wfn.org | WCC FEATURE: Bolivia: Churches amid change and political tension

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World Council of Churches - Feature

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For immediate release - 05/08/2009 15:02:34

BOLIVIAN CHURCHES STRUGGLE TO OVERCOME VIOLENCE AMID CHANGE AND
POLITICAL TENSION

>Free photos available, see below

The more radical social and political changes are, the more
likely they are to bring out tension amongst social actors. It is
in a context such as this - a Living Letters delegation visiting
Bolivia in mid July heard - that Bolivian churches struggle to
overcome violence in society. 

The key word to understand violence in Bolivia is "change", said
Jaime Bravo, a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Santa
Cruz de la Sierra, speaking to members of the Living Letters (
http://www.overcomingviolence.org/iepc/living-letters-visits.html
)team, drawn from Germany, Norway, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil and
Kenya. 

Living Letters are small ecumenical teams visiting a country to
listen, learn, pray for peace and share approaches to overcome
violence. They are organized in the context of the WCC's Decade
to Overcome Violence ( http://www.overcomingviolence.org/ )in
order to prepare for the International Ecumenical Peace
Convocation ( http://www.overcomingviolence.org/iepc )in
Kingston, Jamaica, in May 2011.

Santa Cruz de la Sierra, the largest Bolivian city, is located
in the east. Agriculture, gas and oil production have made it the
richest part of the country, enabling a small elite of landlords
and businessmen to initiate a separatist movement. 

According to Bravo, Bolivia has undertaken a profound change
over the last years. Its democracy has been strengthened and now
benefits also the majority of the population, which used to be
overlooked by the government. There are 36 indigenous peoples,
including the Aymara, the Quechua and the Guaraní. 

A new constitution which gave greater rights regarding land and
cultural identity to the indigenous population was approved by 60
percent of voters in a referendum held last January, but is
resisted by a minority made up mainly of wealthy urban elites.
The political polarization between the two parties was so strong
it put Bolivia on the brink of a civil war in 2008, Bravo said. 

Rev. Luis Cristobal Alejo, president of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church, sees the country facing economic, ethnic and gender
violence, even within the churches. Alejo, whose church's
constituency is 80 percent indigenous, and other church leaders
met the Living Letters team in the country's administrative
capital La Paz. 

For Abraham Colque, rector of the Andean Ecumenical Higher
Institute of Theology (ISEAT), Bolivia has been founded on the
ethnic and cultural discrimination of indigenous peoples. Today,
he said, it is time to join hands and build new symbols able to
express a political project rooted in the social and indigenous
movements. 

According to Bishop Javier Rojas, of the Evangelical Methodist
Church, since 2003, when social protests forced the resignation
of President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, the Bolivian people has
been on a journey towards "re-founding Bolivia for the new
millennium". 

Rojas, whose church's members are mainly of Aymara descent,
hailed President Evo Morales' project of a plurinational state.
Morales, an Aymara himself, has been elected the country's first
indigenous president in December 2005. 

Within the context of political tension, the church is concerned
with ethnic and gender violence, as well as the gap between the
poor and the rich, and the looting of the country's natural
resources, which is also a form of violence, said Rojas. 

The Living Letters delegation asked its hosts for their
expectations towards the Ecumenical Declaration on Just Peace to
be adopted at the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation.
Ines Panoco and Noemi Soto, two staff members of the Women's
House in Santa Cruz responded that the declaration should include
a plea for governments to be consistent in their words and deeds,
for a distributive economy, for laws protecting human rights,
changes in political structures and a new global economical
architecture. 

>Addressing violence against women

The Women's House is located in Plan 3000, a poor neighbourhood
on the outskirts of Santa Cruz whose inhabitants are mostly of
indigenous descent. It works to address domestic violence through
assistance to victims, a shelter, legal advice, gender awareness
and a radio station. According to Noemi Soto, gender-related
violence is rooted in intolerance and racism as well as economic
and political factors. 

For Alcira Agreda, coordinator of the ISEAT branch in Santa
Cruz, women suffer because of society's predominantly patriarchal
mindset that causes tragedies ranging from early pregnancies to
suicides. On the other hand, added Bertha Uturunco,
vice-president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, women usually
are afraid of talking about their problems, which makes it
difficult for them to recover self-esteem and to understand their
situation as a gender issue. Education is the way to overcome
gender violence, Uturunco said. 

In La Paz's neighbouring city of El Alto, the Living Letters
team visited the Women's House Suma Jakaña. The centre, an
independent organization initiated by members of the Lutheran
Church, shelters women and children who have become victims of
domestic violence and organizes workshops to help the women
discover their potentials. 

"We need to promote a change in the spirituality of both women
and men, as well as a theological reflection to deepen what it
means to be God's image," said Rev. Verena Grüter from Germany, a
member of the Living Letters team. 

>[825 words]

>WCC member churches in Bolivia:
>http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=4733

Living Letters visit to Uruguay and Bolivia:

http://www.overcomingviolence.org/iepc/living-letters-visits/uruguay-and-bolivia.html

>Photo gallery:
>http://www.overcomingviolence.org/?id=6952

Opinions expressed in WCC Features do not necessarily reflect
WCC policy. This material may be reprinted freely, providing
credit is given to the author. 

Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507
6363 media@wcc-coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,
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