ALC NEWS SERVICE E-mail: director@alcnoticias.org
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CONTENT
ECUADOR: Evangelical indigenous announce new protests PERU: Peruvian Bible Society leader calls on voters to cast an informed vote COLOMBIA: Ecumenical Network of Colombia denounces death threats against two leaders EL SALVADOR: Lutheran Bishop congratulates mayor elect COLOMBIA: Evangelical Council of Colombia accuses armed groups of murder of two pastors
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ECUADOR Evangelical indigenous announce new protests
QUITO, Mar. 17 (ALC). After days of demonstrations and road blocks against the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States and U.S. oil company Occidental Petroleum on the part of indigenous people, Evangelical indigenous people announced new protests, this time demanding that President Alfredo Palacio resign and that a Constituent Assembly be created.
Marco Murillo, head of the Ecuadorian Federation of Evangelical Indigenous (FEINE) officially outlined the plan Thursday for the organization in the province of Chimborazo, where 60% of the indigenous population is not Catholic.
The most recent protests, which were lead by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) against the FTA and Occidental ?did not respond to the in-depth problems,? Murillo told El Comercio.
The Evangelical leader indicated that after several meetings with Evangelical indigenous leaders they reached the conclusion that there are no guarantees for the upcoming electoral process. ?The conformation of a constituent assembly is necessary,? said Murillo.
He said that the Evangelical movement is not alone and has been dialoguing with workers, judicial employees, retired people and other grassroots groups. ?We want many sectors to participate in the protest,? he said.
The main leaders of the indigenous Evangelical movement met this morning in Riobamba to define the actions they will carry out. They did not rule out the possible of blocking highways and a massive march to Quito, the nation?s capital.
While Murillo assured that these protests ?do not have political objectives,? CONAIE contradicted him. Delfin Tenezaca, president of the Indigenous Movement of Chimborazo said that they will not support the march of the Evangelicals. ?They have other interests,? said Tenezaca.
The president of CONAIE, Luis Macas called for a national uprising against the Free Trade Agreement with the United States and Tenezaca warned that if President Alfredo Palacio signs the FTA ?It will be the last thing he signs.?
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PERU
Peruvian Bible Society leader calls on voters to cast an informed vote
LIMA, Mar. 17 (ALC). Pastor Pedro Arana, general secretary of the Peruvian Bible Society called on citizens to cast an informed vote in the upcoming April 9 general elections and ensure that ?reason prevails over emotion. ?
He said that the person deserving of the public vote should have political experience. ?It is not about legal, military or business management experience but about participation in public life, in service or social actions, someone who has sought the good of the people and struggled for their well being,? he warned.
The selected person should be committed to social justice and the poor should be the object of their greatest concern. We must leave aside those who decree unjust laws, publishing intolerable decrees that do not do justice to the weak or recognize the rights of the poor, he said.
Arana, who was a member of the 1978 Constituent Assembly and secretary general of the Association of Evangelical University Groups of Peru added that a voter must also be aware of the candidate?s history, their background.
Moreover, it is also important to observe and reflect on the people surrounding the candidate he said, adding that voters must take into account that the people who are chosen must be ?the most capable citizens, sincere, who do not seek illicit gain and who are God fearing.?
He insisted that a serious candidate, as well as presenting a real and coherent government plan must explain how they will achieve their objectives, keep their promises and guarantee that they will not forget them. ?When we are intellectually convinced it will be up to us to vote for the person that Peru needs today,? he emphasized.
Next April 9 Peruvians will elect a new president, two vice presidents, 120 congress representatives and 5 representatives to the Andean Parliament.
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COLOMBIA
Ecumenical Network of Colombia denounces death threats against two leaders
BARRANQUILLA, Mar. 16 (ALC). Two human rights leaders, members of the Ecumenical Network of Colombia, received death threats from a group linked to Army intelligence operations, the network recently charged.
The ecumenical organization said that Pastor Milton Mejia, secretary general of the Presbyterian Church and Mauricio Avilez, member of the Justice and Peace Commission, both members of the Network?s Executive Secretariat, received the death threats.
According to the network, the threats came from a group known as GAULA, the Unified Action for Freedom Group, allegedly linked to the Second Army Brigade of Barranquilla.
Last December, Gilberto Cadena, a displaced man living in the area, was intercepted by a man who said he worked for the Second Army Brigade. The man proposed that Cadena be an informant, under the command of a man called Sergio who he identified as being responsible for GAULA in the zone, the network said.
The informant told Cadena that his organization has been following the human rights activists and said they ?are going to get a bullet.? He referred to them as ?scum that we must bother or eliminate because they move for the guerrillas."
He also said that Mejia's Church was a "front for the guerrillas. There, FARC (Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia) and ELN (National Liberation Army) things are managed. Milton Mejia and Mauricio Avilez work with the FARC (...) we do not want to put them in prison, but for something else," he told Cadena.
After refusing to collaborate, Cadena's home was attacked, he was threatened and he miraculously survived an attack January 12, when two of his friends died, both shot by unknown assailants who traveled on a motorbike. He was obligated to flee the region, the network said.
In a statement, the Ecumenical Network of Colombia called on organizations to send letters to Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos, to the attorney general and to the public prosecutor, demanding that they investigate GAULA, suspected of being a criminal structure rooted in the State.
It recalled that many of the judicial processes against supposed guerilla collaborators are based on false testimony or paid informants who repeat lines prefabricated in military institutions or on intelligence reports that lack credibility.
It said that despite the fact that the human rights community and Christian Churches have recognized and support the legitimate exercise of the rights of the displaced in the Atlantico Department, military forces persist in sustaining that the right to association and the legitimate work to defend the poor and excluded is part of the guerrilla warfare strategy.
The Ecumenical Network of Colombia warned about the serious situation in Barranquilla and the "perverse strategy that state agents from the Second Brigade participate in through their reinsertion program," against social leaders, who are accused by false witnesses and whose lives are threatened.
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EL SALVADOR Lutheran Bishop congratulates mayor elect
SAN SALVADOR, Mar 16 (ALC). It is urgent that the Electoral Supreme Tribunal become ?non-partisan? said the bishop of the Salvadoran Lutheran Church Medardo Gomez, who congratulated Violeta Menjivar, the first woman to be voted mayor of this capital by a slim margin of 59 votes.
The Lutheran Bishop said that it is imperative the political parties dialogue and find formulas that improve the Tribunal, in the light of the controversy that emerged after the recent municipal election in the capital city.
The Supreme Electoral Court, lead by ruling party magistrate Walter Araujo delayed the results until early Thursday, creating an environment of chaos after denouncements of electoral fraud.
The main candidates for the mayor of San Salvador were Rodrigo Samayoa, of the ruling party Nationalist Republican Alliance Party (ARENA) and Violeta Menjívar of the Farabundo Martí for National Liberation Front (FMLN), who both proclaimed themselves to be the winner. The situation grew worse when the Salvadoran president and head of the ARENA party Antonio Saca backed his party mate.
FMLN supporters had concentrated in the main square in the capital from Sunday to Thursday and held a massive demonstration on Wednesday night.
The situation turned violent when the national police set up a barricade and called in reinforcements. The ensuing violence left eight injured people in its wake.
Finally, the Tribunal announced that Menjívar had won with a total of 64,881 votes, against 64,822 votes for Samayoa.
According to Bishop Gomez, the actions on the part of the population were a product of the desperation. However, he said it is important to carry out a profound reading of the facts, aimed at improving the work of the Tribunal, political parties, the media and other bodies "which in one way or another played a part in the event."
After congratulating the winner, Gomez announced that the Churches will orient the new authorities. "We hope that our contribution helps to generate confidence and hope in the Salvadoran people," he said.
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COLOMBIA
Evangelical Council of Colombia accuses armed groups of murder of two pastors
By William Delgado Gil
BOGOTA, Mar. 16 (ALC). The Board of Directors of the Evangelical Council of Colombia (CEDECOL) accused armed groups of being responsible for the murder of two Evangelical pastors in the city of Buenaventura, the most recent which took place yesterday.
CEDECOL's protest is the first reaction of the Evangelical community to the murder of Pastors Alfredo Orozco, of the New Christian Beginnings Church on Wednesday and the death of Oscar Munoz, of the Christian Missionary Alliance, murdered March 3.
"This irrational action grieves the Christian family of the Colombian nation and leads a huge wound and pain in the congregations and the families of the ministers," Pastor Roosevelt Muriel, president of CEDECOL told ALC.
Pastor Orozco, age 33, who led a congregation of 300 members, was gunned down by unknown assailants when he left his home yesterday. He leaves a wife and two children. Pastor Munoz, who lived in Buenaventura for the past 15 years, was killed in similar circumstances.
"We demand in firm and conclusive manner that the groups who have attacked the lives of the Christian pastors cease their actions against Evangelical Churches in the country," said Muriel.
ALC discovered that two pastors from Cali had received death threats and one left the country Thursday. An Evangelical Pastor, who declined to give his name, said that the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) declared Evangelical pastors a military target. In recent years 47 pastors have been murdered, he said.
A funeral will be held for Pastor Orozco in the city of Palmira Friday, said CEDECOL.
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