wfn.org | Latin American News Service Noticias Feb 9 2003

[George Conklin <gconklin@igc.org>]

ALC NEWS SERVICE
E-mail: director@alcnoticias.org

ALC HEADLINES:
HONDURAS: March through Tegucigalpa closes consultation on juvenile crime
ARGENTINA: Argentine Evangelical will join UN committee against
discrimination
PANAMA: Latin American Churches and organizations pledge to create network 
about AIDS
ECUADOR: Evangelicals condemn violence and attacks in Quito
NICARAGUA: New dean of Evangelical University assumes post

HONDURAS
March through Tegucigalpa closes consultation on juvenile crime

By Manuel Quintero
TEGUCIGALPA, February 1, 2004 (alc).  Shouting slogans and signing hymns in 
favor of peace, young Evangelicals from Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador 
and Honduras held a march in the Honduran capital after two emotional and 
fruitful days of deliberations about the issue of juvenile delinquency.

The tranquility of the sunny Sunday morning was filled with the boisterous 
presence of 100 Central American young people who were joined by other 
young people and adults from local Churches in the one-hour march that 
attracted the attention of the local press. Three television channels 
covered the march, which concluded with a Christian music concert.

"This march is a demonstration of the will of Churches to work in favor of 
peace. We want a society of peace," said lawyer Noemi Espinoza, in the 
closing ceremony in the Obelisk Park in downtown Tegucigalpa. Espinoza is 
the executive director of the Christian Development Commission, the host 
body for the consultation on juvenile delinquency that was sponsored by the 
Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI).

For his part, Pastor Israel Batista, secretary general of CLAI, said that 
the consultation demonstrated that Churches in the region have a common 
vocation for life and he called on all young people to "be peacemakers and 
not constructors of violence."

In the sermon at the closing ceremony, Pastor Eduardo Chinchilla, CLAI 
secretary for Mesoamerica, said that "Juvenile delinquency is organized and 
sows terror in our streets, but these young people are the new generations 
that look for violent solutions because they have no paradigms or hope."

For this reason, Central American governments "must measure the reach of 
the repressive laws and think more about creating viable routes for 
development and providing hope for young people."

The consultation included conferences about the legal framework of the 
so-called gang law, offered by Dr. Edmundo Orellana, former attorney 
general of Honduras and the culture of violence, presented by Psychologist 
Juan Gilberto Torres, of the Casa Alianza organization.

There was also a diagnostic about the national realties of four countries, 
focusing on the issue of juvenile delinquency, prepared by young people 
from the involved Churches and the testimony of young people who were 
involved in gangs and were rescued by their faith experience.

On the second day, young people worked in groups to carry out a more 
in-depth analysis and to present specific proposals to their Churches. Said 
proposals were discussed and approved in a plenary session and will be 
included in the final document produced by the consultation.

The Central American young people also approved the so-called "Monte 
Carmelo Declaration" that indicated that the problem of violence and 
delinquency associated with gang "has its roots in the causes and effects 
derived from wars, poverty, corruption, migration and neoliberal projects 
that have impoverished Central American people even further."

It is also rooted in family breakdown and situations of domestic violence 
and the lack of understanding many young people encounter in their 
families, they said.

In the declaration, young people also manifested their discrepancies with 
the ways the anti-gang laws are being applied. In their opinion, the laws 
do not represent a solution to the problem but rather spark greater 
violence, anxiety and fear among the population.

"We do not defend violence or delinquency, we are not in agreement with the 
actions of some young people in gangs, but we do believe that the methods 
that are used are not the most appropriate because they do not contemplate 
prevention of the crime or the rehabilitation of the young people," stated 
the document.

The declaration calls on the governments to review and adapt the spirit and 
contents of the anti-gang law according to international agreements that 
promote and protect the rights of the child and that they invest in 
rehabilitating young people linked to gangs.

The document also calls on them to review and evaluate the role of the 
police in the region and to place special emphasis on training these forces 
in knowledge about and respect for human rights.

The young people also call on governments to regulate the media, given 
their influence on children and young people and because they are the main 
disseminators of programs that extol violence.

Finally young people meeting in Monte Carmelo, called on Churches to review 
their proposal for youth work, offering young people greater support and 
autonomy. They also called on them to coordinate efforts and resources with 
local governments to deal with the issue of juvenile delinquency.

ARGENTINA
Argentine Evangelical will join UN committee against discrimination

BUENOS AIRES, February 3, 2004 (alc). Argentine theologian Mario Yutzis was 
elected to join the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Yutzis received support from 118 of 169 countries. There were 16 candidates 
and nine were chosen to replace members whose mandate expired January 19. 
They will hold the positions for a period of four years.

As well as Argentina, representatives from the United States, Russia, 
India, Guatemala, South Africa, Ecuador, Burkina Faso and China will join 
the committee. With this election "Argentine maintains its presence and 
commitment in one of the most important UN organizations in the field of 
human rights defense," said the official communiqui.

Yutzis, age 67, was born in Buenos Aires. He has a degree in theology from 
the Lutheran Theology Faculty of Buenos Aires and a doctorate in Religious 
Sciences from the Protestant Theology Faculty of the University of 
Strasbourg, France. He is a member of the United Evangelical Church of 
Argentina and Uruguay and has held important positions. He has also held 
important positions in the Universal Federation of Christian Student 
Movements in the 1970s.

He is a member of the Superior Council and secretary of Research for the 
Evangelical Theological Studies Institute (ISEDET), made up of nine 
Evangelical Churches. He is also a professor of Anthropology, Philosophy, 
and Latin American and Hermeneutic Reality at ISEDET.

Yutzis was elected in the XX meeting of Members of the Convention on the 
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The Committee on the 
Elimination of Racial Discrimination was the first body created by the 
United Nations to monitor and review actions by States to fulfil their 
obligations under a specific human rights agreement.

The Committee is made up of "18 experts of enormous moral prestige and 
recognized impartiality." The members are elected for four years by members 
states. Elections are held every two years to renew half of the members.

Yutzis, who was born July 26, 1936, has held the position of vice president 
of the Committee to Eliminate Racial Discrimination (CERD) and vice 
president of the International Movement Against Racism and Discrimination. 
(IMADR).

PANAMA
Latin American Churches and organizations pledge to create network about AIDS

PANAMA CITY, February 4, 2004 (alc). Representatives from Churches and 
Christian organizations from 16 Latin American and Caribbean nations that 
work to prevent HIV/AIDS agreed to form a network to exchange information 
and consolidate agreements reached at an event held in Panama January 27-31.

The aim of the meeting was to exchange experiences, share methodologies and 
material and consolidate efforts to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS in the 
region.

The meeting was attended by representatives from 31 organizations and 
Churches from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, 
Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, 
Dominican Republic and Venezuela

The event was sponsored by the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) 
and the World Council of Churches (WCC).

The event proposed the integration of efforts in order to have a greater 
impact the regions countries. Specifically it agreed to impel initiatives 
to promote and apply laws that preserve the rights of people living with 
HIV/AIDS.

Participants agreed on the need to create a space for reflection that would 
serve as a foundation to commit the Church to the reality of HIV/AIDS. They 
indicated that many Churches are not committed because they are not aware 
of the issues or have been badly oriented.

A pastoral document signed at the meeting indicates that "we understand 
that the religious, socio-economic, political and cultural reality are part 
of the environmental structure that favors the spread of HIV/AIDS."

It added that the "current socio-historic context is dominated by dark 
powers, interested in making the serious pandemic invisible, due to the 
tendency toward neoliberal profit and the globalization that prioritizes an 
exclusive market for those who have buying power, discriminating against 
two thirds of the population in our continent, who are exposed to the 
misery and risks of the epidemic."

"This reality does not only involve people who live with HIV/AIDS, but it 
involves everyone who lives in this world. Therefore, it is an imperative 
make a prophetic call regarding the responsibility of the Church and 
society in solidarity work," it added.

"It is our obligation to lobby for the human rights of all people who are 
living in this situation", it emphasized.

CLAI secretary general Israel Batista sent a message to participants 
lauding them for creating a space for Churches and ecumenical organizations 
to exchange accumulated and existing experiences. "We want to encourage you 
in what you are doing and thank you for the work you are carrying out," 
said Batista.

Anna Elsenhoffer, of the Integral Health Program represented the WCC along 
with theological studies consultant Jose Duque The Methodist Church of 
Panama and the Religious Sector Against AIDS (SERECSIDA), lead by Rhett 
Thompson, were the hosts.

The event was coordinated by a CLAI tem that included Lzcia Leiga de 
Oliveira, Martha Weiss, Eluzinette Garcma and Eduardo Campaqa.

ECUADOR
Evangelicals condemn violence and attacks in Quito

By Manuel Quintero
QUITO, February 4, 2004 (alc). The Ecuadorian Evangelical Confraternity 
(CEE) published a statement February 3, condemning the violence and attacks 
that took the life of a public official in recent days and left three 
injured in their wake.

Patricio Campana, head of the fuel control unit for Petro Comercial was 
murdered by unknown assailants in what was presumed to be an attempt to 
block investigations into supposed acts of corruption in this entity.

The assault took place January 30 when 51-year-old Campana tried to stop 
his assailants from taking his briefcase. The case held his portable 
computer that contained key information about the theft of the fuel and a 
list of those involved in the illicit network.

Two days later, on February 1, Leonidas Iza, head of the Confederation of 
Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) managed to escape unharmed 
from an attack outside the organizations headquarters in northern Quito. 
However, his brother, nephew and son were shot. All three survived.

In a press conference Iza said that the indigenous movement presumes that 
the government is behind the attack due to CONAIEs opposition to the 
government in recent months, in particular given that President Lucio 
Gutierrez "said he will make his opponents respect the government with the 
law and with weapons," said Iza.

"Those people were coming to kill me, they shot directly, there lies the 
proof in the walls, in the bullet holes," said the high ranking CONAIE 
leader, referring to the two assailants that attacked him.

In their statement, Ecuadorian evangelicals stated that "violence and lack 
of respect for life has no place in the country" and called on the 
competent authorities to carry take the necessary steps to discover who was 
responsible and sanction them.

For his part, Interior Minister Raul Baca has said that the government "is 
not persecuting anyone." He rejected the accusations of the indigenous 
people and said that the government will seek those responsible for the 
attack.

The murder attempt against Iza sparked a generalized national rejection, 
including President Gutierez, who ordered an in-depth investigation.

NICARAGUA
New dean of Evangelical University assumes post

By Trinidad Vasquez
MANAGUA, February 6, 2004 (alc). Benjammn Cortis Marchena, pastor of the 
Church of Christ and former professor of the Central American University 
(UCA) said that he would promote social justice, freedom of conscience and 
ethical values upon assuming the post as dean of the Nicaraguan Martin 
Lutheran King Evangelical University (UENIC).

Cortis, who has been a professor of theology, ethics and planning, replaces 
Hamlet Danilo Garcia, dean of UENIC for eight years.

The new dean said that in the face of the political, economic and social 
crisis in the country, he will promote science, culture, peace and social 
justice, freedom of awareness, ecumenism and investigation in order to 
encourage a humanist culture, based on a love for justice, in favor of 
Nicaraguas hungry and oppressed.

He said he was also committed to encouraging dialogue with educational 
institutions and with the states social and technical research for 
exchange and cooperation, in order to contribute to substantially reducing 
the enormous current educational gap that excludes a major part of children 
and young people.

Cortis Marchena was also director of the Pro Denominational Alliance 
Evangelical Council (CEPAD), where he said he learned an extraordinary 
amount about pastoral models. He said it pains, concerns and angers him 
that 1 million children are unable to attend primary school and 40,000 high 
school graduates cannot go to universities for economic reasons.

He noted that even if the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund 
pardoned 80 percent of the foreign debt, if there was national development, 
program, international cooperation, a regional integration processes and a 
free trade agreement with the United States, it would not be enough if we 
are not committed to transforming the state.

According to Cortes Marchena, it is essential that the nation implement an 
endogenous, sustainable development thesis and there is a need for new 
terms of reference for international trade relationships, which continue to 
deepen processes of de-capitalization and chronic impoverishment.

The university is not removed from this challenge, because the fundamental 
nucleus of its mission is to form leaders that promote processes of renewal 
and transformation in different spheres of the state and society, he said.

The event took place in a capital city hotel. The new Academic vice dean, 
Omar Castro Lopez, also took office.

Outgoing dean Danilo Garcia received a diploma in recognition of his work,. 
The UENIC, which has existed for nine years, currently has 4,200 students 
enrolled.

William Gonzalez, president of the UENIC board of directors swore in the 
new authorities and gave them a document outlining the mission and vision 
of the university. The final blessing was given y Teresa Bobadilla, who 
called on people to pray so that the university would continue to be the 
hope of youth.

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