wfn.org | ALC Noticias August 31 2004 Brazil Argentina Puerto Rico

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

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

CONTENT

BRAZIL: Ecumenical Consultation Pastoral Letter rejects integration that 
does not favor the majority
ARGENTINA: It is time for Argentina to awaken, said provincial vice 
governor of Misiones
BRAZIL: Evangelical action in politics must leave a mark, said representative
ARGENTINA: Pirez Esquivel supports complaint against World Bank
PUERTO RICO: Justice and Peace Association reject plans to make weapons in 
Puerto Rico

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BRAZIL
Ecumenical Consultation Pastoral Letter rejects integration that does not 
favor the majority

SAO PAULO, Aug 27 (alc) - As Churches we want to address the economic 
implications of the Free Trade Agreements (FTA) from an integral 
perspective, as ethical values and human dignity are central for us, said 
a Pastoral Letter published by the Continental Consultation about Market 
Integration and Human Dignity.

This consultation, convened by the Latin American Council of Churches 
(CLAI) through its Faith, Economy and Society Program, brought together 
close to 80 representatives from Churches and ecumenical bodies in 18 Latin 
American and Caribbean countries from August 20-22, along with 
representatives from Churches in the United States, Canada, England, Sweden 
and the World Council of Churches (WCC).

Given the situation in our countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, 
the economic globalization process cannot be ignored, given its effects in 
the daily lives of our peoples. Mission, on this continent, calls us to 
recognized our socio-economic reality, so that we can be agents of 
transformation and hope in the light of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, 
added the Pastoral letter.!

The FTA, rather than leading to an improvement in the socio-economic 
conditions in Latin American and Caribbean daily life, deepens the 
imposition of a model that promotes the elimination of some safeguards that 
minimally protect local and national development as well as the development 
of our economies, said the message to Evangelical Churches in the hemisphere.

At the same time the FTA promote investment from multinationals in our 
countries, to the detriment of small and mid sized business people and 
farmers. We also recognize how the harmful effects of these policies also 
erode the social fabric of those so-called First World countries, said 
the pastoral letter.

We see with a great deal of concern that the FTA proposed by the United 
States and the European Union do not take into account peoples lives and 
their cultures, nor the economies of the involved countries, destroying the 
environment and their sustainability. For this we are radically opposed to 
economic integration projects and economic treaties with Latin America 
and the Caribbean that do not include respect for human dignity and the 
integrity of creation, the document stated.

Regarding the responsibility of the Church in this situation, the Pastoral 
states: We feel, as part of the body of Christ, the weight of all economic 
processes on our people. This pain, these violations of human dignity, cry 
to the heavens for justice.

We confess that many times we have remained silent, others have consented 
and moreover, we have omitted a word of prophetic judgment aimed at those 
who engender, direct and execute process of economic integration to the 
benefit of an excluding minority, it noted.

Finally, it expressed its hope because many people and organizations 
across the continent affirm that another world is possible. It applauded 
new alternatives that have emerged and economic political projects that 
have come from indigenous, womens, young peoples and community movements 
that practice economic solidarity.

The pastoral concludes by calling on Churches to pray, act and offer 
testimony carrying out those actions that cannot be delayed in obedience 
to the Gospel.

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ARGENTINA
It is time for Argentina to awaken, said provincial vice governor of Misiones

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 27 (alc). The Vice Governor in the province of Misiones, 
in northeastern Argentina, Evangelical Pastor Pablo Tschirsch, called on 
pastors, leaders and social Christian workers to dream of a better 
Argentina in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and affirmed that the 
country is a sleeping homeland that God could awaken.

Tschirsch spoke to some 200 pastors and Evangelical leaders and social 
workers, coming from 15 provinces in Argentina and neighboring countries, 
representing 50 Churches and service entities at the inauguration of the 
National Encounter for Change and Social Protagonism Salt and Light, held 
in Buenos Aires August 19 - 21.

It is time to rise up, said Tschirsch. He warned, however, that it is not 
just a question of praying and preaching and also serving, and said that 
to give your life to Jesus is to give your life for others.

Tschirsch manifested that his call does not mean all Christians should be 
involved in politics in the country, although he said that if Christian 
Evangelicals had occupied the spaces they rejected, things would not be as 
they are in Argentina, in reference to the reigning corruption and misery.

He said, according to the Sal and Light press team, better times will 
come if there are men and women who are willing to give God the glory that 
corresponds to Him.

In a self-criticism, Tschirsch said we Evangelicals are quick to talk and 
slow to act and added we are accustomed to being in four walls, looking 
inward.

The meeting was organized by the Argentine Baptist Evangelical Convention 
(CEBA) Community Action Area, the Evangelical Social Action Network and the 
Kairos Foundation, with the support of the Federation Christian Alliance of 
Evangelical Churches of the Argentine Republic (FACIERA), the Pastors 
Council of Buenos Aires and the General Board of Worship of the Government 
of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.

Speakers included pastors Emilio Monti, president of the Argentine 
Federation of Evangelical Churches (FAIE), Guillermo Prein, of the New Life 
Christian Center, Theologian Rene Padilla, economist Pablo Tigani and 
therapist Zaida Azas de Puccio

The general objective was to exchange experiences and provide specific 
training about the new intervention tools and social and community 
participation that are emerging due to the current social situation in 
Argentina, to strengthen the participation process and influence that 
Churches are having in cities, provinces and at a national level.

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BRAZIL
Evangelical action in politics must leave a mark, said representative

SAO PAULO, Aug 26 (alc). Preaching that is not accompanied by works is not 
very Evangelical, said the representative from the federal district of 
Brasilia, Peniel Pacheco, who participated, together with Brazilian 
Environmental minister Marina Silva, in a reflection forum on Brazil.

The Progressive Evangelical Movement (MEP) in Sao Paulo organized the forum 
August 14. Silva and Pacheco are members of the Assemblies of God Church.

The political action of Evangelicals must leave some essential marks, such 
as, for example, not abandoning their principles. It is also not enough to 
preach the Word, if it does not produce practice results. The Church will 
only carry out its role when it preaches and puts the integral Gospel into 
practice, said the representative.

Minister Silva, renowned for her ethical convictions, spoke about her 
experience as a young girl working in rubber plantations in the Amazon, and 
the struggle she had to study, her conversion and her current activity.

Our ministry is here and the accounts we must render come from above. When 
I studied the Bible I found all the concepts that guide my daily life. We 
Christians do not have any other alternative than to do politics with 
radical ethics, emphasized Silva.

The MEP is an association committed to social change. It constitutes a 
space for debate, formation and cooperation on the part of Evangelical 
Christians, with the objective to battle for ethics and justice.

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ARGENTINA
Pirez Esquivel supports complaint against World Bank

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 26 (alc) - 1980 Nobel Peace Laureate Adolfo Perez 
Esquivel, together with other Argentine individuals, presented a writ with 
new evidence to support a complaint filed by the Argentine State against 
the World Bank for social economic crimes affecting millions of residents.

Pirez Esquivel, Nora Cortiqas and Josi de Luca, called on Argentine justice 
to include the evidence that was presented and recently made public, to the 
complaint Argentina filed before the World Bank Arbitral Tribunal in 
response to a demand imposed by the US CMS firm.

This company filed a suit against the Argentine state, demanding $265 
million, as compensation for damages suffered due to emergency economic 
norms known as pesification, sanctioned by the Buenos Aires government in 
2001 and 2002.

The Argentine state presented evidence alleging that CMS committed, through 
the dominion of a financial economic power system, crimes that forced huge 
sectors of the population into poverty, exposing them to conditions that 
have lead to serious physical and psychic harm that are inherent to social 
exclusion.

These economic and social crimes were committed against millions of 
Argentines through a system of domination led by the International Monetary 
Fund and the World Bank, the state alleges. The arbitration is still to be 
resolved and is before the ICSID, based in Paris, France.

According to estimates made by economic-financial media, the CMS suit is a 
pilot case that others will follow and the amount is approximately $16 
billion, which would put the Argentine state at enormous risk.

The new evidence presented by Perez Esquivel states that the Argentine 
state was placed in state of need due to the application of economic 
policies that were imposed - Indirectly or directly - by the International 
Monetary Fund. This situation impeded it from fulfilling its obligations 
stemming from agreements celebrated as a consequence of these impositions.

He added that the resulting situation would imply a risk of dissolving the 
National State as the Argentine government defense maintains.

  He said, moreover, that the increase in rates that the company is 
seeking, if they are accepted, would make the damage invoked in the lawsuit 
irreparable and would provoke an unsustainable increase of poverty, 
aggravating the critical social and economic situation in the country.

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PUERTO RICO
Justice and Peace Association reject plans to make weapons in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Aug 25 (alc) - A proposal to leave federal legislation regarding 
the fabrication, sale and distribution of weapons without effect, currently 
in place in Puerto Rico, was emphatically rejected by the civil association 
Caribbean Justice and Peace Project.

All around the world people are demanding that Governments act firmly to 
control illegal weapons traffic and reduce their availability, to guarantee 
the protection of citizens and construct safer communities, said Wanda 
Colon Cortes, spokesperson for the pacifist organization established in 1973.

  The increase of the loss of human life for armed violence, is clear 
evidence that fire arms are out of control, said Colon, lobbying the 
public to take a critical stance.

The proposal to not renew that ban in the federal Assault Weapons Ban 
that will expire next September 14, is part of a pressure campaign on the 
part of the weapons industry that invests millions to fund political 
campaigns in the United States, to guarantee the sale and export of 
weapons, said Colon. The most significant investment is aimed at the 
Republican Party, according to researchers.

  In Puerto Rico an average 2 people are murdered each day and it is 
estimated that around the world half a million people die because of 
gunshots from small or light weapons.

Small and light weapons include revolvers, rifles, automatic rifles, 
grenades, machine guns and pistols.

The Caribbean Justice and Peace Project is part of an International Action 
Network Against Small Arms (IANSA) that is developing the international 
campaign called To control weapons.

The objective of the campaign is to denounce the lack of control in the 
world weapons traffic and promote the reduction of the illegal use of 
weapons, as well as to convince governments to establish a treaty to 
control the international weapons trade that will make it possible to bring 
down the number of dead and injured due to armed violence.

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