Displaying items by tag: Latin America

Almost 4,000 people have been evacuated from the slopes of the Fuego volcano after it began erupting on 18 November, with ash and lava spewing from its crater. This comes five months after almost 200 people were buried by volcanic ash and mud during a violent eruption. That eruption generated pyroclastic flows - fast-moving mixtures of very hot gas and volcanic matter - which engulfed whole communities. Volcanologists say that this time, lava is rising 500m above the volcano's crater. The ash cloud towers one kilometre above the 3,763-metre tall volcano. Fuego is one of Latin America's most active volcanoes.

Amid rampant political corruption and a crime epidemic in Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro is on the verge of becoming Brazil’s next president on 28 October. He has expressed enthusiasm for former military rulers (particularly Carlos Brilhante Ustra, a colonel who ran a military torture squad in the 1970s). His chosen deputy president, a former general, said that the military may be needed to clean up corruption. For many years former army captain Mr Bolsonaro was a marginal Congress figure, known for defending the military dictatorship and making offensive comments about women, blacks, gay men and lesbians. Earlier this year he was investigated for inciting hatred and discrimination. His critics accuse him of racism and misogyny, and tens of thousands of women organised protest marches with the slogan #EleNão - or #NotHim. But he came out of the first round of voting with a strong lead, thanks to last-minute backing from the evangelical lobby and powerful business and commerce groups.

Until a week ago, Enrique Ceballos was a high court judge in Venezuela. Now, because of threats around his work as a judge, he is waiting on a plastic chair outside an NGO-run registration centre for asylum-seekers in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, along with his wife, son, and daughter. ‘I needed to rule in favour of the government,’ he said. ‘It’s really difficult to work like that.’ Over 1.6 million Venezuelans like Ceballos have left the country since 2015, leaving behind a crumbling economy and a political crisis that has triggered shortages in food and healthcare. Hundreds of thousands are in Colombia, others in the Caribbean - a few kilometres from Venezuela’s coast. Venezuelans are often helped to apply for asylum and to integrate by Christian NGOs, as the soaring numbers have taken small island governments by surprise.

In June Ocampo’s entire police force was arrested: see Now, in Acapulco, three senior police officers have been arrested, and all the police have been disarmed and replaced by the military while investigations are made into infiltration by drug gangs. With low pay and little training, police are easy targets for cartels. Last year there were 30,000+ murders involving bloodthirsty drug cartel rivalries. Two of the senior police officers arrested are accused of murder. There has been a military-led campaign to battle the cartels for over ten years. The decision to act in Acapulco was the consequence of increased crime and lack of action by police to deal with it. The port city of Acapulco, once a glamorous beach resort, has been transformed by deep-rooted drug crime into one of the most murderous cities in the world. The area is a hub for opium poppy production.

Formerly, Colombia was a democratic country with guaranteed religious freedom. However, large areas are now under the control of criminal organisations, drug cartels, revolutionaries, and corrupt paramilitary groups. Christians are extremely vulnerable. Guerrilla groups force them to pay a ‘protection tax’ as an insurance against assault or murder. They issue death threats to those involved in evangelism, fearing that believers will continue to stand in opposition to the reign of terror they use to maintain power. In indigenous communities, violence is employed to frighten Christians whom they see as threats to ethnic customs and different worldviews. In all of these situations, Christians are prevented from freely congregating and sharing their faith. Pray for peace and hope for these Christians, and that they will stand strong in the face of persecution.

On 22 August Venezuela’s northern coast was rocked by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake felt across the Caribbean and hundreds of kilometres away in Caracas where political leaders were celebrating their new economic plan to rescue the crumbling economy from rampant hyperinflation. They drastically removed five zeros from the bolivar and pegged it to a cryptocurrency (digital currency operating independently of a central bank) while raising the minimum wage by 3,000%. Economists fear this will worsen the financial crisis that has driven over 500,000 Venezuelans overseas this year, and warn that inflation rates could go even higher. The financial crunch and earthquake are symbolised by social media photographs showing ‘the Tower of David’, a notorious and symbolic abandoned skyscraper, now a horizontal slum, that was severely damaged by the quake. The proven oil reserves in Venezuela, recognised as the largest in the world (297 billion barrels), have been corruptly mismanaged. See also

UNHCR is calling for international solidarity and support for countries hosting Nicaraguan refugees and asylum seekers, as thousands flee mounting political tensions, violence and serious human rights violations. Many Nicaraguans could flee to America if the situation worsens, said a Catholic priest whose parish came under siege in a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests which killed 300+ people. During the church siege clergy negotiated the release of 200 university students, priests and journalists. But two were killed and dozens injured. The protests started after social security overhauls in May. They are demanding democratic reforms and that President Daniel Ortega and his wife, the vice president, step down from an alleged dictatorship marked by nepotism and brutal repression. During the initial days of the protests Ortega asked the Church to act as a mediator, but his administration began using brutal force against student protesters. Now, clergy are also being attacked. Priests are now on the opposition front lines, and Ortega’s government has declared war on the Church.

Few politicians have established such a connection with the millions of underprivileged families in Mexico as Lopez Obrador. He regularly campaigned draped with garlands and gaudy sombreros. Like Trump, the headstrong ‘Amlo’ is the heart and soul of his movement and his presidency could heighten tensions between Mexico and the United States over trade and migration if the two men clash. The prospect of a showdown between the two blunt men over the US-Mexico border and renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement has worried many. ‘There’s going to be a clash of vanities and a clash of egos. Who knows where it will end.’ said Juan Jose Rodriguez Prats, a former party colleague of Amlo who has known him for 40 years. President Trump tweeted, ‘I look very much forward (sic) to working with him. There is much to be done that will benefit both the United States and Mexico!’

Ocampo’s entire police force was arrested following the murder of a left-wing mayoral candidate, Fernando Angeles Juarez, after a previous attempt to question them resulted in one official reportedly being ‘chased out in a hail of bullets.’ Ocampo, is plagued by illegal logging and gangs. Their police force is accused of being involved in corruption as Mexico attempts to fight back against the drug cartels. There is escalating violence because there are far more elections being held simultaneously than ever before in Mexico. With over 3,400 local, state and federal posts at stake, there are 15,000+ candidates on the campaign trail and criminal groups want ‘their people to win’ so they can gain control over territory, through local governments. At least 18 candidates have been killed while running for political posts.  The 1 July elections will decide the presidency, governorships and Congress.

Demonstrations against President Ortega’s corruption, his autocratic style, and his control over congress, the courts, the military, and the electoral board started on 19 April and are being met with violence. The church tried to intervene, but called off peace talks after police killed 16+ people on a peaceful march led by victims' mothers. There are now 113 dead. The Pope said, ‘I am united with my brother bishops in Nicaragua and their grief over violence committed by armed groups. The Church is always in favour of dialogue, but for that it requires an active commitment to respect freedom and, above all, life.’ On 2 June residents hid indoors as pro-government snipers shot people in the street. A local church later opened its doors to offer refuge and medical care to 21 individuals who had been detained and reportedly abused by police. Ortega accuses ‘right-wing groups’ of terrorising the country. Seven weeks of violence have made daily life dangerous for a population increasingly in open rebellion against the government. See