Saadeh left Lebanon in secret, visited Palestine, and then departed by sea for Brazil. By a twist of fate, Saadeh would follow the same path his father had taken, also forced out by the French authorities. In 1908, Khalil Saadeh clashed with the French consul after inviting him to help establish a national hospital in Beirut during Ottoman rule. Although the consul accepted the invitation, he refused to contribute, prompting Khalil Saadeh to write an article criticizing the consul and France’s position. This angered some Maronites, who decided to get rid of him. The Ottoman authorities, concerned for his safety and that of his family, urged him to leave the country. He departed for Cairo and remained there until 1913, when his wife, Nayfa Nusayr, passed away. Saad Zaghloul’s wife, Safia, took care of the seven children until their father could arrange his affairs. Her kindness and care left a deep mark on Antun Saadeh, who loved his mother dearly. He later named his eldest daughter Safia in gratitude to this noble woman.

Just as the father left Egypt for Argentina and then Brazil, so too would Antun Saadeh find himself taking the same route in reverse: he arrived in Brazil, only to end up in Argentina. And just as Khalil Saadeh had left Cairo in 1913, with the First World War erupting the following year, Antun Saadeh arrived in Argentina just before the outbreak of the Second World War. Both father and son chose a neutral region in Latin America, avoiding residence in the United States or Europe.

Saadeh chose Brazil because he had spent a decade there and had many acquaintances and intellectual friends from “Suraqia,” in addition to the high regard in which his father was held by the Arab community. But as soon as he arrived in São Paulo, some opponents of his ideas informed the Brazilian authorities that his presence posed a danger. He was ordered to leave the country, and the only route available to him was to Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina.

The Arab community in Argentina did not possess the same cultural level found in Brazil, as most “Syrians” there worked in commerce. Even so, Saadeh did not despair. He began gathering nationalists and worked on establishing a newspaper based in Brazil, where some of his acquaintances oversaw its publication.

In Buenos Aires, he met Juliette Elmir, who had just graduated as a nurse and intended to specialize in radiology. She was originally from Tripoli of the Levant; her family had emigrated at the end of the nineteenth century. Juliette was drawn to Saadeh’s principles, driven by deep enthusiasm for her homeland and a desire to participate in national work. The two were married in 1940. Juliette continued working as a nurse after their marriage, while her husband worked without any material compensation to build a national Party and encourage the men and women of the diaspora to support their motherland.