the interesting thing about this development is that it appears to be uncoordinated. As none of these countries have really involved themselves heavily in Israeli-Palestinian politics before, it's hard not to read this in the context of U.S.-South American relations and Brazil's rising influence. Uruguay was actually the first in the latest wave of Palestinian recognition, but the snowball really starting rolling after Brazil's announcemnt on Dec. 3, one of former President Lula da Silva's last acts in office.

Under Lula, Brazil has become an increasingly important player in Mideast politics, often taking positions directly at odds with U.S. policy. But the fact that governments ranging on the political spectrum from Sebastian Pinera's Chile to Hugo Chavez's Venezuela have been so quick to follow Brazil's lead on a political gesture guaranteed to annoy Washington, is a pretty good sign of where power is shifting on the continent.

The country to watch here is Colombia, traditionally staunchly pro-American, but increasingly, under President Juan Manuel Santos, willing to reach out to regional rivals. If Colombia signs on to supporting the Palestinian state -- they've been silent so far -- the Lula-Amorim foreign-policy legacy is going to start looking pretty impressive. Read more