wfn.org | ALC Noticias Dec 11 2005 Peru Columbia Brazil Cuba Switzerland

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

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

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CONTENT

SWITZERLAND: Franklin Canelos sustains that debtor nations should pay
according to their real capacity
PERU: Party removes Congressman Walter Alejos and supports leaders accused
of being Fujimori supporters
COLOMBIA: Home of Human Rights activist assaulted and her son threatened
BRAZIL: Human Rights award to WCC and individuals
CUBA: In Cuba there is only one priest for each 38,000 people

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SWITZERLAND
Franklin Canelos sustains that debtor nations should pay according to their
real capacity

Geneva, Dec 9 (ALC).  Foreign debt payments that overwhelm poor nations to
the point of constituting a serious barrier to the human development of
their populations should correspond to their real payment capacity, said
Ecuadorian economist Franklin Canelos, during a Latin American Council of
Churches (CLAI) meeting with 15 Churches and European cooperation agencies.

The foreign debt cannot be, in any case, an obstacle to human development
or a threat for environmental balance, nor can it be used as a tool of
political pressure so that a State or creditor entity imposes socioeconomic
or political conditions on a debtor state, said Canelos.

The specialist indicated that the foreign debt payment should include
incentives to buy products from debtor nations on the part of the
creditors. "There is a need to establish clear parameters in fiscal terms
that guarantee the fulfillment of the commitments acquired without
affecting the development of the debtor nations," he affirmed.

The event, convened by the World Council of Churches and CLAI took place in
Geneva from November 30 - December 2 and addressed the mission of the
Church and the witnessing and solidarity work that is developed in Latin
America and the Caribbean.

The CLAI delegation was led by pastor Israel Batista and Anglican Bishop
Julio C. Holguín, secretary general and president of CLAI respectively and
Marta Palma, secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean of the World
Council of Churches. For the agencies, participants included Bread for All
(Switzerland), ICCO Holand, the Swedish Church and Christian Aid (Great
Britain).

For his part, Brazilian economist Adhemar Pinheiro concluded that
democratization projects registered in the region in the 1980s and the
stabilization in the 1990s "have not responded to the need for justice and
equity in Latin America and Caribbean countries."

While dictatorships were substituted by elected democratic regimes and have
"healed" the economies by reducing the size of the state and liberalizing
the economy, what is certain is that the continent reflects the increasing
gap between the rich and the poor and the economic crises are on the rise,
he said.

He mentioned that the future of an integration project is not very clear,
above all when national interests take priority over regional interests and
at a time when governments have very pragmatic agendas, seeking short term
achievements for their countries.

-------- PERU
Party removes Congressman Walter Alejos and supports leaders accused of
being Fujimori supporters

Lima, Dic. 9 (ALC).  Restauración Nacional (RN), an Evangelical party
responded to accusations made by one of its most conspicuous leaders,
Congressman Walter Alejos who denounced a Fujimori infiltration in the
leadership of this organization by throwing him out of the party and
backing the questioned members.

The decision made by the National RN Executive Committee deepened the
crisis affecting this young group since the denouncement was published in a
local daily, barely two weeks after the party officially received its
credentials from the National Elections Board (JNE).

Alejos, who up until Tuesday was secretary general of RN gave a radio
interview after the decision was made to remove him and said he was
surprised by the CEN decision. He said that he only became aware of the
presence of people linked to acts of corruption under Fujimori at the end
of last month when he asked his party to investigate and remove them.

"I am not sorry, it was my duty. The aim is to combat corruption no matter
what the price," he said after announcing he would enter a "reflection
phase" and he did not know if he would run on another slate in April 2006
elections.

For its part, RN in an extensive statement accused Alejos of conduct that
"generated tensions within the party which are unacceptable when he offered
statements to a local daily, presenting himself as the person who would
'clean' the party of a supposed infiltration by "Fujimori-Montesinos
supporters."

The CEN said that the accusations levied by the Congressman are false and
that the people he mentioned have never belonged to a Fujimori organization.

Alejos accused retired Armed Forces Col Ricardo Vilchez, current national
RN political secretary, as one of those responsible for the fraudulent
purchase of the MIG 29 and Sukhoi 25 aircraft during the conflict with
Ecuador and Engineer Jorge Lau Kong, president of the party's Government
Plan Commission, of having reorganized the state apparatus after the 1992
coup when former president Fujimori dissolved Congress.

The RN statement said that both are innocent of the accusations and have no
pending legal processes. It said they cannot be considered
Fujimori-Montesinos supporters and even less can their presence or
participation in the party point to a Fujimori-Montesinos infiltration.

RN accused Alejos of having benefited from collecting a school bonus that
congress representatives receive and having abstained in voting against the
"de-installation" payment, a one time payment legislators received that
provoked a wave of protests in recent weeks.

However, Alejos reiterated his denouncement and said that in the purchase
of the planes alone the Peruvian state lost some $250 million.

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COLOMBIA
Home of Human Rights activist assaulted and her son threatened

Bogotá,  Dic. 9 (ALC).  The home of Lilia Solano Ramirez, a well known
human rights activist and president of the Latin American Theological
Fraternity was assaulted by three people who identified themselves as
police officers.

The home of the activist was closely searched while her 18 year old son was
threatened at gun point, tied up and locked in a room.

The incident took place December 4. The attackers were two men and one
woman who after insulting and threatening the young man and covering his
face searched the house taking a hard drive, two cell phones and a series
of documents and other objects.

Lilia Solano, president of the Evangelical Justice and Life organizations
received a series of threats last year because of her commitment with the
National Movement of the Victims of State crimes and her denouncements
against paramilitary groups.

The events respond the lack of guarantees on the part of the Colombian
government for those who defend human rights and those who are currently
participating in the electoral race, said the Justice and Life
organization, which denounced that these paramilitary groups are
legitimizing their criminal apparatus to continue committing crimes.

It said that one demonstration of this is the increasingly stronger
presence of its members in the lists to elect the Senate and the Chamber of
Representatives in the different regions of the country.

Justice and Life called on the national and international community to
demand protection for human rights activities and opposition candidates to
the Alvaro Uribe government and that the acts that took place last Sunday
be investigated and those responsible brought to justice.

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BRAZIL
Human Rights award to WCC and individuals

By Antonio Carlos Ribeiro

Río de Janeiro, Dic 9 (ALC).	The Alceu Amoroso Lima Center for Freedom
(CAALL) and the Candido Mendes University (UCAM) granted the 2005 Human
Rights award and honorable mentions to individuals who stood out for their
work in favor of the excluded and, for the first time, the World Council of
Churches.

Sociologist Candido Mendes, dean of UCAM inaugurated the ceremony and
presented the awards. He emphasized the presence of Patrus Ananias,
minister of Social Development and the Battle against Hunger and the main
recipient of the award for his social work and Christian testimony
throughout his political career.

Alceu Amoroso Filho presented the honors to the Rev. Julio Lancelotti, who
has worked in the Minors' Ministry in the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo for the
past 25 years, in particular with those who live on the street. Lancelotti
was the creator of the House of Life to attend children with HIV.

Lancelotti voiced his gratitude and said he would share it with those who
recycle paper. He denounced that the city is applying a "cleanup" policy
against those considered undesirable. According to Lancelotti, the
administration accuses the Churches of turning misery into a Cult and tries
to hide the poor from the eyes of the elite who cannot stand to see the
results of the economic concentration. "Sao Paulo belongs to its
residents," he said.

The honorable mention to 86-year-old Bishop João María Pires was presented
by sociologist Luiz Alberto Gómez de Sousa who pointed to his church
trajectory, in particular as Archbishop of João Pessoa in the 1965-1995
period when he was persecuted because of denouncements against the military
regime. As Bishop emeritus he has worked with Afro-descendants, in the
ministry for married priests and to support families who struggle for land
in the state of Minas Gerais. The award was received by Sister María
Margarida Andrade.

Sociologist Jether Pereira Ramalho presented the honorable mention for the
work of the World Council of Churches (WCC), an ecumenical entity that
brings together 340 Churches in more than 100 countries. "The World Council
of Churches emerged because of the illumination of the Spirit of God,
breaking down the walls of difference and uniting those who struggle for
justice," he said.

Argentine Methodist Bishop Aldo Etchegoyen, member of the WCC Central
Committee voiced his gratitude for the honorable mention, presented
greetings from WCC Secretary General Samuel Kobia and reaffirmed the WCC
commitment to religious dialogue, the battle against racism, overcoming
violence, promotion of women and defense of life.

Pastor Rui Bernhard, executive secretary of the Local Organizing Committee
of the IX WCC Assembly to be held in Porto Alegre from February 14 - 23
said that the "amphora has two handles to recall that it must be carried by
more than one person. We take this award to the Assembly strengthened by
your support," he said.

The director of the Alceu Amoroso Lima Center, Maria Helenea Arrochellas,
presented the honorable mention to Dorothy Mae Stang, missionary from Notre
Dame who was murdered February 12, 2005 in Anapu for her ceaseless defense
of peasants and denouncement of the irrational exploitation of natural
resources.

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CUBA
In Cuba there is only one priest for each 38,000 people

By Enrique López Oliva

Havana, Dec. 7 (ALC).  In Cuba there is a priest for every 38,000 people,
one of the lowest figures in Latin America and there are 3.5 million
baptized people, representing a third of the population, according to data
from the Catholic Bishops Conference of Cuba (COCC)..

The Catholic Church has 220 priests, many foreign or nationalized who have
come from Spain, Colombia, Mexico and Canada as well as 493 religious, 38
religious brothers, 58 deans and 81 seminary students.

There are 264 parishes and 647chappels and mission houses that receive
Cuban faithful each Sunday and according to the COCC only 1 percent of the
Baptized attend Church although the number increases at Christmas and in
Holy Week.

The hierarchy is made up of 11 resident bishops and three auxiliary
bishops, who were joined last Sunday by Jesuit priest Juan de Dios
Hernandez, born in Holguin who was recently designated by Pope Benedicto
IVI as the new auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Havana.
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