wfn.org | ALC News Noticias Dec 15 2003

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

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

ALC HEADLINES:
URUGUAY: Exhortation in favor of the migrant by SEDHU
PERU: An Andean Santa Clause
NICARAGUA: Camino Cristiano party criticized for financial maneuver
VENEZUELA: Polarization of Venezuelan society is also reflected in Churches

URUGUAY
Exhortation in favor of the migrant by SEDHU

MONTEVIDEO, December 10, 2003 (alc). Solidarity with strangers, in 
particular those who are poor and needy is not only a human commitment to 
hospitality, but stems from Jesus teachings, said the Ecumenical Service 
for Human Dignity (SEDHU)

In a statement on the International Day of the Migrant, SEDHU stated that 
the aim, in the first place, is to recognize that migrants have the same 
rights as all human beings so that all people be respected and the 
discrimination that humiliates human dignity will be eliminated.

The phenomenon of migration is closely linked to development. We cannot 
disassociate the place where we live with life opportunities. Globalization 
is currently accompanying the same process of globalization and it grows to 
the extent that globalization occupies more space.

We know that the situation of migrants in the world is increasingly 
precarious, noted the declaration.

Frequently violence (as takes place in Colombia) forces entire populations 
to leave their land and flee for their lives. Many times it is poverty and 
a lack of development perspectives that lead individuals and entire 
families to seek a means of livelihood in other countries, said SEDHU.

The declaration also calls on society to be aware of the reality that 
migrants suffer in Uruguay because many of our relatives are also on 
foreign soil and we should treat them as we would like our relatives to be 
treated.

It also called on the media to favor a fair assessment and greater 
understanding of the problems of the rootless, eliminating prejudice and 
emotional reactions. It also calls on the authorities to pass the necessary 
norms for the law that approved the international Convention to Protect 
the Rights of All Migratory Workers and Their Families.

SEDHU is a foundation made up of the Anglican Church of Uruguay, The 
Evangelical Church of the River Plate, the Waldensian Evangelical Church of 
the River Plate, the Archbishop of Montevideo, the Christian Youth 
Association, CIPFE (Franciscan Center) and the Evangelical Methodist Church 
of Uruguay, which is a fraternal member.

PERU
An Andean Santa Clause

By Hugo Livano
LIMA, December 10, 2003 (alc). While, in the globalized world, the mythical 
Santa Claus has displaced Jesus Christ, the real meaning of Christmas, 
Andean people have their own traditions far removed from a jolly man in the 
red fur coat with a reindeer-drawn sled.

Andean mythology tells of an individual who is as old or older than Sinter 
Klass that the Scandinavians made part of Christmas celebrations in the 
early centuries of Christianity.

This American indigenous individual, who has nothing to do with the jolly 
old Saint Nick, has a much more resonant name: equecco.

The equecco is a small doll, no more than 10 or 15 centimeters high, who 
carries a knapsack filled with gifts. However, unlike Santa Claus he does 
not bring toys or superfluous articles, but useful things.

His bags are filled with cars, houses, food, watches, tools and liquor. 
Everything is miniature but elaborated with the meticulous ingenuity that 
ancient Peruvians used to raise their temples and fortresses.

The equecco is a Peruvian product that began to circulate centuries ago in 
a place called Collao, more than 3,000 meters above sea level that extends 
through the southern Peruvian Andes and part of Bolivia and is populated by 
Aymara speakers.

No one knows where he came from. Some legends say that there was a major 
drought in the highlands and that is when he appeared. He walked in the 
wind, playing his panpipes. Those who heard him received gifts from his 
heavy bags.

Others say he dates back to colonial times when poor merchants, both native 
and Spanish, traveled the Andean highlands bringing articles that 
represented modernity: watches, pots, cutlery.

No matter what his origins the Equecco brings a wide variety of tiny 
objectives, called alesitas. They are offered in fairs. Alesita means 
take me or Buy me. However, in early times the Equeccos or their goods 
were not bought. In order to bring prosperity they had to be gifts.

Historians say that some were made from gold and silver. Today, however, 
they are commonly made from clay or other cheaper material. They are 
dressed in typical dress although they are sometimes in tatters. They use 
Andean sandals or boots.

In any case, the Equecco, like the true owner of Christmas, the Baby Jesus, 
is a symbol of love and generosity and even fecundity that to a certain 
degree, for the Andean people, is also a symbol of opulence.

NICARAGUA
Camino Cristiano party criticized for financial maneuver

By Trinidad Vasquez
MANAGUA, December 12, 2003 (alc). The Pro Denominational Alliance Council 
of Evangelical Churches (CEPAD) criticized Congressman Guillermo Osorno of 
the Camino Cristiano party for attempting to use funds for teachers to 
support Evangelical bodies.

CEPAD president, the Rev. Jose Alguerra said on December 10 that he had 
received a call from the head of Camino Cristiano Guillermo Osorno, 
inviting them to a meeting.

At that meeting, Osorno apparently explained his bid to assign some 
US$320,000 to the Nicaragua Evangelical Alliance (CNPEN) and to the 
National Council of Evangelical Pastors of Nicaragua. CEPAD leaders did not 
attend the meeting.

Subsequently, three Camino Cristiano leaders and their allies in the 
Partido Liberal of former President Arnoldo Aleman, decided not to support 
the proposal to provide financial support for the Evangelical bodies.

Pentecostal leaders such as William Gonzales were indignant about Osornos 
attitude, stating that it is anti-Biblical, anti-ethical and immoral, as 
the money would come from funds for teachers who demand a salary raise.

We have no reason to take money that corresponds to health, education and 
the handicapped, said Gonzalez.

Professor Gilberto Aguirre, in his radio program Orientaciones, was harsh 
about Osornos attitude, stating that Evangelicals have been characterized 
by financing their own projects and seeking their own funding sources.

Baptist theologian Carlos Villagra said that sectors who are consequent 
with God will never accept this attitude because it seeks to sacrifice some 
of the countrys social and basic services.

Osorno is doing illegal business with sacred things and only a very small, 
non-representative sector follows him, said Villagra, who is a professor at 
the Polytechnic University of Nicaragua (UPOLI).

CEPAD has always lobbied for the Church-State separation and for this 
reason does not agree when the Executive Power and the mayor of Managua use 
funds for religious festivals such as the Immaculate Conception of Maria 
and others, said a communique signed by Pastor Jose Alguerra.

Article 14 of the Nicaragua Political Constitution clearly establishes that 
the State is a lay stated and therefore the State should not assign funds 
to a determined Church or religious group, it said.

VENEZUELA
Polarization of Venezuelan society is also reflected in Churches

By Manuel Quintero
CARACAS, December 13, 2003 (alc). In the broad spectrum of what exists 
between the (President Hugo) Chavez that some call totalitarian and the 
Chavez that others refer to as the instrument of God, lie the 
appreciations and positions of Venezuelan Evangelicals. Evangelicals, like 
millions of their countrymen, have participated in civic demonstrations to 
gather signatures for a political and constitutional solution to the 
serious crisis wracking the nation.

The first to sign were government parties, in order to remove a group of 
opposition representatives from their ranks. They were followed by those 
who seek to put an end to President Chavez mandate.

While the exact numbers of signatures from each group will only be 
published in mid-January after the National Electoral Council has finished 
verifying and counting them, the so-called signat-on opened a new episode 
in the tenacious battle for power in this South American nation.

The collection of the signatures took place against the background of 
reports and statistics that demonstrate the serious deterioration in the 
living conditions of Venezuelans and question the governments capacity to 
carry out its social justice projects.

The annual report from the Venezuelan Human Rights Education and Action 
Program (PROVEA), one of the most prestigious non government human rights 
organizations in the country, emphasized progress in education and citizen 
participation but also pointed to an increase of poverty, violence and the 
weakness of State institutions as being the principal factors responsible 
for the deterioration in the human rights situation in recent months.

Another report from the Food Industry Chamber (Cadivea) stated that food 
consumption fell 14 percent this year as a result of the decline in 
purchasing power and the most affected where poor children and families.

Preliminary calculations indicate that the GDP fell 11.7 percent over the 
course of the year and that the inflationary index reached 24.8%, one of 
the highest in Latin America in 2003.

The Hugo Chavez government is wrapping up its fifth year in government with 
a high number of un and underemployed, a lack of investment in the capital, 
a sharp inflationary spiral and growing opposition.

The constitutional route

After failed coup attempts in 2002 (a military attempt in April followed by 
an economic attempt in December), the opposition opted for the 
Constitutional route to make its dreams come true: remove Chavez from power.

In order to do this, leaders from the Democratic Coordinator, that groups 
together opposition political parties and civil society organizations, 
turned to the so-called endorsed revocation. Under this recourse 
legislators and the president can be voted out of their posts halfway 
through their mandates.

The endorsed revocation is a unique constitutional mechanism in the 
political history of Latin America. It only exists in the Venezuelan 
Constitution and reflects the democratic will of the nations Magna Charter.

According to the Constitution, halfway through the mandate of a 
democratically elected official, 20 percent of registered voters can 
request a referendum to revoke his or her term.

Under the Constitution if an equal or greater number of voters who elected 
the official vote in favor of the revocation, their mandate is terminated. 
The number must represent a minimum of 25 percent of registered voters.

In this case, however, the government and the opposition reached an 
agreement, sanctioned by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. Should the 
endorsed referendum be invoked, the option that garnered the highest number 
of votes would win as opposed to the necessary number required to revoke 
the involved leader.

In the specific case of the president, this agreement meant that if a 
greater number of voters were opposed to the revocation, Chavez would be 
re-legitimized in the presidency, even if the opposition did manage to 
obtain the 3.7 million votes that Chavez won when he was elected in 1998.

If the opposition did manage to gather the necessary signtures to activate 
the endorsed revocation, both the opposition and pro-Chavez faction would 
confront a very serious obstacle: high electoral absenteeism in the history 
of the country.

According to the National Electoral Council in the year 2000 absenteeism 
reached nearly 44 percent and in 16 of Venezuelas 24 states, absenteeism 
was more than 40%.

Agents of reconciliation

Evangelical Churches, like Venezuelan society as a whole, have suffered 
serious polarization regarding the sympathy and opposition of its members 
to the Chavez government and his Bolivariana Revolution.

In general terms this sympathy or opposition seems to reflect the class 
origin of the faithful. Middle class Churches from the major cities tend to 
side with the opposition and Pentecostal Churches whose members live in 
marginal neighborhoods or rural areas do not hide their sympathy for Chavez.

This does not mean that in historic Churches like the Presbyterian or 
Anglican Church there are not also pro-Chavez factions or that there are no 
Pentecostals opposed to the Bolivariana Revolution.

For example, one Presbyterian leader, who voted in favor of the revocation 
of the presidential mandate, said that the idea of social justice does not 
belong to Chavez and questioned that a revolution is taking place. Another 
leader from the same Church responded that none of the traditional parties, 
not even the most recently formed, are capable of directing a project for 
the nations poor.

A Lutheran pastor, who is a militant in the opposition, criticized that the 
current government for causing the greatest and most profound division ever 
experienced in Venezuelan society. On the other hand a Pentecostal pastor 
believes that President Chavez is part of Gods project for Venezuela and 
Latin America as a whole.

Some pastors prefer to exorcise polarization from their congregations 
calling on the faithful to leave political debates outside the temple. 
Others use the pulpit as an instrument to preach discourses advocating one 
side or the other.

Some are aware, however, that the confrontation involves everyone and that 
Churches are called to play a key role as mediators and reconcilers in the 
coming months.

Confrontation will continue because we live a confrontation of ideas, 
attitudes and paradigms. However, we cannot accept that it leads us to 
violence, said a Pentecostal pastor in Maracaibo.

One historian, linked to Pentecostalism said, Even though there is no 
neutrality we serve a Church that should not be space for conflict but for 
dialogue and meeting a space where Christ cannot be diminished by our 
political fanaticism from one side or the other.

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