Laen december february 2014 (2)

Latin American Ecumenical News

LAEN

December 2013 • February 2014 No. 1

Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence.

Proverb 12,17

Information Service of the Latin American Council of Churches

CLAI calls for end to antidemocratic violence in Venezuela

Felipe Adolf, second from left, and FECLAI team analyzing Salvadoran elections (S. Barrera)

Remaining imperfections in the Salvadoran election processes can be overcome, says FECLAI Following the first round of the presidential election process in El Salvador on Sunday, February 2, the Ecumenical Forum of the Latin American Council of Churches (FECLAI) said that although there still are imperfections these can be overcome.

ALC/San Salvador

By Susana Barrera for ALC. EDITOR’S NOTE: The FECLAI concern expressed in the news story that follows, is underscored by the official results of the presidential run-off elections held March 9. The difference between the 50.11% of the voting in favor of the Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation (FMLN) and the 49.89% of the defeated Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) is only 0.22%, which had earlier triggered off four days of massive demonstrations by ARENA, seeking to delegitimize the guarantor institutions.

The FECLAI statement came as voting results showed that none of the political parties had the 50% needed to win as stipulated in the country’s Electoral Law, which means that a run-off election will have to take place. In the light of this result, the members of the FECLAI elections observer team also commented on the possible reasons for the absenteeism that marked the electoral process.

“There cannot be frauds if the events are audited by representatives of different political parties, and, in addition to that, are certified by international observers who make it known to the world,” said the Reverend Felipe Adolf, President of the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) and member of the FECLAI team.

The contending parties in the

presidential elections are the former guerilla Farabundo Martí Front, presently in power, the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), and the Unity Movement, led by former president Antonio Saca.

Adolf evaluated the election process as being satisfactory, although regretting that absenteeism continues to prevail in the countries of the region. “This is because when the candidates come to power they forget about service to others, forget promises and lose credibility in the eyes of the people, and they become political swindles,” said the Lutheran pastor.

Agreeing with Adolf, the President of FECLAI – El Salvador, Anglican Bishop Martín Barahona, suggested to the political parties that they review their electoral offers and their work at the base levels of the population, “There were many issues left out, such as that of the environment, more work with youth, and territorial,” he pointed out.

According to official figures, 4.9 million eligible voters were expected to take part in the elections, but the exact number of those who voted is yet to be made public. Among other novelties in the process was the voting abroad, the residential vote, and that of the members of the police force who voted in their centers of service.

Barahona reiterated that no longer are electoral frauds the challenges but rather that the rulers, once they are in power, follow-up and implement what they have promised, on behalf of the common wellbeing.

FECLAI coordinated a movement of over 200 national and international observers, who stood out all over the country, and joined together with a civil society network. FECLAI has 20 years of experience in electoral observation in El Salvador, and its member churches have accompanied the historical processes of the nation.

Venezuela is submerged in waves of orchestrated violence aimed at destabilizing the country. In a February 27 letter to the Churches in Venezuela the General Secretary of the Latin American Council of Churches, CLAI, a member of the ACT Alliance, expresses condemnation of the illegal and anti-democratic intentions of the opposition in Venezuela to bring about regime change using violence.

Quito/ACT Alliance, ALC The letter is addressed to: Episcopal Anglican Church in Venezuela Evangelical Lutheran Church in Venezuela Presbyterian Church in Venezuela Pentecostal Evangelical Union of Venezuela and Ecumenical Action.

Dear brothers and sisters “I ask ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory - to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him— endless energy, boundless strength!” Ephesians 1.17-19 The Latin American Council of Churches, CLAI, has stated on previous occasions already that protests and demonstrations are legitimate and sometimes necessary in democratic regimes. The people have the right to demonstrate, if they feel that the authorities are not acting for the

President Nicolás Maduro chairing peace conference initiative at Miraflores Palace, February 26 (Prensa Presidencial)

common good.

Also, it is almost inevitable that in demonstrations there are people who use violence. These violent attitudes are not tolerable any longer and should be restrained by the authorities. We express our solidarity with the families of people who have been assassinated and injured in the protests. We pray for the comfort and strength of God for each one of them.

We have seen in the protests in this month of February in Venezuela, directed by the opposition, that their own leaders have confessed the aim of “regime change”. The Venezuelan Constitution offers the possibility of a revocatory referendum half way through the term of a presidency, and in that legal and democratic way a government can be changed.

However, the recent opposition protests, fed by a media campaign of exaggerations, with unverified messages, dissemination of lies on social networks, selective interviews in the international press, retouched photographs of massive protests, for the purposes of propaganda, have demonstrated the impatient claims of the opposition, that don’t want to wait to move forward legally.

From the General Secretariat of the Latin American Council of

Churches, we have sought to listen to the churches and you have confirmed that, in addition to the existence of greater social inclusion, there are serious problems of security, shortages and fiscal solvency that remain unresolved. Therefore the protests are legitimate in their call for greater security, against shortages and inflation, but the demand for a “regime change” does not match the democratic will of the majority of the Venezuelan people expressed in the last elections in 2013.

We thank you for sharing your views and commitment to peace with justice and we plead with God to continue giving you the Spirit of wisdom to accompany your people in these difficult moments. We are open to your suggestions for how CLAI can accompany you with concrete instruments of promotion and participation in the building of peace with justice.

Yours in Jesus Christ.

Rev. Nilton Giese General Secretary CLAI Read the original letter at: http://www.claiweb.org/secretaria_general/2014/venezuela.pdf Source: ACT Alliance: http://www.actalliance.org/stories/clai-calls-for-end-toantidemocratic-violence

Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) Launches Publication of E-Books in Spanish As part of its commitment to facilitating access to its biblical, theological and

pastoral publications in Spanish, in collaboration with Sinodal publishers of

Brazil, the CLAI web-site now offers an initial collection of e-books for downloading at no cost.

CLAI, ALC/Quito The initial collection of ebooks for downloading at no cost can be found at http://www.claiweb.org/comunicaciones/prueba.h tm.

CLAI e-books (CLAI)

Source: Latin American Council of Churches, CLAI: www.claiweb.org

LATIN AMERICAN ECUMENICAL NEWS • DECEMBER-FEBRUARY 2014

2 Church and Society

Anglican Primate says hydroelectric projects to blame for flooding in Rondônia, Brazil The Primate of the Episcopal Church of Brazil has blamed hydroelectric projects for major flooding that has left people isolated without access to food, water or medical supplies. The Most Revd Francisco de Assis da Silva, also Bishop of Santa Maria Diocese, wrote to supporters asking for international prayer and local help for those affected by flooding in Rondônia.

Anglican Communion News Service/Porto Velho

Anglican Archbishop of Brazil, Francisco de Assis da Silva (Anglican Alliance)

“The river Madeira rose up to 17m above normal,” he said. “This flood has been tagged as the [worst] flood in the last 70 years...Our Anglican community in Porto Velho (capital city) share with us information that families are isolated with no food or supplies and no possibility to be attended by doctors. There are no more routes. The water took over.”

The Primate blamed the flooding, which has been declared a national emergency, on hydroelectric projects that affect the flow of the rivers.

He added that such disasters can be prevented.

Read the full letter below translated from the original Portuguese:

“Sisters and Brothers, We share our deep concern about the serious situation of the people in Rondônia following the floods last week. The river Madeira rose up to 17m above normal.

This flood has been tagged as the biggest flood in the last 70 years.

It has caused lots of damage and loss for the people. Many had nowhere else to go and the economy in the region has been severely affected.

Our Anglican community in Porto Velho (capital city) have shared with us that families are isolated with no food or supplies and no possibility to be attended by doctors.

There are no more routes. The water has taken over. The families and their children are isolated because of

it. Hunting and fishing are compromised. Our Anglican Mission Moriá, with 36 families, lives along the bank of the Rivers Garça and Candeias and they are dangerously affected too.

I call all our Church to pray for the region and the people in that situation and, where it is possible to collect food supplies, clothes and medicines, to help the families [with these]. I make an appeal also to our international partners to support these initiatives of emergency aid via our Provincial Office and by being in contact with our local leaders in Porto Velho (Capital City of Rondonia), where we are present in two communities.

Unfortunately [such disasters] are becoming usual each day in our country. The big hydroelectric projects are responsible for deeply damaging our rivers, causing changes to their natural pluvial flux. And we all know this is absolutely possible to prevent. Our prayers go out to our sisters and brothers in this part of the missionary district.

As the one responsible for taking care of this flock, I offer my full solidarity to the riverside people and the solidarity of all our Church!

In the love of Christ ++ Francisco de Assis da Silva Primaz do Brasil e diocesano em Santa Maria” Source: Anglican Communion News Service, ACNS: http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2014/02/primate-hydroelectric-projects-to-blame-for-brazilflooding.aspx

Guatemala:

Churches concerned over increase of violence Both the Catholic and the Evangelical churches in Guatemala, have the issue of violence on the list of their prayer concerns, following the statistics made public on January 2 by the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF), which revealed that there were 6,072 deaths in 2013 as a

LAEN Latin American Ecumenical News is a quarterly produced by the Communication Department of the Latin American Council of Churches Editor: Geoffrey Reeson Translation: Geoff Reeson Layout and Editorial Coordination: Amparo Salazar Chacón Press service: ALC, Methodist News Service, ENI, Presbyterian News Press, ACNS, Zenit, Factiva, ACPress.

Departamento de Comunicaciones CLAI Inglaterra N32-113 y Av. Mariana de Jesús Casilla 17-08-8522, Quito, Ecuador Telepone: (593-2) 255-3996/252-9933 Fax: (593-2) 256-8373 E-mail: nilton@claiweb.org www.claiweb.org ISSN 1390-0358 Subscriptions: Latin America and the Caribbean: One year US$ 12, Two years US$ 20 Other regions: One year US$16, Two years US$26

result of the scourge of violence affecting the country, an average of 16.63 violent deaths per day, representing a slight increase in comparison to 2012.

ALC/Guatemala City oberto Garza, spokesperson for the INACIF, informed the press of the alarming figures for such a small country, that place Guatemala among the nations with the highest indices of violence in Central America, and, possibly, of the continent.

According to the official information available, there were 47 more murders in 2013 in comparison to the 6,025 reported in 2012. In 2011, 6,234 homicides were reported, an average of 17.07 per day. The INCF statistics also revealed that in 2013, 4,152 men and 522 women were killed by firearms, representing 76.97 percent of the total number of murders reported.

For the government of President Otto Pérez Molina, this violence is, to a great extent, the result of organized crime, such as youth gangs and narcotics trafficking, and Pérez Molina has expressed that he will have a hard hand against such behavior in

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the Central American country. The indices of violence have also made it necessary to increase the number of the National Civil Police in 2014, in order to guarantee the life of the more than 15 million inhabitants of Guatemala.

On many occasions the churches have demanded of the government that it take measures to eradicate the poverty and hunger, the main causes of the inequality that has brought the country to its present condition, and have made their petition known to the Guatemalan society, through homilies, official statements and messages, when calling for a return to the recovery of the values that the society has lost, such as love for neighbor, respect for others, and, above all, the safeguarding of the family, the basic nucleus within which the best feelings are fostered.

Sources: EFE, AP

Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Forenses, Guatemala, Logo

Cuban Church Leaders Push for Improved CubaU.S. Relations: Church World Service (CWS) Head Calls Faith Community to Action As a delegation from the Cuban Council of Churches meets with administration officials and members of Congress during a Feb. 2627 visit to Washington, D.C.,CWS President and CEO the Rev. John McCullough has called the U.S. faith community to action around improved relations with Cuba.

CWS, ALC/Washington, DC This is a particularly important time for congregational activism; for people to tune in to this issue and to make their voices heard to members of Congress. My experience has been that there are easily a majority of members of Congress who believe that it is time to move forward and they need to hear from their constituents that this is something that is important to them,” said McCullough.

Hoping to capitalize on a perceived softening of official attitudes towards improving relations with Cuba, McCullough and members of the Cuban delegation are renewing their appeal to the U.S. government to take the necessary steps to end the decades old U.S. embargo on Cuba, with its ban on travel to and trade with the island nation.

Last year, McCullough joined other U.S. faith leaders in praising President Obama for a 2011 directive that lifted restrictions for religious and academic travel to Cuba, and allowed licensed people-to-people cultural travel. That move, faith leaders said, strengthened relationships with church partners in Cuba and paralleled what they described as a “time of robust growth for Cuban churches, which has occurred alongside movement within Cuba to increase economic prosperity and political rights.”

The trip is motivated by a desire by the Cuban church leaders “to continue trying to serve as a bridge and to explore paths for normalizing relations between our two governments,” said delegation member Dr. Reinerio Arce, moderator of the Presbyterian Churches in Cuba and president of the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Matanzas.

“Our peoples have never felt enmity and I believe that it is our duty as Christians to do all that is possible to find ways in which our two neighboring peoples can live as friends.”

Describing the delegation members as “ambassadors of reconciliation and peace,” Dr. Arce pointed out that, “The churches of the U.S. and Cuba, over all these years of disagreement between our two governments, have been an important bridge in the relationship between our two peoples.”

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Council of Churches of Cuba (CIC)

Another member of the delegation, Bishop Griselda Delgado, the Episcopal Bishop of Cuba, emphasized the urgency of “responsible, respectful” dialogue between Cuba and the United States if reconciliation is to be achieved.

“As members of the Cuban church, representing our communities in dialogue and relationship with our sister churches in the U.S., we believe it is important to keep making the people of North America aware of the reality of the people of Cuba, who live unjustly under economic blockade by the United States,” Griselda said.

While the issue itself is complicated, Rev. McCullough believes that giving lawmakers an incentive to act by calling and urging them to work toward normalizing relations with Cuba is a simple thing for people of faith to do. “It is both easy and imperative for people to speak out about it, and the visit of the Cuban church delegation provides an excellent opportunity to again raise concern about this issue to our elected officials on Capitol Hill,” McCullough said.

The Cuban delegation is led by the Rev. Joel Ortega Dopico, Presbyterian minister and president of the Cuban Council of Churches.

In addition to Dr. Arce and Bishop Delgado, members include the Rev. María Yi, Society of Friends (the Quakers), and head of the Cuban chapter of the Latin American Council of Churches, the Rev. Raúl Suárez, Baptist minister and founder and director of the Martin Luther King Center in Havana; and the Rev. Rhode González, a pastor in the Christian Pentecostal church and past president of the Cuban Council of Churches.

The delegation is sponsored by Church World Service, the Presbyterian Church USA, the American Baptist Churches, the American Friends Service Committee, the Episcopal Church, and Global Ministries of the Christian Churches (Disciples) and United Church of Christ.

Source: Church World Service, CWS: http://www.cwsglobal.org/newsroom/news-releases/cuban-church-leaders-to-push.html

Latin America and Environment 3

Gender Counts in the Aftermath of Disaster in the Caribbean The rise in natural disasters in the Caribbean due to climate change has led to increased suffering for both men and women, much of it as a consequence of socially constructed roles based on gender, experts say.

Inter Press Service News Agency, IPS Port of Spain, By Jewel Fraser o although women typically suffer more during natural disasters, gender policies that specifically focus on helping men when disasters strike are also needed, according to a disaster management official in the Caribbean.

“In the Caribbean region, discussions on gender are relegated to conversations on women,” Elizabeth Riley, the deputy executive director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), told IPS. However, she said, experience of natural disasters in the region show that there is a need for psycho-social support programmes for males following a disaster.

A report prepared for the United Nations Development Programme entitled “Enhancing Gender Visibility in Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change in the Caribbean” noted that men often lacked coping skills in the aftermath of a hurricane and were prone to alcohol abuse, stress, and anger.

Riley said reports from regional disasters showed women, on the other hand, responded to such events “by connecting to the whole concept of social capital – relying on each other, family connections and

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friends.”

She said women in these disasters occupied themselves with consoling children through storytelling, communal cooking and “encouraging people toward a place of recovery.” Other reports showed that men did show some resilience in tackling the reconstruction of their homes.

Reports of natural disasters in the region highlight other male vulnerabilities.

Riley said other reports show that “elderly men are abandoned and incapable of fending for themselves.”

“It is very closely connected to a culture where men have multiple partners and when they reach old age they do not have social capital for support,” she said.

“That is the result of the socially constructed role of men being macho” by having children with several women, she said. “It puts a level of burden on the state because the support for older men is significantly less than that for women,” she said.

In its 2004 macro-economic and social assessment of the damage wrought by Hurricane Ivan in Grenada, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States noted that “69 percent of the victims were males, and 70 percent of all deceased were over 60 years old.”

Men may be more likely to suffer physical harm in a natural disaster, said Dr. Asha Kambon, a consultant who worked for 20 years with UNECLAC, specialising in natural disasters and their impact on small island developing states. “We women are not as prone to risk-taking as men,” she noted.

Though women typically die in greater numbers than men in a natural disaster, Kambon told IPS the

A cleric prays with Colleen James in Cane Grove, St. Vincent hours before it was confirmed that James' sister had died in the Christmas Eve floodwaters. Her twoyear-old daughter was still missing (Desmond Brown IPS)

ratio of male to female deaths depended very much “on the environment, on the circumstances.”

For example, in the recent floods that occurred over the Christmas holidays in St. Vincent, Dominica, and St. Lucia, all six of the deaths in St. Lucia were of men, most of whom were attempting to drive through the floods.

She recalled that during floods in Guyana in a recent year, several men died from leptospirosis because of walking through flood waters, whereas no women died from this illness. Kambon said this was because the women took the recommended medication and avoided contact with the flood waters.

Nevertheless, natural disasters do place a special burden on women in the region in ways that mirror the experiences of women worldwide.

In the Caribbean, schools and churches are the most likely buildings to be used as shelters following a natural disaster. This increases the women’s burden of care, said Kambon, since “women are responsible for the children and the elderly,

and very often the schools are not reopened rapidly following a disaster.

So they have to look after those children, and they cannot go out and look for work.”

According to “Making Risky Environments Safer,” published by the U.N. Division for the Advancement of Women, “Domestic work increases enormously when support systems such as childcare, schools, clinics, public transportation and family networks are disrupted or destroyed” due to natural disaster.

Many poor women in the Caribbean are employed at the lowest end of the tourism industry, and since disasters typically do severe damage to the industry, many are left unemployed because their skills are not easily transferable.

“Men are able to get into the marketplace faster because the skills they possess are transferable. Also, men often have some construction skills so they can get jobs in those sectors and earn an income,” Kambon said.

Women are less likely to be

employed in the “cash for work” programmes that are frequently implemented following a disaster to rebuild a country’s infrastructure and to provide paid employment, said Riley, since men have the advantage of greater physical strength.

Kambon said that women are also less likely to be employed in such rebuilding programmes because of being restricted to the home in caring for elderly relatives and children.

Perhaps “a cash for care” programme could be implemented, she said, with a view to providing an income to women who would look after dependent members of the community, thus freeing other women to go out and look for work.

She said such considerations underscore the importance of knowing the gender ratio of the community when devising disaster response programmes.

According to “Making Risky Environments Safer”, “Emergency relief workers’ lack of awareness of gender-based inequalities can further perpetuate gender bias and put women at an increased disadvantage in access to relief measures and other opportunities and benefits.”

Further, in the aftermath of recent regional disasters, there was the issue “of the safety and wellbeing of women and children,” Kambon said, since there is often a breakdown of law and order.

Bathroom facilities also presented a problem for women in emergency shelters.

“What was adequate for men was completely inadequate for women, in terms of cleanliness, safety, location and the ability to use them,” Kambon said.

Source: Inter Press Service News Agency, IPS: http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/01/gender-counts-aftermath-disaster/

REPORT:

Alarming Data of Violence Against Women in Latin America and the Caribbean According to the report “States’ Commitment: Plans and policies to eradicate violence against women in Latin America and the Caribbean,” presented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and UN Women in Panama on Nov. 22, there are “critical knots” in the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of public policies to eradicate violence.

ticipate in the campaign “UNiTE to End Violence Against Women” by wearing an orange piece of clothing during 16 days to make visible the other thousands of cases hidden due to fear.

The Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, launched the global campaign UNiTE to end violence against women in 2008. Through it, Ban highlights the need for efforts “to

Latinamerica Press/ALC Panama City ore than 1,800 women in the region were assassinated in 2013 because of gender violence, according to data from the United Nations (UN). On Nov. 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the UN called people to par-

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No More Gender Violence

promote a change in attitudes towards egalitarian, non-violent societies that incorporate men as part of the solution and not just the problem.”

According to the report “States’ Commitment: Plans and policies to eradicate violence against women in Latin America and the Caribbean,” presented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and UN Women in Panama on Nov. 22, while there have been advances “in the institutionalization of new and better practices that are more inclusive and participatory, that impact the design and development of policies and/or national plans for gender equality and the fight against violence against women”, there are “critical knots” in the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of public policies to eradicate violence.

These “knots” include: lack of political willingness and support; lack of consistency between legal instruments and public policies that address violence against women; insufficient financial resources;

weak inter-institutional, inter-sector, and inter-jurisdictional connections; uncoordinated institutional responses; high rate of employment turnover; weak technical capabilities and weak institutional cultures; and initial conjectures about plans and public policy results.

Numbers talk Numbers from UNDP, cited by UN Women, point to Bolivia as the country in the region with the highest percentage of women victims of physical or sexual violence (52 percent). Following Bolivia are Colombia and Peru with 39 percent each and Ecuador with 31 percent.

UN Women maintains that in Central America two out of three women are assassinated due to gender violence. Between January and October 2013, 656 women were assassinated in Guatemala and 203 in El Salvador.

Freddy Justiniano, UNDP Regional Center Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, headquartered in Panama City, stated that the objective of the report is “to

share knowledge with the countries of the region and contribute to improve the plan implementation rates”. Meanwhile, the report recommends “transforming [how] violence against women is addressed into government policies that support national plans and send a message to society of zero tolerance of violence against women.”

Gladys Acosta, representative of UN Women-Ecuador, characterized as “alarming” the gender violence numbers analyzed by the UNDP and UN Women report. She pointed out that while the majority of countries have implemented public policies in this respect, there still is an “institutional weakness” to facing and eradicating violence against women.

“Laws on their own don’t change things”, said Acosta during a presentation of the report in Ecuador. “But legal improvements allow for better management of policies to face discrimination and gender violence.”

Source: Latinamerica Press: http://www.lapress.org/articles.asp?art=6940

LATIN AMERICAN ECUMENICAL NEWS • DECEMBER-FEBRUARY 2014

ANALYSIS:

LATIN AMERICAN ECUMENICAL NEWS • DECEMBER-FEBRUARY 2014

4 Church and Society

It is time to adopt Venezuelan Evangelical Pentecostal discourses and actions that Union Calls for Peace The Venezuelan Evangelical Pentecostal Union (UEPV) , its churches, pastors, and bishops, in fellowship with the Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ in the United States and Canada, in the name of the God of Peace and Life to whom we pray, believe, demand the immediate cessation of all violence in Venezuela.

Global Ministries: Disciples/UCC Maracaibo PASTORAL LETTER FROM UEPV 1. IN THE NAME OF THE GOD OF JUSTICE AND PEACE IN WHOM WE BELIEVE WE ASK, WE PRAY, WE DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE CESSATION OF ALL FORMS OF VIOLENCE IN VENEZUELA The Venezuelan Evangelical Pentecostal Union (UEPV) , its churches, pastors, and bishops, in fellowship with the Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ in the United States and Canada, in the name of the God of Peace and Life to whom we pray, believe, demand the immediate cessation of all violence in Venezuela, repudiate the call made by Leopoldo López and María Corina Machado to exercise violence and destabilize our country disrespecting democratic institutions, laws and the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, given that this incitement to hatred and violence has led their followers and activists to commit grave acts against our people resulting in several tragic deaths, hundreds of injured people, the destruction of public works which serve the people, the hospitalization of children, and the destruction of public transportation.

From the very moment the Venezuelan National Electoral Council issued the results of the elections of December 8, 2013 in which the vast majority of the Venezuelan people voted and elected 255 Bolivarian mayors against 75 Bolivarian municipalities won by the opposition, sector opponents abandoned the democratic electoral process to use violence in the streets as a political weapon to overthrow the government that the people themselves legitimately elected this last April.

As agents of faith our mission is to show the world the grace of the God that saves, therefore we completely reject the project of war and violence that minority sectors in Venezuela are orchestrating with the help of foreign forces seeking to incite the country by advocating a fratricidal war.

In the name of the God of peace in which we believe, we urge the proponents of violence and war as a weapon to listen to the voices that

are genuinely conciliatory, says the Central Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Venezuela

Venezuelan Evangelical Pentecostal Union (National Assembly, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela)

are raised by all parties in opposition to violence because war does not guarantee wellbeing or security for any person or nation; violence only sows horror, misery and the destruction of all creation; violence goes against the great plan of God that is abundant life for all, justice, peace and the integrity of creation.

Given these grave facts, we call on our churches, our leaders, all Christians in Venezuela and the people in general to not be persuaded by this provocation to violence and hatred. Instead, let us with the power of the Holy Spirit of God invoke the teachings of peace of Jesus of Nazareth “BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS, FOR THEY SHALL BE CALLED CHILDREN OF GOD” (Matthew 5:9. NRSV).

2. PEACE AND RECONCILIATION: A MOAN, A CRY, A SHOUT THAT COMES FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE SOUL OF OUR PEOPLE. The constitutional President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro Moros, has called for the resolves and live forces of this country, particularly the Christians sectors, to collaborate and work in unity for peace through the Movement for Life and Peace, a new social mission which is being proposed from the ecumenical Christian sectors and in dialogue with the government, called Internal Gospel Mission, to help in building the long-awaited peace by our people. We give our support, consideration and respect to President Nicolas Maduro and our firm intention to continue providing our committed efforts, our prayers, and our liberating spirituality, for the strengthening of that strategy articulated through peace that his common government of the people is developing.

3. PEACE BUILDING CHURCHES Congratulations to those Pentecostals churches that came out with their members in the midst of such violence, who were driven to pick up debris and clean streets in solidarity with those who have suffered violence, exemplifying with this gesture that peace and reconciliation is possible.

We join in prayer with Bishop Elida Quevedo of the Venezuelan Evangelical Pentecostal Union who, in the midst of so much tension, moved to Caracas to participate in a women’s march for peace and to address the nation from the Miraflores palace calling for the pacification of the country by Christians who affirm peace and life.

In this regard we call on the leadership of the UEPV and the churches to convert our churches into sanctuaries of peace, and call on all the Venezuelan people to think of PEACE as the beatitude Jesus promised. Let us all seek that PEACE, building it from recognition and mutual respect in diversity, social inclusiveness, democracy, responsibility and participation, respect for the Constitution, the laws and Venezuelan institutions, justice, love, and solidarity.

We also urge our sister churches and the ecumenical movement to assess for signs of life and hope manifest in the current situation in Venezuela which identify with the liberating and transformative spirit of the gospel, and we invite you to join creatively and prophetically providing an evangelical participation and pastoral accompaniment consistent with biblical tenets and the historical-evangelical heritage from which we come.

“May the Lord continually bless you with heaven’s blessings as well as with human joys.

May you live to enjoy your grandchildren! And may God bless Israel!” (Psalm 128:5-6 Living Bible) Obispo. Gamaliel Lugo National General Bishop UEPV Obispo. Eseario Sosa Rodríguez Deputy National General Bishop UEPV Maracaibo, 22 February 2014 Source: Global Ministries: Disciples/UCC: http://globalministries.org/news/news/venezuelan-evangelical.html

In light of the current socio-political situation in the country, the Central Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Venezuela (IPV) at its XXXIV Council, held from February 14-16 in Valles del Tuy, made public a Pastoral Letter to the Venezuelan people, as “a modest contribution to peace and understanding between those of us who live in this land of grace.”

ALC/Caracas he extensive Pastoral Letter can be found in its entirety at www.alcnoticias.net/interior.php?codigo=25445&lang=6 87 Below, we offer a translation of three principal paragraphs of the letter, the first two having to do with the IPV’s Central Presbytery’s understanding of the situation, and the third expressing its hopes.

“We exhort all the political actors to stay within the framework of the Constitution. Violence, as a resource for settling differences, will end up slipping from the hands of those who propitiate it, and will finally gobble up those who started it. Through violence a momentary victory could be obtained, but it will not result in a durable peace, as has been demonstrated throughout the history of humanity.”

“We recognize the national government’s bold efforts to bring about a more equitable distribution of the national wealth that has in good measure allowed the making visible and dignifying of vast sectors of the Venezuelan society, greatly unattended in the past. The

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Central Presbytery, Presbyterian Church of Venezuela, Logo

results are also recognized by world organisms that point to the social achievements that the Venezuelan State has developed over several years. At the same time however, we exhort the powers of the State to do a profound self-criticism, and in a concrete and visible way apply correctives against the bad practices that have established themselves within. For centuries our Reformed Christian tradition has pointed out the permanent temptation to which any level in the exercise of government is subject, in the appealing to the abuse of power, be it openly or covered up, against the rights of the citizens. All inhabitants of whatever nation of the world aspire to have an efficient and clean State, that attends to all their needs.”

“In the world geopolitical context we are a privileged country. In the bowels of the homeland lie mineral and energy wealth. We have important aquifer reserves and agricultural potential. We are a nation strategically located on the American continent. But, and as is not a secret, our superior wealth is in the people that inhabit it. How wonderful it would be if all Venezuelans were to truly see each other as brothers and sisters! How wonderful it would be if we were to march toward a legitimate common objective, built by all!”

Youths Change Weapons for Bibles in the Dominican Republic During the first month of the Bible Society of the Dominican Republic campaign, 1,3 thousand weapons were collected, most of them knives, in exchange for Bibles.

ALC/Santo Domingo he "Bibles for Weapons, for a Society without Violence," campaign of the Bible Society in partnership with the National Police, seeks to reach out to the youths with the goal of reducing the levels of criminality in the country.

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T h e National Police presented to the press the weapons collected during the first month of the campaign.

"When a youth says that he or she will not carry a weapon and Bible prefers a Bible, that is transformation, a blessing for our country," said Pastor Braulio Portes of the National Council of Christianization.

According to United Nations statistics, the Dominican Republic has an index of 25 homicides per 100 thousand inhabitants.

Church and Society 5

unemployment and informal jobs

Unemployment and informality beset Latin American youth (Johan Ordoñez AFP 2014 ILO)

through hiring incentives or simplification of employment paperwork, implementing strategies to formalize workers and sources of employment, and promoting and facilitating entrepreneurship among the youth.

“We are faced with a political challenge that calls for a determination to apply innovative and effective policies to confront labor market precariousness,” said Tinoco during the presentation of the report. “It is urgent to transition from concern to action.”

Source: Latinamerica Press: http://www.lapress.org/articles.asp?art=697

Of the 108 million young people in the region between the ages of 15 and 24, more than half (56.1 percent) are part of the labor force. However, 13.9 percent are unemployed, which means that 7.8 million young people cannot find work despite looking, ensures the International Labor Organization (ILO).

Latinamerica Press/ALC Economic growth has not improved labor prospects for youth in the region The report titled Trabajo decente y juventud: políticas para la acción (Decent Work and Youth: Policies for Action), presented on Feb. 13, maintains that “the youth unemployment rate remains twice as high as the overall rate and three times that of adults. In addition, young people represent 43 percent of all the unemployed in the region.” The total regional unemployment rate is 6.3 percent.

For Elizabeth Tinoco, Regional

Director of the ILO for Latin America and the Caribbean, “it is not surprising that young people take to the streets, as their lives are marked by discouragement and frustration because of lack of opportunities.

This has consequences on social stability and even on democratic governance.”

The report also highlights that 55.6 percent of employed young people only find informal jobs, “which generally involves low wages, job insecurity and lack of protection and rights.” According to the ILO, almost six in 10 young people who work are in informal employment.

Of particular concern is the about 21 million young people who do not study or work, do not search for work or do housework. This group represents the biggest challenge because of it’s at risk of social exclusion.

The ILO recommended to implement the innovative ideas of countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Peru, and Uruguay which include the improvement and extension of training programs to make the school-to-job transition easier, promoting employment programs aimed at helping young people

LATIN AMERICA/ THE CARIBBEAN Unemployment rate by age and gender 2011 (percent)*

Country Men Colombia 17.0 Argentina 16.5 Chile 15.2 15.1 Venezuela Uruguay 14.5 Costa Rica 13.5 El Salvador 12.5 Brazil 12.0 Panama 11.3 Dominican Rep. 10.2 Nicaragua 9.8 Paraguay 9.7 Peru 9.4 Mexico 9.3 Ecuador 9.0 Honduras 5.5 Bolivia 5.1 Guatemala 4.5

Women 28.9 22.2 21.1 22.0 21.7 21.6 11.7 19.8 14.7 19.5 15.6 17.8 9.7 10.9 15.0 13.8 7.8 13.6

*Young people between 15 and 24 years of age. Source: ILO

The family at the center of Catholic concern for 2014 in Nicaragua With the theme, “Look at Jesus who looks at you,” the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Nicaragua (CEN) has set 2014 as the Year of the Family, according to a statement made public this past December 30, which takes into account the dangers facing the basic nucleus of any society in this postmodern era, and specifically in Nicaraguan society.

ALC/Managua

he Nicaraguan Catholic bishops have decided to join efforts with all the faithful of their parishes, in order to work for the family as a synthesis of life

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and with an evident concern over the transformations brought about in the social structures by the new scientific technologies, and their use at the popular level.

The CEN took advantage of the liturgical celebration of the Holy Family to make public its decision to nominate 2014, in response to its concern over how the people frequently find answers to their daily problems through “seductive offers that, to different degrees, compromise truth and the dignity of human beings, and, of course, affect the family.”

As a result, the bishops also pointed to all the processes of change that foster campaigns in favor of abortion, considering them to be consequences of the “selfishness” and the “individualism” of those who promote them,

and who do not assume their family roles, “adopting and choosing lifestyles moved by strange models that contradict their own reality, truth and morality,” going against the proper place of the family and the teachings of the Gospel, leading to intra-family violence among so many other wrongs that cause “spiritual emptiness, dissatisfaction, crises of human, moral and Christian values.”

The CEN message also exhorts Nicaraguan Catholics to deploy efforts so as to evangelize the families and provide them with the tools that make for their human and spiritual development, and the recovery of the values that have been lost.

Sources: ACI, EWTN News

“Broken for You,” a campaign against human trafficking which is being developed by the World Communion of Reformed Churches’ Justice Network took another step forward at a meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, January 29-31, 2014.

World Communion of Reformed Churches, ALC/Buenos Aires

By Anna Krueger small group of Justice Network members met with CAREF (Comisión de Apoyo a Refugiados y Migrantes), an ecumenical organization that works with migrants, refugees, and exiles.

Officials of CAREF shared their 15 years of experience on diverse

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aspects of human trafficking (including sensitizing, prevention, and victim assistance) and its links with international migration, and sexual and labour exploitation.

The exchange contributed to the WCRC’s upcoming “Broken for You” campaign, which will be launched later this year for use during Lent in 2015. The group developed a concept paper which will help guide the creation of the campaign. (The concept paper will shortly be available at www.wcrc.ch) The group was hosted by Iglesia Evangélica del Río de la Plata, a member of both the WCRC and CAREF. For more information, please contact Rev. Dora Arce-Valentin, the WCRC’s executive secretary for justice and partnership: dav@wcrc.eu.

Source: World Communion of Reformed Churches, WCRC: http://wcrc.ch/news/human-trafficking-focus-of-workshop-in-argentina-2/

WCRC Justice Network and CAREF consultations, Buenos Aires, January, 2014 (WCRC)

Chilean Lutheran youth reaffirm commitment to environmental justice and incidence as a faith community The Youth Pastoral Ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile (IELCH) held its traditional summer camp from January 10-13, with the theme, “EcoJustice,” defined by political scientist Ely Orrego Torres as being “the challenges for humanity in relation to the destruction of the planet and the abuse of political and economic power.”

ALC/ Santiago ly Orrego Torres led a workshop with the youth on: “The political panorama of the socialenvironmental conflicts in Chile.”

The activities of the camp were set within the framework of the program called “Youth making peace with the environment,” and involved devotionals, exhibitions, workshops, and time for recreation, coordinated by the IELCH Youth Pastoral Ministry team of facilitators.

Patrick Bornhardt shared the theological proposals of the

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Lutheran World Federation having to do with eco-justice, and Josaphat Jarpa led a workshop on Public Incidence, using a methodology introduced at previous camps, of seeing, judging, and acting.

An activity of public incidence was that of using painting canvases and songs, to share with the people on the Tabo Beach the concern for the care of Creation, asking that they commit themselves by means of a green bow in their hands to change their daily practices for some that protect the earth.

Also participating were young people from other religious communities, with who networks of collaboration will be developed around the theme of environmental justice and Christian commitment, principally through the training project for youth leaders that the Youth Pastoral Ministry will be carrying out in 2014 by “e-learning.”

During the camp the Youth Pastoral Ministry Assembly also took place, with the election of the new leadership, as follows: Noelia Durán, General Secretary; Miguel Orellana, Executive Secretary, and; Pablo Pavez, Secretary of Finances.

LATIN AMERICAN ECUMENICAL NEWS • DECEMBER-FEBRUARY 2014

Human Trafficking Focus Latin American youth struggle between of Workshop in Argentina

REPORT:

LATIN AMERICAN ECUMENICAL NEWS • DECEMBER-FEBRUARY 2014

6 Latin America and Environment

Protecting Haiti’s Vulnerable Children

Peruvian child domestic worker Extract from an interview between Helen Veitch (Children Unite) and Anali Baltazar Sánchez (from Casa de Panchita, Peru).

In the months after the disastrous January 2010 Haiti earthquake, a lot of our Church World Service (CWS) staff started learning about the plight of “restaveks” –Haitian children and young people working in some type of indentured servitude.

World Methodist Council, ALC Lima

CWS/ALC Port-au-Prince

By Chris Herlinger and Jasmine Huggins* t took a major disaster for us to discover this very sad dynamic in Haitian society – in a country where half of the country’s population is under the age of 20, tens of thousands are not in school getting an education, but instead working as maids and domestic servants.

So, it was gratifying that as part of our post-earthquake emergency response, CWS worked with Haitian partners to support vocational education programs for young people who had worked as restaveks.

A key locale for this was the Ecumenical Center for Peace and Justice, known by the French acronym FOPJ, the site of training classes for cooks, hairdressers, masons and electricians.

One of the trainees was Mikency Jean, 22 at the time, a native of the northern city of Cape Haitian. She had come to the capital of Port-auPrince at age 11 to work as a restavek for her aunt. What did that mean day in and day out? Working 12-hour days, cleaning and cooking without pay.

But Jean was determined to make more of her life and her training at the center was giving her experience in learning the skills to be a professional chef.

She and her classmates knew that their training was no guarantee for a better life in Haiti – in Haiti, there are precious little guarantees of anything. Still, the training was preparation for something better and was one of several ways CWS did its best to help young Haitians who knew “the restavek life.”

But in spite of these improvements, more than 300,000 Haitian children still work as restaveks. Girls outnumber boys significantly, and some are as young as 8 years old.

Those of both genders are vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their employers. Those that can run away eventually do, but many eventually end up on the streets and become exposed to other types of risks, including child trafficking.

Getting out of domestic service remains but a distant dream for many children who work as domestic servants. FOPJ has helped dozens of young children through their vocational programs, but also understood that its programs alone could not do it all. That is why FOPJ joined Aba System Restavek (Down with the Restavek System), a local network of some 20 local Haitian organizations all dedicated to help-

INTERVIEW:

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Mikency Jean at the Ecumenical Center for Peace and Justice, known by the French acronym FOPJ (Chris Herlinger CWS)

ing children in this situation. As its name suggests, ASR is determined to not just help individual children, but to completely eradicate the practice.

ASR has already achieved a lot.

It lobbied the Haitian government to declare November 17 National Day for the Abolition of the Restavek System. This is now observed in Haiti every year and restavek children themselves take the lead in calling for education, respect for their rights and protection.

As a network of more than 18 local organizations, ASR raises awareness about the problem of child domestic service locally and internationally and works to strengthen the capacity of its members like FOPJ, to improve their services to affected children. Through its members, it helps reintegrate children into their biological families and provides practical and financial support to the parents, to prevent them from sending their children away again.

ASR also drafted a protocol for the “Prevention of Child Domestic Service and Protection and Reintegration of Affected Children” which last November was ratified by more than 24 local organizations that work with restavek children, as well as governmental bodies and UN organizations that work in Haiti.

And last November, Mr. Emile Brutus, an ASR consultant, came to Washington, D.C. At a Capitol Hill briefing hosted by Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., Emile reminded U.S. policy makers about the need to place vulnerable children in domestic service at the very top of their priorities for Haiti.

This is a great beginning – but so much more remains to be done.

Through Mickency Jean’s inspiring story, we know that the Haitian child domestic workers who await opportunities and change can yet find them. CWS will continue to work with FOPJ and ASR to ensure that happens. *Chris Herlinger is CWS’s senior writer and is the co-author of Rubble Nation: Haiti’s Pain, Haiti’s Promise. Jasmine Huggins is the Washingtonbased policy and advocacy officer for Haiti at CWS. Source: Church World Service, CWS: http://www.cwsglobal.org/blog/protecting-vulnerable-children-in-haiti.html

World Methodist Council’s Family Life Committee Releases Winter Newsletter* There are over 15 million children in domestic work in the world today who feel they are invisible.

They work behind the closed doors of their employers, most are girls and many of them suffer abuse and exploitation at the hands of their employers, working long hours, for little or no pay and denied the opportunity to go to school.

A small charity named ‘Children Unite’ - www.childrenunite.org.uk has been working with NGOs in various countries of the world to provide advocacy and support for these vulnerable children. Methodist Women in Britain engaged in a two year partnership with ‘Children Unite’ campaigning for national governments to ratify the International Labour Organisation’s Domestic Workers Convention, 2011. We believe this convention will help end the abuse and exploitation of child domestic workers.

Interview with a child domestic worker The following is an extract from an interview between Helen Veitch (Children Unite) and Anali Baltazar Sánchez (from Casa de Panchita http://www.gruporedes.org/contenido.php?menu=3&idioma=E Peru).

Helen: Why did you start working as a child domestic worker?

Anali: I started working when I was 9 years old as a domestic worker but I wasn’t paid for this work. I have 5 brothers and sisters and my mum is a single mother so we all had to work to bring in enough money for the whole family.

Helen: how did your employers treat you and how did that

Child Domestic Workers, Peru (www.gruporedes.org)

make you feel?

Anali: My mum told me not to trust my employer, particularly the male employers because many domestic workers are sexually abused by the male employers so I didn’t trust any of my employers.

They treated me like a nobody. One time when I was looking after two children one of the boys hit me, his mother was watching but she didn’t say anything. I was hurt and humiliated by this if it had been anyone else that her son had hit she would have said something. But she didn’t reprimand him at all and it made me feel like I wasn’t even human no-one deserves to feel like that.

Helen: what are the most important issues facing child domestic workers in Peru?

Anali: Child domestic workers need to focus on their education, many children drop out of school because they can’t manage to do their homework and they are too tired at school from all the domestic work they have had to do. So, we need to find a way to get child domestic workers to school.

Also many children work away from their families they work in a house in the city and their families live in the country. You are not protected if you do not live with your family.

Finally, being a child domestic worker you miss out on your childhood, you don’t have friends, you don’t play… you just work. Children need a childhood.

Resources: •Methodist Women in Britain resource pack on Child Domestic Workershttp://www.mwib.org.uk/ab out-us/partnerships/item/171-childdomestic-workers.html •Children Unite, 33 Skipworth

Road, London E9 7JR www.childrenunite.org.uk The website offers resources including a short video, a policy briefing, Primary and Secondary schools packs and links to the following publications: Child Slaves in the Modern World (Ohio University Press, 2011) Child Slavery Now – Child Domestic Labour: A global concern, Child Slavery Now (Policy Press, 2010) Because I Am A Girl: Girls in the Global Economy, 2009(Plan International, September 2009, Chapter 4, Working Life) Helping Hands or Shackled Lives? Understanding child domestic labour and responses to it (International Labour Organization, 2004) Child Domestic Work , Innocenti Digest No. 5 (UNICEF – ICDC, 1999) Swept Under the Rug: Abuses against Domestic Workers Around the World (Human Rights Watch, 2006) Inside the Home, Outside the Law: Abuse of Child Domestic Workers in Morocco (Human Rights Watch, 2005) Always on Call: Abuse and Exploitation of Child Domestic Workers in Indonesia (Human Rights Watch, 2005) No Rest: Abuses against Child Domestic Workers in El Salvador (Human Rights Watch, 2004) Other links http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/09 /domestic-workers-emerge-fromthe-shadows/ http://www.antislavery.org/english/what_you_can_do/default.asp x *Source: World Methodist Council, WMC: http://worldmethodistcouncil.org/world-methodist-councils-family-life-committee-releases-winter-newsletter/

Second in the series in Spanish of “Resources to Celebrate the 500 Years of the Reformation Movement” In preparation for the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation, the five churches signatories to the Leuenberg Concordia in Río de la Plata, known as the "Communion of Churches of the Reformation" (CIR), are sharing reflections on different themes in light of the Protestant thinking that came about as a result of a

critical stance to the status quo and which was and continues to be built on three pillars: faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone.

ALC/Buenos Aires “It is our hope that the reflections and the shared resources contribute to a critical reading of our realities and that, beginning with this critical reading, the elaboration and carrying out of actions faithful to the Gospel and directed toward

the well-being of all society, be possible,” says the CIR. The second in the series of resources to be published periodically, is “Worship in the Reformed Ambit,” by Waldensian pastor Delmo Rostán, and is available at: http://www.alcnoticias.net/documentos/500_anos_02 _14.pdf For the first in the “Resources to Celebrate the 500 Years of the Reformation Movement,” sse: alcnoticias.net/documentos/500_anos _01_14.pdf: “500 Years of the Reformation” by Lisandro Orlov.

Latin America and Environment 7

Thousands of people learned how to read and write thanks to the monthslong efforts of Seventh-day Adventist Church, its church member volunteers in El Salvador and Hope for Humanity. More than 2,500 held their literacy completion certificates high overhead during a special celebration held recently in Don Bosco Auditorium in Soyapango, San Salvador, El Salvador.

ALC/San Salvador Seventh-Day Adventist Church Inter-American Division*

By Gustavo Menéndez, IAD Staff housands of people learned how to read and write thanks to the months-long efforts of Seventh-day Adventist Church, its church member volunteers in El Salvador and Hope for Humanity.

More than 2,500 held their literacy completion certificates high overhead during a special celebration held recently in Don Bosco Auditorium in Soyapango, San Salvador, El Salvador.

National Literacy Coordinator for the Ministry of Education in El Salvador Angélica Paniagua, applauded the efforts of the Adventist Church for its partnership and commitment in holding literacy courses throughout hundreds of communities across the Central American country.

“I have no words to express our gratitude on behalf of the Ministry of Education in El Salvador to Hope for Humanity and the [Adventist] church because they are our main partner in the process of eradicating illiteracy in the country,” said Paniagua.

“Thanks to your help, the government’s partnership and other institutions, we have been able to lower the illiteracy rate from 17 percent to 13 percent earlier in the year,” said Paniagua.

The day’s celebration was a time to thank the hundreds of volunteers who commit to teaching others how

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to read week after week, as the United Nations observes the International Volunteer Day December 5th every year.

During his keynote address, Maitland DiPinto of the North American Division’s Hope for Humanity, was thrilled to see the fruits of the work of so many volunteers.

“I am so impressed with the commitment of volunteers who invest more than two hours every day, four times per week, eight months every year and then begin the cycle again the following year to help transform lives,” said DiPinto.

“This is not by chance, this is a real commitment.”

“Volunteers have not only been a blessing to people in their classes, but they themselves have grown and developed their leadership skills, as well as experienced satisfaction and joy it brings to change the lives of many people,” explained DiPinto.

Literacy is a transforming process of life, emphasized DiPinto.

“The person who learns how to read and write has a new vision in life, a new perspective.”

Wally Amundson, Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) director for Inter-America, who has been overseeing literacy programs throughout the InterAmerican Division (IAD) territory in Mexico, Central America, Dominican Republic and Haiti, said that it was the largest group of persons graduated in a single event held throughout the church in InterAmerica.

“We are excited because these literacy circles in different communities in El Salvador are like a springboard to merge people into the educational system helping them earn a high school diploma and pursue a national exam,” explained Amundson.

More than 6,000 persons have been certified through more than 650 literacy circles led by more than 520 volunteers, according to Juan Pablo Ventura, ADRA El Salvador director.

“The significant accomplishment of the program is the partnership of ADRA El Salvador and the church,” said Ventura. “It’s been challenging to link both and let the

Graduate Maria Elena González, age 70, proudly holds her certificate during the graduation ceremony after completing a literacy course led by the Adventist Church in El Salvador (Luis Pedro Menéndez IAD)

community know that ADRA is not only an agency that comes to the aid when disaster comes, but one that can be seen as an organization that can enable the church in the fulfillment of its social responsibility,” he explained.

The Ministry of Education in El Salvador is committed to provide materials, training and accrediting persons for the literacy projects, according to Ventura.

Pastor Abel Pacheco, president of the church in El Salvador, is happy to see that the church has brought programs of this type to the community for the first time.

“This type of service to the community has allowed us to establish ties and be known to communities, government agencies and private entities, as a people who care for their fellowman,” said Pastor Pacheco.

Among those who graduated from the literacy program was Fermin Requeno, mayor of the San Juan de la Reyna Municipal district in the state of San Miguel. “Knowing how to read and write has changed my life,” said Requeno. Requeno is now among the main promoters of education in his community.

Graduate María Elena González,

70, works at a laundry service in a medical center in the Apopa municipal district and was among a group of 22 people who attended the literacy circle there.

“My family was so poor and I wasn’t able to get an education,” said González. “I felt so bad every time I went to the bank to cash my check because I didn’t know how to write my name, so I decided to make an effort and learn how to read and write.”

Carlos Oswaldo Arevalo, 32, who works at a propane gas distributing company, was also among those who graduated. Arevalo only finished first grade and always had difficulty finding a job. “I was never able to get a better paying job much less a professional one,” said Arevalo. “My coworkers would laugh at me and make me feel bad. Now no one laughs at me and my boss trusts that I can do all of his paperwork just like he does.”

Each graduate was awarded with a brand new Bible.

Eradicating illiteracy throughout the territory is still very present in the minds of church leaders, said Amundson.

Although statistics vary from country to country, said Amundson, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras have seen the illiteracy index go down significantly. “We want to explore all the possibilities to reach the illiterate population within the church as well as in the community,” he added.

To date, Hope for Humanity has funded literacy programs in nine countries in the IAD. Among the 3.6 million IAD church membership, there are estimates of several hundreds of thousands of church members who do not know how to read or write.

“Literacy is a challenge in the Adventist Church in Inter-America and other parts of the world,” said DiPinto. “We say that we are people of the Word, but there are millions of church members world-wide who do not know how to read their Bibles or their Sabbath school lessons.”

Literacy is something that the church must talk about it, DiPinto continued. “It is about changing the lives of people.” Illiteracy is “not easy to see because people hide it and

we must sensitize our church members so that they can become a blessing to those in the church and the community who cannot read or write.”

That is exactly why Hope for Humanity and the church have been successful, said Amundson. “Hope for Humanity is the catalyst that helps this literacy program improve and expand.”

“Of course literacy is challenging in Inter-America and elsewhere around the world, but we are doing something about it,” added Amundson.

IAD wants to implement more programs based in the church, said Amundson. “These literacy programs which are led by the initiative and participation of church members make the program successful because there is an infrastructure available to bring together various ministries of the church to form groups of volunteers.”

Pastor Pacheco said the church in El Salvador had set a goal for 2014 to turn every one of its 930 Adventist Churches into a literacy circle for their communities.

So far literacy circles in El Salvador have 175 facilitators, who meet with their students in homes and churches, five regional coordinators and one national coordinator.

Hope for Humanity is the name designated by the North American Division for the annual ingathering programs throughout its churches.

The initiative funds literacy programs in many countries around the world including India. Since the year 2000, more than 100,000 people have learned how to read and write thanks to more than 10,000 volunteers.

Hope For Humanity is the new face of one of the longest and most effective humanitarian ministries in the history of Adventism, what used to be called “Harvest Ingathering.”

For more than a century, Seventhday Adventists have reached out to their communities to share in the support of the compassionate ministry of Jesus.

For more information on Hope for Humanity, visit Hope4.com *Source: Seventh-Day Adventist Church Inter-American Division, IAD: http://www.interamerica.org/?p=10560

Censorship and impunity threaten democracy in Mexico Mexico has one of the highest ratings on the Committee

to Protect Journalists (CPJ) 2013 Impunity Index, which

measures the frequency with which journalist murders go unpunished. Crimes against journalists are rarely prosecuted in Mexico, and when they are, evidence can be highly suspect.

WACC, ALC/Mexico City

By Philip Lee Currently WACC Deputy Director of Programmes and editor of the international journal Media Development.

Journalists in Mexico demand justice! (Committee to Protect Journalists WACC)

he wave of drug-related censorship that has submerged

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thousands of journalists in Mexico has reached the capital city, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Mexico has one of the highest ratings on the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) 2013 Impunity Index, which measures the frequency with which journalist murders go unpunished. Crimes against journalists are rarely prosecuted in Mexico, and when they are, evidence can be highly suspect.

In 2006 former President Felipe Calderón declared war on Mexico’s criminal syndicates, resulting in a predictable backlash. Government “rules” required reporters in the provinces to ignore cartel activity

and to do little more than regurgitate official press releases. Those who strayed from this editorial line faced threats, kidnappings, beatings and murder.

In 2011 Mexican media companies cooked up an agreement to regulate the way journalists report on the drug war, proposing methods to restrict both images and speech in news broadcasts. Behind the accord was the Mexico Initiative, a massive public relations campaign that was subsequently accused of using the media to try and stamp out public dissatisfaction and rebellion.

Continue on page 7

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El Salvador: Adventist Church changes thousands of lives through literacy program

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8 Latin America and Environment

Ecuador Mennonite mission workers train for trauma care As David Shenk tried to fall asleep, terrifying images of the refugees' stories of escape ran through his head. He imagined the death threats and tense midnight escapes from the violence in Colombia. He saw how hard it was to build a new life after leaving everything behind.

ALC/Quito Mennonite Mission Network* henk serves as the coordinator of the Quito Mennonite Church refugee project, which receives much of its funding from Mennonite Central Committee Colombia. He is sent by Mennonite Mission Network and Virginia Mennonite Missions.

Shenk listens to the refugees’ stories and decides how the organization can best help them with food, housing, microloans, and asylum applications. The issues people were dealing with began to get overwhelming, and he identified in himself the symptoms of fatigue and overwork that can come from social work.

Refugees often arrive in Ecuador

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with only the clothes on their back since they had to leave Colombia so quickly. Their land and livelihood were forcefully taken from them in Colombia. When they flee to Ecuador, most are unable to find work; those that do are often not paid a fair wage. Some sleep on mats on the floor and go hungry.

“I felt constantly stressed by the situations people were dealing with, and I struggled to respond,” said Shenk. “It felt like my mind was constantly churning and I couldn’t stop thinking about the things different refugees were experiencing that seemed unsolvable.”

When Shenk heard of the Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience program (STAR) from Eastern Mennonite University, he brought the idea to César Moya and Patricia Urueña, who together provide pastoral leadership for Quito Mennonite Church. They were sent to serve by the Colombia Mennonite Church, Mennonite Mission Network, and Central Plains Mennonite Conference.

The couple agreed that a workshop on how to deal with the difficult circumstances of refugees would be useful to workers, pastors and church leaders since many refugee families participate in Mennonite ministries.

Closing activity of Mennonite weekend workshop in Quito on caring for people struggling with the effects of intense traumatic experiences (David Shenk Mennonite Mission Network)

The workshop, held in late October, helped participants understand the psychology behind the behaviors of the refugees who’ve had intense traumatic experiences. As the staff members understand the effects of violence and stress on the refugees, they feel better prepared to make decisions on how to serve refugees.

Paul Stucky, a certified facilitator for STAR workshops, who lives in Colombia and works with the Colombia Mennonite Church justice and peace programs, led the weekend seminar. EMU blessed the development of the seminar based on the STAR program, and Mission Network provided funds through the Schowalter Foundation.

Responding to military diplacements in Catatumbo, Colombia n Colombia this is the north east of the country and is home to a forest reserve and two indigenous reserves for the Bari people. More than 200,000 farmers live in the area.

A total of 12,000 farmers, approximately 5,000 women, 4,000 men and 3,000 children, are facing aggression from military and paramilitary forces resulting from ongoing demonstrations against forced displacements. The farmers have carried out long-term public demonstrations to draw attention to their plight and call on the government to establish a safe zone to protect the lives and livelihoods of rural farmers and indigenous people.

During this process four people have been killed, some 270 have been injured and many have been

arrested on allegations that the demonstrations have been infiltrated by illegal armed groups.

The government position regarding the demonstrations is ambiguous. On one hand it is committed to establish a dialogue with the farmers’ movement, but on the other hand, it is threatening the farmers with military action saying they are aligned with illegal armed groups.

A dialogue process has begun but the farmers returning to their homes have been confronted with a new wave of violent displacement which both puts their physical safety at risk and leaves them without any source of income for their food security.

Farmers have been unable to cultivate or plant in their subsistence plts because of the forced displacements and because they’ve taken part in the demonstrations to get protection. This has depleted their reserve stocks of grains and many families are facing a crisis of lack of food and medicines.

An ACT rapid response fund was deployed to help 440 families directly affected by the military displacements, with the intention of improving their health, safety and food. IPC has worked closely with partner ASCAMCAT –the Farmer’s Association of Catatumbo – to identify and deliver the support.

Sign reading Welcome Humanitarian Refuge International Catatumbo Fights (CLAI)

Source: ACT Alliance: http://www.actalliance.org/stories/responding-tomilitary-diplacements-in-catacumbo-colombia

The story of Catatumbo is a story of repression and forced displacement, one where the Action by Churches Together Alliance (ACT Alliance) has supported its member organisation Iglesia Presbiteriana de Colombia (IPC) to provide humanitarian assistance to victims. Colombia and Venezuela both have an area they call Catatumbo, each side of the Catatumbo river that forms a border between the two countries.

ACT Alliance, ALC/Barranquilla

I

They learned that people who have experienced trauma may be afraid, depressed, in shock, angry, confused, disoriented, resentful, suspicious, apathetic, aggressive, and they may deal with physical ailments like headaches, digestive problems, blood pressure issues, and hypertension, Shenk said.

Participants received visuals, like the Enemy/Aggressor and Survivor/Victim Cycles, which help them to understand the psychology of violence. They also used Bible stories to illustrate the effects of traumatic experiences.

The workshop covered how the workers can avoid burnout. For example, they all did a self-test to identify their level of stress, and then

learned techniques to help alleviate and avoid stress.

For those who came to the workshop at the retreat center outside of Quito, it was an opportunity to take a break and reflect on their work.

“This has been a time of growth, refreshment, and we equipped ourselves to fulfill God’s call for our lives,” wrote Tatiana Jhayya, who is part of the pastoral team at the Calderón church plant, in a thankyou letter to those who sponsored the workshop.

Shenk noted that the workshop helped him internalize a favorite Dorothy Day quote that helps keep his work in perspective: “People say, 'What is the sense of our small effort?' They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time."

“The training will certainly help guide how we interview, visit and accompany refugees and identify their needs,” said Shenk. “It will also help us better define our specific role as a project in the larger issue, which [helps us identify] what we can and can't do and how we can improve our work.” *Source: Mennonite Mission Network: http://www.mennonitemission.net/Stories/News/Pages/Ecuadormissionwor kerstrainfortraumacare.aspx

Censorship and impunity…

From page 7

The current grave situation is reflected in Human Rights Watch’s recently published World Report 2014, which notes that: “Journalists, particularly those who report on crime or criticize officials, face harassment and attacks.

At least 85 journalists were killed between 2000 and August 2013, and 20 more were disappeared between 2005 and April 2013, according to the CNDH [Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission].

Authorities routinely fail to adequately investigate crimes against journalists, often pre-emptively ruling out their profession as a motive.”

In addition: “Journalists are often driven to self-censorship by attacks carried out both by government officials and by criminal groups, while under-regulation of state advertising can also limit media freedom by giving the government disproportionate financial influence over media outlets.”

The situation in Mexico is emblematic of the kind of failure that HRW’s World Report 2014 describes as adopting the form but not the substance of democracy: “…permitting elections, often controlled, but nothing more. This feigned democracy rejects basic principles, such as that governments must be accountable under the rule of the law, limited by the human rights that protect minorities, and committed to allowing free and continuous public debate.”

Journalists outside Mexico have a duty – as in regard to Myanmar and Syria for example – to highlight what is happening inside the coun-

try. As an article published on the web site of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression pointed out: “Greater attention from other government leaders could put pressure on the Mexican government to undertake much needed reforms.

The government must get its own house in order – routing out corrupt elements and building a new system that supports the rule of law, does not tolerate intimidation and attacks on journalists and makes it a priority to ensure that all journalists are able to work in safety. The converse – a growing number of Mexican journalists turning to exile – would be a very bleak future for press freedom in Mexico.”

Ifex –the global; network defending and promoting free expression– has a great graphic about impunity in Mexico. It begins: “Close to 99% of crimes against journalists and the media are committed with impunity in Mexico. Scroll down to find out more about who is being targeted and who is responsible.”

One of the Committee to Protect Journalists’ biggest successes in recent years was securing legislation to implement a constitutional amendment giving federal authorities broader jurisdiction to prosecute crimes against freedom of expression.

In Mexico, so far the scales are weighted against freedom of expression and opinion, which are key elements of the right to communicate.

Considerable political will be needed to overcome what now appears to be endemic corruption and impunity.

Source: World Association for Christian Communication, WACC: http://www.waccglobal.org/articles/censorship-and-impunity-threatendemocracy-in-mexico