Tag: Latin America

Nicaragua: Christians attacked, detained and killed as ‘enemies of the regime’

September 6, 2018 Catholics, Corruption, Daniel Ortega, Latin America, Managua, Nicaragua, UN

More violence erupted during another anti-government protest in the capital Managua on Sunday (2 September) in which at least three people were injured. (Photo: INTI OCON/AFP/Getty Images)

Nicaragua’s president ordered a UN commission to leave the country on 1 September after it criticised the government for alleged human rights abuses committed during its clampdown on anti-government protestors. In its report, the UN Commission on Human Rights “called on the government to stop the persecution of protestors and . . . Read More

Mexican pastor survives assassination attempt

August 16, 2018 Mexico Chihuahua, Churches, Juarez, Latin America, Mexico, Organised crime

A Mexican pastor who survived an assassination attempt in the notorious border city of Juarez in June says he was targeted because his church’s work is seen to negatively impact upon the efforts of drug cartels. A hitman entered the pastor’s home on 12 June, making him kneel down on . . . Read More

The Mexican bishop who negotiates with the cartels

July 6, 2018 Mexico Catholics, Chihuahua, Guerrero, Juarez, Kidnapping, Latin America, Mexico, Organised crime

A bishop in the Mexican state of Guerrero, notorious for its narcotics production and drug traffickers, has developed his own way of dealing with cartels – by negotiating, La Croix reports. Local communities frequently suffer because of the conflicts between rival gangs. In 2017, there were seven murders per day . . . Read More

Mexican pastor killed, nine years on from son’s murder

June 28, 2018 Mexico Chihuahua, Corruption, Juarez, Kidnapping, Latin America, Mexico, Organised crime, Youth

A Mexican pastor interviewed last year by World Watch Monitor was shot dead earlier this month in another exhibition of lawlessness in the troubled city of Juarez, which is just across the border from El Paso, Texas. Eduardo ‘Lalo’ Garcia was shot at least six times on 8 June, as . . . Read More

Report: Latin American states failing Christians by overlooking ‘criminal freedom’

May 11, 2018 Catholics, Colombia, Corruption, Human rights, Latin America, Mexico, Organised crime, Proselytism, Protestants, Religious freedom

During the 50 years conflict between Colombia's government and main rebel group, FARC-EP, churches were threatened and hundreds of church leaders assassinated by armed groups. (Photo: World Watch Monitor, 2012)

A new report looking into the “endemic phenomena” of organised crime and corruption in Latin America highlights the failure of governments to protect active Christians from violence. The inability or unwillingness of Latin American governments to stop organised crime encourages a “criminal freedom” that “makes specific sectors within society become . . . Read More

Three more priests become victims of gang violence in Mexico

April 26, 2018 Mexico Cuernavaca, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Latin America, Mexico, Mexico City, Morelos, State of Mexico

Two priests were killed in separate attacks in their churches in Mexico last week, bringing the number of clergy murdered in the last six years to 23, the Catholic News Agency reported. A third priest, kidnapped earlier this month, was found dead after suffering a suspected heart attack. Fr. Juan . . . Read More

Cuba’s new leader ‘not a reformer’

April 19, 2018 Cuba Catholics, Churches, Communism, Cuba, Fidel Castro, Human rights, Latin America, Miguel Díaz-Canel, Protestants, Raúl Castro, Religious freedom

Raúl Castro, who replaced his brother Fidel as Cuba’s president in 2006, stepped down from the post this week, ending a decades-long rule by his family. His successor, Miguel Díaz-Canel – who up until now was the country’s first vice-president – takes on an historic leadership role by becoming the . . . Read More

5 years on, what has Pope Francis done for religious freedom?

March 19, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Al-Azhar, Asia Bibi, Boko Haram, Egypt, Havana, Human rights, Iraq, Latin America, Minorities, Myanmar, Patriarch Bartholomew I, Patriarch Kirill, Pope Francis, Religious freedom, Syria, Turkey

Pope Francis greets people during his inauguration on 19 March 2013. (Photo: Getty Images)

Pope Francis, the son of Italian migrants, appeared on the steps of St Peter’s Basilica five years ago to be introduced as the first Latin American pontiff. Below, World Watch Monitor looks at a few of the highlights of his tenure so far, and his impact on freedom of religion . . . Read More

Two priests murdered in Mexico as gang attacks against religious leaders continue

February 8, 2018 Mexico Coahuila, Guerrero, Juarez, Latin America, Mexico, Nayarit, Veracruz

In the early morning of Monday 5 February, two priests were shot dead while travelling on the Iguala-Taxco highway of Mexico’s notorious Guerrero state. Fr. Germain Muñiz Garcia and Fr. Iván Añorve Jaimes, from a church in Veracruz state, were reported killed by the Catholic News Agency. Their attackers fled . . . Read More

Bolivian Christians can still evangelise … for now

January 26, 2018 Bolivia Bolivia, Churches, Constitution, Evo Morales, Latin America, Religious freedom

Bolivia's president repealed a controversial new penal code in which evangelism alongside terrorism would be a crime. (Photo: Flickr / CC / Szymon Kochański)

After much criticism, Bolivian president Evo Morales announced earlier this week that his government would repeal a new law that seemed set to make evangelism a crime. The new penal code, adopted by Bolivia’s parliament in December, placed the “recruitment of persons for their participation in religious organisations or cults” . . . Read More

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