BY ANDRES OPPENHEIMER

 Some Latin American Jewish communities face even greater challenges than
 Argentina's.

 One of the Jewish communities most at risk is Cuba's: there are an estimated
 600 Jews left on the island, and the rate of marriages outside the Jewish faith is
 nearly 100 percent, a Hebrew University study shows.

 "As the older people die, Cuba's community will have a difficult time surviving,''
 says Hebrew University expert Sergio DellaPergola. "It may disappear in 50
 years.''

 Colombia, in the midst of a bloody guerrilla war, offers a similar scenario. There
 are only 3,800 Jews left in Colombia, and their numbers are dropping by the day
 as more Colombian Jews leave the country.

 Brazil's Jewish community is shrinking at a slower pace, in part because of
 smaller emigration rates. Brazil's 98,000-strong Jewish community, however, is
 expected to be nearly half its current size by the end of the 21st Century.

 Perhaps the only major Latin American Jewish community that is holding its
 numbers is Mexico's. It is a closed community where fewer than 10 percent of its
 members marry non-Jews, studies show.

 DellaPergola warns that, in the long run, the size of Latin America's Jewish
 population will largely depend on political factors: if countries are stable and
 prosperous, few people will leave. If they become unstable, Jews may be among
 the first to emigrate.

 "The Jewish community is more sensitive to political and economic changes,
 because it is concentrated in large cities, and in the higher educational echelons,''
 DellaPergola said. "Its members may have more options to emigrate when there
 are crises.''