Displaying items by tag: Latin America

The Peruvian government has asked for international support after 6,000 barrels of crude oil washed onto beaches in the ‘worst ecological disaster’ in recent history. Tonga’s volcano eruption caused unusual waves to disrupt an oil tanker unloading crude oil at Repsol oil refinery, and an underwater pipeline ruptured during the process. Twenty-one beaches are ‘a serious risk to health’, and the oil slick is the size of 320 football fields. Hundreds of fishermen are without work; two protected marine reserves for sea otters, Humboldt penguins and red-legged cormorants have been destroyed. A marine biologist said, ‘We are watching the destruction of the Peruvian marine ecosystem and the livelihoods of those who depend on it, because neither Repsol nor the state has the capacity to respond.’ The oil will be in the sea for months, affecting fauna, food and health. Dead seals, fish and birds are washing up on oil-covered beaches.

Amnesty International, in a new report called They Are Girls Not Mothers, found draconian abortion laws and systemic failure to tackle child sexual violence have forced girls as young as ten years old to carry out full-term pregnancies. The report focuses on sexual violence against children - specifically girls under the age of 14 - who become pregnant and are forced to carry the pregnancy to term. It also analyses the failures of the system in Paraguay to address cases of sexual violence against children and teenagers. Amnesty International said Paraguay is turning its back on girls and teenagers facing unimaginable abuses. Although on paper there is a legal framework to support survivors of sexual violence, in practice they are at the mercy of a chaotic system that does not listen to them or prioritise their well-being. Forcing someone to continue with a pregnancy, particularly when it is the result of rape, can be considered torture.

Txai Suruí is a climate activist who is part of an indigenous community in the Amazon rainforest. She spoke to world leaders at COP26 about the direct impacts of climate change that her tribe is already experiencing. But after the speech she was publicly criticised by President Bolsanaro for ‘attacking Brazil’. This prompted many people to send her abuse on social media. When she spoke to a BBC reporter, she said, ‘I think I said the right words because they attacked me.’ Brazil hosts the two most important and diverse tropical forests globally. Almost 20% of the Amazon forest has been cut down in recent decades. This deforestation must stop before it becomes a savanna. Between 2004 and 2012, Brazil successfully controlled deforestation by 80%, by reducing illegal foresting, creating protected areas and restricting soya and cattle expansion. This resulted in increased food production by large farming complexes and strengthened smallholder farming. See

President Daniel Ortega has gripped Nicaragua’s election on 7 November by arresting all competition, controlling electoral authorities, and reinventing himself as a business-friendly devout Catholic. The US is working with international partners to prepare new sanctions to be levied if he wins the election that Washington denounces as a sham. It has also begun a review of Nicaragua’s participation in a Central American free trade agreement and has halted support for any ‘trade capacity building’ activities seen as benefiting Ortega’s government. Nearly half of Nicaraguans live below the poverty line, and an additional 90,000 individuals fell into poverty as a result of the pandemic. Nicaragua is one of the most corrupt countries globally - a costly, painful legacy of misrule by Ortega’s dictatorship. He stole, wasted and misused state resources, which were destined to combat poverty and used for national development, resulting in immense economic costs. See

Brazil has one of the largest Christian populations in the world; 91% say they are a ‘Christian’ of some form. The Kingdom of God has exploded in Brazil since 1960 as the nation has been saturated with truth in and through Jesus Christ. Jesus said (Luke 12:48), ‘To whom much is given, from them much is required’, and Brazil has certainly been given much from God. The Church has become a strong mission-sending organisation in one generation. Today, God desires it to go to a new level of seeing mission mobilisation emphasised in every local ministry so that every believer contributes to the fulfillment of the Great Commission. The Brazilian Church is known as a praying Church; pray for a massive prayer movement across the churches and denominations emphasising intercession for an explosion of church-planting, leading towards communal movements to Christ among all unreached people groups.

Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and hurricanes, combined with war, conflict, and political struggles, have turned many in Nicaragua towards hope in Christ. Evangelicals grew from 2% in 1960 to 30% today. Pray for them to be a genuine blessing to their nation. Poverty is both the cause and result of many political troubles. This poverty also shaped Nicaragua’s spirituality. Liberation theology and prosperity gospel play major roles. There have been years of civil war, and Hurricane Mitch destroyed the economy and infrastructure. Economic wisdom and long-term development are needed. Many in the government are becoming believers: pray that they may have the wisdom and determination to be a righteous influence on the nation. 75% of the population is under the age of 30. Because of war, disaster and distorted political ideologies, stable families are rare. Few churches are equipped or committed to meet their needs. Pray for YWAM and others to impact Nicaragua’s youth.

Argentines are far more anti-Semitic than they acknowledge and nearly 40% of the population believes that ‘Jewish businessmen’ are benefiting from the Covid pandemic. ‘In Argentina, we have a very distorted vision of ourselves’, said an award-winning columnist. ‘We think we are not anti-Semitic, but in many ways, this is an anti-Semitic country.’ He went on to say that myths about the Jews are part of Argentina's popular culture. The study’s main author was ‘surprised’ by the magnitude of antisemitic sentiment, particularly among younger people. Argentina is home to over 200,000 Jews, the largest community in Latin America.

On 17 August Peru’s Covid cumulative death toll rose to 197,487. Peru has the world’s highest number of Covid deaths per capita. Poverty, high levels of informal labour, and intergenerational housing have contributed to the high rate of transmission. The secondary impact of the pandemic is children losing their primary and secondary caregivers. Children orphaned by the death of one or both parents or bereft of other caregivers are often more vulnerable to poverty, abuse, institutionalisation, and harmful mental health impacts. Psychosocial support and trauma counselling is a prominent need. As children in Peru and around the world confront death in a unique way, may their perspective and grieving process be shaped by a Godly perspective and the Father’s heart.

President Pedro Castillo is a radical left outsider who no one, including himself, expected to win the election. He ran a chaotic campaign, contradicting himself and delaying weeks to organise a policy team. Many who voted for the village schoolteacher and union leader question whether he is ready for the challenges of leading Peru out of a crisis. But on 28 July he was sworn in as president and will serve a society on its knees due to the pandemic, political instability, endemic corruption, and a bitter election campaign that divided Peruvians. ‘Even after being elected, Castillo remains an unknown,’ said a political scientist.

Latin America continues to be a continent enduring profound suffering. 

Alongside some background articles about current affairs in parts of the continent, IPC’s Latin America Director – Yanira Gonzalez – has drawn together some prayer points to focus our hearts and minds on the needs of the people of Latin America.

The effects of the pandemic after a year on the continent have been devastating: deaths, unemployment, increased poverty, depression, domestic violence. Pray that the church will be a prophetic voice in this crisis announcing hope, grace and forgiveness. Latin America needs to hear God’s voice.

During the course of 2021, nine Latin American countries will hold elections, with five—Chile, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Peru—selecting presidents.  In particular, the Chilean and Peruvian elections will be taking place during the coming weeks.

The Chilean elections have already demonstrated the turmoil that 18 months of the pandemic have brought to many nations as Chile's centre-right ruling coalition failed to secure a critical one-third of seats in the body that will draft the country's new constitution.

With 90% of the votes counted, candidates backed by President Sebastian Pinera's centre-right Chile Vamos coalition had won only a fifth while independents picked up the most votes. New proposals will require two-thirds approval and without a third of the delegates, the government will struggle to block radical changes to the constitution unless it can forge new alliances.

At the time of writing this article, the result of Peru’s election remains unclear.  Peru’s left wing candidate Pedro Castillo, a relative newcomer to the political scene, has claimed victory in the after clinging on to a narrow lead as the lengthy vote count ended, although his right-wing rival has pledged to fight the result and has yet to concede.

Castillo ended the count 44,058 votes ahead of Keiko Fujimori, who has made allegations of fraud with little proof and has tried to get some votes annulled.

The result of the ballot held on 6 June has not been formally announced by electoral authorities, but Castillo hailed the win on Twitter.

As tensions increase, United Nations Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet expressed her concern.

"Electoral institutions and the decisions they make must be respected and accepted," she tweeted.

 "If the rules of democracy are not accepted before, during and after the elections, it can create dangerous cracks in social cohesion."

Please pray for deeply divided Peru.

Pray: for Colombia’s ongoing protests against increased taxes, corruption, inequality, lack of opportunity and health care reform, proposed by the government of President Ivan Duque Marquez to stop.  The protests have claimed dozens of lives since the end of April, 2021 in Bogota and other main cities. Pray that God will touch the heart of government and demonstrators with peace.

Pray: for a continental movement of repentance from the shedding of innocent blood supported for many abortion laws approved by governments in Latin America. Pray for mercy! (Psalm 106:38 And shed innocent blood, even blood of their sons and of their daughters,/; and polluted the land with blood. Proverbs 6:16, 17... These six things the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood.)

Please pray for a practical solution for the USA – Mexico Southern Border Crisis.

Pray: for the welfare of 21,000+ children incarcerated in US-run shelters awaiting immigration clearance, and for their families facing stressful processes and uncertainties.

Pray: for protection and rescue of trafficked children whose freedom and innocence have been betrayed (Matthew 18:10)

“Unauthorized immigrants are now running head over heels toward the Border Patrol in a most unlikely pattern of controlled anarchy.”  The San Diego Union Tribune May 7, 2021)

In Venezuela, a meeting of the National spiritist council, sorcerers, federation of ancestral religions, shamans, yatiris and governmental leaders of the continent is being summoned for a strategic proclamation of the Bolivarian* movement in Latin America. They want to establish not only a more leftist agenda, but spiritism as an endorsement of popular socialism to activate a revolution in our nations. We invite you to pray against all witchcraft and invocation of ancestral spirits that want to take over Latin America.

*Bolivarianism is a mix of pan-hispanic, socialist and national-patriotic ideals fixed against injustices of imperialism, inequality and corruption named after Simón Bolívar, the 19th-century Venezuelan general and liberator from the Spanish monarchy then in abeyance, who led the struggle for independence throughout much of South America. 

The Bolivarian Revolution is a political process in Venezuela that was led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the founder of the Fifth Republic Movement and later the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).  According to Chávez and other supporters, the Bolivarian Revolution seeks to build an inter-American coalition to implement Bolivarianism, nationalism and a state-led economy.  (Attribution: Wikipedia)

Please pray for the spirits of darkness, ideological, political and occult, to be bound along with their human actors who want to destabilize and destroy Latin America and all freedom-loving nations.

Pray: that God would raise up leaders with integrity, godly inspired to bring transformation to their nations.

More / Sources: AS / COA, Reuters, The Guardian