wfn.org | [PCUSA News] More Accompaniers Sought after Guatemalan

[PCUSA_NEWS@ecunet.org]

96218       More Accompaniers Sought after Guatemalan 
                      Moderator Is Kidnapped 
 
                          by Alexa Smith 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--The National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala 
(NEPCG) is appealing to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for 10 more 
accompaniers after the puzzling May 24 kidnapping of its moderator, the 
Rev. Samuel Merida Ajanel. 
 
     According to the NEPCG Merida was  released May 29 near a sugar 
refinery on Guatemala's southern coast before all his kidnappers' 
conditions had been met.  He was "traumatized and tired" but unharmed. 
Upon his release, he briefly addressed the church's annual synod meeting. 
 
     According to the NEPCG, Merida's kidnappers demanded 100,000 
quetzales, the eqivalent of about $20,000 U.S. dollars.  When he was 
released, the NEPCG said in a written statement, the kidnappers' terms 
were: 
 
      That once freed, Merida carry on his person the entire ransom payment 
in cash; or, 
      That should he not make the ransom payment as stipulated, he is to 
resign from his position and terminate all responsibilities assigned to him 
by the Presbyterian Church of Guatemala. 
 
     The NEPCG is not commenting to press on who is suspected of kidnapping 
Merida. But Ecumenical News International, a news service tied to the World 
Council of Churches (WCC), reported that Merida's kidnapping "could have 
been ordered by disgruntled Presbyterians." 
 
     Though Presbyterians in Guatemala have been subjected to violence and 
intimidation for years, the kidnapping of Merida appears to have followed a 
different pattern. 
 
     "If Merida doesn't make ransom payments, he's supposed to resign from 
his [church] position ... What kind of political or economically-motivated 
group would demand that?" Julia Ann Moffett, Worldwide Ministries Division 
liason to Guatemala, posed to the Presbyterian News Service when questioned 
about the kidnappers' motives. 
 
     Also, the moderator was kidnapped just three days before the beginning 
of the church's annual synod meeting -- the equivalent of the PCUSA's 
General Assembly. 
 
      According to longtime PCUSA Guatemala City mission worker Dennis 
Smith, Merida has been a key player in "building understanding and 
communication" between the Mayan and ladino sectors of the church" that 
split along ideological, theological, ethnic and class lines in 1992.  
 
      Several sources report that Merida is a ladino who has allegedly been 
threatened before and those threats were thought to be from Presbyterians 
disaffected from the church. 
 
      Until June 24, Merida is being accompanied by two PCUSA volunteers 
who are already living in Guatemala:  Ellen Dozier of the Presbytery of 
Western North Carolina who is working in partnership with Sur Occidente and 
Suchitepequez Presbyteries; and Terri Jimenez-Sutton of Cascades 
Presbytery, a mission volunteer. 
 
     The NEPCG wants two accompaniers for six months at the La Patria 
School in Quetzaltenango, one of several properties disputed in the church 
split; and for three months in each of the four affected presbyteries. 
Accompaniers are also being sought for three months for four church 
officers, including Merida, who is now the former moderator. 
 
     Moffett said the PCUSA will work toward responding to the 
accompaniment requests. 
 
     The NEPCG is also calling upon Guatemalan authorities to investigate 
this latest violence which "serves to terrorize and threaten Guatemalan 
Christians."  Correspondence is asked to be directed to: President Alvaro 
Arzu:  FAX 502-2-53-5856; Dr. Jorge Garcia Laguardia, procurator for human 
rights: FAX 502-2-51-2026; Peter Lamport, ambassador of Guatemala in the 
U.S.:  FAX 202-745-1908; and Edward O'Connor, U.S. ambassador to Guatemala: 
FAX 502-2-31-8885. 

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