Poorest of the poor.

Out of a population of around 550 million, 220 million are poor and 100 million are extremely so, living on less that $1 per day. Fr. James Ronan, executive director of the U.S. National Conference of Catholic Bishops Secretariat for Latin America, has penned a report on the poor of Latin America. (See www.usccb.org/prolife.) He maintains that "international trade, debt, corruption, exploitation and heartless economic policies make basic commodities more costly." And the poorest of the poor suffer the most. The Catholic Church is often the only voice of the poor, yet, according to Fr. Ronan, that voice is sometimes cautious, limited, careful not to offend--and all too easy for reigning governments to ignore.

Social realities

Fr. Ronan explains that there is no social safety net, and social security is only available for those with a good job. Because of such poverty, the scarcity of jobs, and the lack of those basics that many North Americans take for granted--clean water, health care, proper sewage and garbage disposal, housing, education--there is much sickness and malnutrition. Mothers and children are often the most vulnerable, as many husbands and fathers abandon their family responsibilities when the going gets really tough (for example, when there is another mouth to feed).

I. ELECTIONS

There are three battles going on in Latin America at present. The first is the battle for votes. Since November 2005, six Latin American countries have held elections--Honduras, Chile, Bolivia, Haiti, Costa Rica, and Peru; another six will hold elections by the end of 2006--Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Elections in the regions are now free of widespread fraud, the press is relatively free, and opposition parties can mount campaigns without harassment.

Bolivia

In Bolivia, the 46-year-old former llama herder and coca leaf farmer, Evo Morales, became the first indigenous president of his country. He has vowed to reverse the privatization of basic services in Bolivia and opposes the free-market model. In his inauguration ceremonies (of which there were two--a pagan indigenous one and an official state one) he offered gifts to the sun god and to "Mother Earth." His supporters say that Bolivia has received a "raw deal" ever since Spanish conquistadores colonized the region more than 500 years ago. Spain's Crown Prince Felipe was in attendance for the official ceremonies.

Chile

Chile got its first woman president in Michelle Bachelet. She pledged to bridge the gap between rich and poor, and to give greater voice to women and indigenous people. Ms. Bachelet is a doctor, a single mother, and an agnostic, so her election in socially conservative Chile is considered somewhat of a surprise. Her father, an Air Force commander was tortured and killed at the hands of General Pinochet's military government in the early '70s.

Costa Rica

Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias has won the presidency of Costa Rica for the second time. He won the Nobel Prize in 1987 for spearheading talks that led to the end of civil wars in Nicaragua and E1 Salvador. He supports Costa Rica joining the Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States. Costa Rica is the only country in the region not to have ratified the agreement.

Peru

About half of the population of Peru lives below the poverty line, with one quarter of the country living in extreme poverty. The current president, Alejandro Toledo, is so unpopular that his party is not fielding a candidate in the elections slated for April 9.

The leading candidate is a single woman, Lourdes Flores, 46. A lawyer, she is heavily courting the vote of the poor. She promotes small business rather than promising big investment. Her main opponent is a former military man, Ollanta Humala, an ardent nationalist who favours increased state control of key mining and gas sectors. Peruvians traditionally don't make up their mind until a few days before the election, so popularity polls tend not to be reliable. A third of Peruvians don't understand democracy; another 25% understand it, but don't like it.

Venezuela

The Venezuelan bishops have repeatedly warned that the democracy of their country is slipping away under the leadership of President Hugo Chavez. Venezuela is the fifth largest exporter of oil, and the bishops warn that excessive public spending is fuelling corruption, patronage and "populist" practices.

For two years, Chavez refused to allow the Church to fill an archbishopric in Caracas. When he was finally installed in November 2005, Archbishop Savino said that he would "avoid political controversies while insisting the Church would demand its right to speak out on behalf of,, and serve, the poor" (Wanderer, Nov. 17, 2005). In January 2006, the President and representative bishops held a meeting, indicating that relations between Church and State are improving somewhat.

Venezuela's leader has never masked his desire to use vast oil and mineral resources as a tool of social change and he has tried to provoke the United States on a number of occasions--without much success, however.

II. THE PRO-LIFE BATTLE

The second battle going on in Latin America is for the souls of its population, specifically through the battle against abortion. The most active pro-life agency started in the U.S., when Magaly Llaguno founded Pro Vida Internacional in 1972 in order to reach Hispanics with the pro-life message. In 1982, Fr. Paul Marx, O.S.B. asked her to come and work for Human Life International, and to found its Hispanic division: Vida Humana Internacional (VI-II). Since its beginnings VHI has taken the prolife message to countless Hispanics around the world, and especially to Latin America, where most of the world's Hispanic Catholics live.

Pro-life triumphs in Latin America

In 1998, Argentina became the first country in the world to proclaim a Day of the Unborn nationwide. It was done by presidential decree. The celebration takes place every March 25, on the Feast of the Annunciation. Brazil, Chile and Guatemala have all introduced or passed similar proclamations, although the new president of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, refused to sign this year.

Nicaragua became the second country to officially declare March 25 the Day of the Unborn Child, which was personally supported by the President and his wife. Costa Rica's First Lady said that a special day would be approved. And Costa Rica was the first country in the world to outlaw in-vitro fertilization.

Guatemala is the first country in the world to prohibit Vermagest, a morning-after pill. VHI spearheaded opposition to the pill.

According to VHI president Llaguno, Latin America leads the world in protecting the unborn. In most Latin American countries, abortion is still illegal, for the most part. VHI also supports the Latin American bishops in their pro-life/pro-family efforts.

In Colombia, for example, their untiring efforts led to the Colombian Senate voting against legalizing abortion and genetic manipulation. However, the struggle remains intense, as the anti-life forces from the U.S. (Planned Parenthood et al.) pour big dollars into Latin America to push their agenda and their products. In Argentina, following the success of the Day of the Unborn, the newly elected president, pro-abortion Fernando de la Rua, has been trying to undo the work of the pro-life movement.

Cuba

Cuba has the worst abortion record in the Americas and in the world, and the lowest birthrate in the world. A lay pro-life group, Pro Vida Cuba, is courageously working to educate Cubans towards a pro-life stance, but there is no freedom of speech. Abortion has been legalized since the 1940s (before Fidel Castro's time), and he has upheld the abortion laws since.

The future

As Fr. Ronan points out in his report, after 500 years of Christianity in Latin America, we have yet to embrace the essential gospel message of life and liberation offered exclusively by Christ." Pope John Paul called for a new evangelization when he spoke to the bishops of Latin America in Santo Domingo in 1992. His call for evangelization has been taken up by the Latin American bishops and they have begun catechesis on a wide scale, formation of the laity, and encouragement of vocations. But this must be supported by a broader reality that encompasses the whole family--their physical, mental and social needs as well as their spiritual needs. Organizations such as Dr. Simone's pro-life/pro-family Canadian Food for Children in Toronto try to meet those needs, within their limits. These and other groups like them deserve to be supported by all Canadians, Catholic and otherwise.

III. RELIGIOUS SECTS

A third battle facing Latin America is that of the religious sects. A number of observers have spoken of an "invasion." Financed mostly by American sources, the sects range from Biblical Evangelical fundamentalists to pseudo-Christian cults like the Mormons, Witnesses of Jehovah and Seventh Day Adventists, to non-Christian sects of Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Shintoist, Afro-American and magic origins.

Writes Father Manuel Guerra Gomez, who published a book on the phenomenon in 2003, "I know that a great number of Pentecostals are evangelicals and the principal disseminators of Protestant fundamentalism. But a good number are sects in the technical sense of the term and, therefore, not Christian. Among them are the World Pentecostal Assembly, the United Pentecostal Church, all the Unitarian churches, etc."

These sects have penetrated both Spanish- and (in Brazil) Portuguese-speaking regions. Writes Fr. Guerra: "Suffice it to think that, according to some sources, 15.4% of Brazilians, 25% of Chileans, 31% of Guatemalans, etc., have turned to Pentecostalism."

Father Guerra continues: "One of the characteristic features of Latin Americans is their profound religious sense, their readiness to venerate the sacred. For centuries their religious thirst was satisfied by the Catholic Church. Now, in addition to the Protestants, sects have invaded. The latter confirm that the religious sense is innate to the human being. The sects are not anti-religious, but often anti-Christian, at times rabidly so, or at least not Christian. They are able to quench the religious thirst of Latin Americans to the extent that they are not satisfied by Catholicism, the traditional religion and spirituality of their countries.

"There is a tendency to think that 'evil comes from outside' and that 'others are the evil ones,' namely, the sects. But the principal cause for the spread of sects lies within each Christian, namely, in his lack of information on the dangers to his faith, his lack of Christian doctrinal formation, and lack of apostolic dynamism, as well as his failure to evangelize, to be an apostle, and to engage in the apostolate.

The activism of modern life, moreover, causes isolation. Many people, especially young people, become victims of anonymity. So they seek small circles where they are accepted. "Sects usually provide this for their initiates, at least in the beginning. I have often asked members or former members of sects: 'Why have you abandoned Jesus Christ for the founder of a sect?' The answer has almost always been, with but slight nuances: 'Because I have not felt loved or welcomed by the Church.'"