The political influence of Evangelicalism in Latin America is a phenomenon that has resulted in increased political influence and activism by the Evangelical Christian community in the region. Marginal at first, different news reports and political analysts have pointed the important weight that such community has and its impact in electoral politics, even helping in the electoral victories of conservative candidates. Evangelical

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

are a particular type of political parties in Latin America generally linked or known to advocate for the interests of the Evangelical Christian community. They are normally associated with certain stances like

cultural conservatism Cultural conservatism is described as the protection of the cultural heritage of a nation state, or of a culture not defined by state boundaries. It is usually associated with criticism of multiculturalism, and opposition to immigration. Cultu ...

, strong opposition to same-sex marriage and LGBT rights,

legalization of abortion Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...

, drug liberalization and marijuana legalization, what they refer as " gender ideology" or identity politics,

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...

and

globalism Globalism refers to various patterns of meaning beyond the merely international. It is used by political scientists, such as Joseph Nye, to describe "attempts to understand all the interconnections of the modern world—and to highlight patterns ...

. Although exceptions exist, they tend to be located on the right of the spectrum due to the Prosperity Theology associated to them, whilst supporting such things as

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

, " hard hand" on crime, corporal punishment for minors and harder laws for juvenile delinquents.

History

Protestant missionary groups mainly from the

Charismatic Movement The charismatic movement in Christianity is a movement within established or mainstream Christian denominations to adopt beliefs and practices of Charismatic Christianity with an emphasis on baptism with the Holy Spirit, and the use of spirit ...

originated in the

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...

of the United States were introduced deliberately as a strategy from Washington particularly during Republican administrations as a way to reduce the influence of left-leaning Catholic movements like Liberation theology (which was popular among many

far-left Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...

and guerrillas) and the more moderate Christian socialist and

Christian Democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

parties. Guatemalan archbishop Próspero Penados also blamed the US for encouraging and sponsor Evangelicalism in Guatemala for, according to him, more political than religious reasons arguing that: "The diffusion of Protestantism in Guatemala is more part of an economic and political strategy" to oppose the Catholic social justice doctrine". Some conservative Catholics have blamed the prevalence of liberation theology among the clergy in Latin America for the exodus of believers to Evangelical Protestantism. In recent decades, the Catholic Church has suffered a drain of followers, some of whom became

irreligious Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and ant ...

, agnostics or atheists. Some also went to other alternative religions like Buddhism,

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

and

new religious movements A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or th ...

; but a large segment of former Catholics, particularly those of more humble origins and lower classes, went into the

Evangelical Churches Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual experi ...

, with neo-Pentecostal and

Charismatic Charisma () is a personal quality of presence or charm that compels its subjects. Scholars in sociology, political science, psychology, and management reserve the term for a type of leadership seen as extraordinary; in these fields, the term "ch ...

movements proven popular amongst the converts. Pentecostalism also became popular among the lower income classes and the most abandoned sectors of society specially those of very poor and peripheral areas who see the Churches' ideas of economic growth through faith as an opportunity for social mobility. In any case, the growth of Evangelicals was quickly followed by their newly discovered political and electoral weight, with new forms of political activism and even the creation of specific political parties connected to their communities. Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt was one of the first Evangelical Christians in attain power in Latin America's history. Some examples of these movements include the support from the Evangelical Christian community to Jimmy Morales (himself an Evangelical) in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

Juan Orlando Hernández Juan Orlando Hernández Alvarado (; born 28 October 1968), also known as JOH, is a Honduran lawyer and politician who served as President of Honduras from 2014 to 2022. A member of the National Party, Hernández previously served as the presi ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

, Mauricio Macri in Argentina, Sebastián Piñera in Chile The Evangelical opposition in the

Colombian peace agreement referendum The Colombian peace agreement referendum was held on 2 October 2016 to ratify the final agreement on the termination of the Colombian conflict between the Colombian government and the FARC guerillas. It failed with 50.2% voting against it and 4 ...

is considered for many pivotal in its rejection, as was the Evangelical parties' support of the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff in Brazil. Countries with notorious conservative right-wing candidates supported by Evangelicals include Venezuela where pastor

Javier Bertucci Javier Alejandro Bertucci Carrero (born November 16, 1969) is an evangelical pastor, philanthropist, and Venezuelan businessman. In 2016, he was linked to the leakage of the Panama Papers. He runs the Maranatha Christian Church, a religious con ...

was the third-most voted nominee,

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

where preacher and gospel singer Fabricio Alvarado went into the electoral run-off and Brazil where Evangelical Christians were pivotal in the triumph of

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and retired military officer who has been the 38th president of Brazil since 1 January 2019. He was elected in 2018 as a member of the Social Liberal Party, which he turn ...

. However, in some countries the alliance was with the left. The

Authentic Renewal Organization The Authentic Renewal Organization (ORA) is an Evangelical and Pentecostal political party in Venezuela, originally founded in 1988 by Godofredo Marín and Carlos Mendez. The ORA does not align itself with any specific political ideology, but ...

is a Venezuelan Evangelical political party and member of the official Great Patriotic Pole of President

Nicolás Maduro Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and president of Venezuela since 2013, with his presidency under dispute since 2019. Beginning his working life as a bus driver, Maduro rose to become a trade unio ...

Daniel Ortega José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguans, Nicaraguan revolutionary and politician serving as President of Nicaragua since 2007. Previously he was leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, first as coordinator of the ...

was also supported by Evangelical pastors in Nicaragua and his wife and Vice President

Rosario Murillo Rosario María Murillo Zambrana (; born 22 June 1951) is a Nicaraguan politician and poet who has held the position of Vice President of Nicaragua, the country's second highest office, since January 2017 and First Lady of Nicaragua since 2007 ...

has links with Evangelical Churchers. The Social Encounter Party in Mexico is also unofficially linked to the Mexican Evangelical community (as the

Mexican Constitution The Constitution of Mexico, formally the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States ( es, Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the current constitution of Mexico. It was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in th ...

forbids the existence of confessional parties) and is a member of the '' Juntos Haremos Historia'' coalition that endorsed leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a move that brought out criticism as it was a coalition with two left-wing parties.

Positions

The movement is generally characterized by its staunch

(even for Latin American standards) with a very strong opposition to same-sex marriage, LGBT rights,

, drug liberalization and marijuana legalization, " gender ideology" and identity politics,

and

. Some may hold strong

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

and

anti-socialist Criticism of socialism (also known as anti-socialism) is any critique of socialist models of economic organization and their feasibility as well as the political and social implications of adopting such a system. Some critiques are not directed ...

positions and endorse

neoliberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

and pro-free market capitalist ideas in part due to the Prosperity Theology that many hold. Some conspiracy theories like

Cultural Marxism The term "Cultural Marxism" refers to a far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory which claims that Western Marxism is the basis of continuing academic and intellectual efforts to subvert Western culture. The conspiracy theory misrepresents the ...

and New World Order have proven popular among its base. South American Evangelicals also tend to follow

Christian Zionism Christian Zionism is a belief among some Christians that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land and the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 were in accordance with Bible prophecy. The term began to be used in the mid-20th century i ...

and be supporters of Israel, supporting policies such as the moving of the embassies of their countries to Jerusalem. Some have been described also as supporters of the

, " hard hand" on crime,

Creationism Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' says that creationism is 't ...

(and opposition of teaching the scientific theories of Evolution and

Big Bang The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...

on schools), corporal punishment for kids and harder laws for juvenile delinquents. Their most critical opponents signal them as having

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

religious fundamentalist Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishing ...

, theocratic, anti-democratic and

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic votin ...

ideas wanting to replace democracy by theocracy.

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in Latin America tend to be relatively more left-wing in economics due to the traditional teachings of the

Catholic social doctrine Catholic social teaching, commonly abbreviated CST, is an area of Catholic doctrine concerning matters of human dignity and the common good in society. The ideas address oppression, the role of the state, subsidiarity, social organization, con ...

and the

Christian Democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

. Evangelical Christians on the other hand are mostly from the neo-Pentecostal movement and thus believers in the Prosperity Theology which justify most of their

economic ideas.

Political positions in contrast to other groups

With Roman Catholics

Social conservatism Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institutio ...

: According to the

Pew Research Center The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the w ...

: "Even though the Catholic Church opposes abortion and same-sex marriage, Catholics in Latin America tend to be less conservative than Protestants on these kinds of social issues. On average, Catholics are less morally opposed to abortion, homosexuality, artificial means of birth control, sex outside of marriage, divorce and drinking alcohol than are Protestants." * Evolution: Catholics tend to be more accepting of evolution than Protestants. * Economic liberalism: On the whole, Latin Americans embrace free-market principles, but Catholics also tend to be more economically progressive having a tendency of supporting more left-wing and the welfare state position in varying degrees from far-left Liberation Theology which permates in many left-wing parties, to much more moderate Christian socialist and

postures. Evangelicals on the other hand (although exceptions exists) tend to be economically right-wing, staunchly anti-communist and support liberal economy and capitalism. *

Class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

: In Latin America most neo-Pentecostals and other Evangelicals are mostly from working class and lower-income groups, whilst Catholicism is still prevalent among middle and high classes and among professionals and the political elite. *

: The Catholic position regarding the Arab–Israeli conflict may vary greatly, however and although strong Israel-supporters among Catholics is not unusual,

anti-Zionism Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestin ...

is also prevalent among both far-left (especially Liberation Theology and

Christian Left The Christian left is a range of left-wing Christian political and social movements that largely embrace social justice principles and uphold a social doctrine or social gospel. Given the inherent diversity in international political thoug ...

Catholics) and the far-right ( Traditionalists, Sedevacantistas, etc.). The Vatican has its diplomatic representation to the

State of Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in Tel Aviv and recognizes the

State of Palestine Palestine ( ar, فلسطين, Filasṭīn), Legal status of the State of Palestine, officially the State of Palestine ( ar, دولة فلسطين, Dawlat Filasṭīn, label=none), is a state (polity), state located in Western Asia. Officiall ...

advocating for a two-state solution, thus many centrist Catholics follow these lines. On the other hand, Evangelical Christians tend to be overwhelmingly pro-Israel due to traditionally

and support the recognition of Jerusalem as its capital.

With agnostics, atheist and nonreligious

Atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, agnostics and non-religious people are the third largest group of Latin America behind Catholics and Protestants. Coincidences with the conservative neo-Pentecostal are scarce. Although exceptions exist, non-religious in Latin America tend to be strongly culturally liberal, generally more than the average Latin American, being much more likely to support such things like secularism, abortion, same-sex marriage and birth control than their Catholic counterparts and specially the neo-Pentecostal community. Nonreligious are also much more supportive of Palestine than Israel and come mostly from the middle and high class, especially the professional and intellectual camps. Although in economic and politics nonreligious may also support

right-wing libertarian Right-libertarianism,Rothbard, Murray (1 March 1971)"The Left and Right Within Libertarianism" ''WIN: Peace and Freedom Through Nonviolent Action''. 7 (4): 6–10. Retrieved 14 January 2020.Goodway, David (2006). '' Anarchist Seeds Beneath the ...

, liberal and economically conservative ideas, it is also slightly more common for secularists to be more on the left and center-left of the spectrum.

With other religiones

Brazil's

Spiritualist Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century The ''long nineteenth century'' i ...

community had criticized the Evangelical position on Human Rights, social justice and economic policies. The Brazilian Muslim community is split on the issue of supporting or rejecting right-wing figures like Donald Trump and

. Muslims in the West tend to be socially conservative but economically progressive.

Corruption cases

Brazil

Pastor Magno Malta

Prominent pentecostal politicians in Brazil have been involved in cases of corruption and law violations. Since 2007 Federal deputy Pastor

Magno Malta Magno Malta (born October 16, 1957) is a Brazilian fundamentalist evangelical pastor, religious singer, and politician. He has represented Espírito Santo in the Federal Senate from 2003 to 2019 and was re-elected for a separate term that sta ...

was in involved in many scandals including embezzlement, nepotism, bribing and emission of fake bill of goods.

Pastor Everaldo Pereira

In 2012, Pastor

Everaldo Pereira Everaldo Dias Pereira (born 22 February 1956), better known as Pastor Everaldo, is a Brazilian pastor, businessman and politician affiliated with the Social Christian Party (PSC). He is a pastor in the Assembly of God church and has been the na ...

was convicted and ordered to pay his ex-wife, Katia Maia, an indemnity of R$ 85,000 (

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

26,350) for material and moral damage. Pastor Everaldo asked the Justice Court of Rio de Janeiro (TJ-RJ) to overturn the decision and was acquitted by the

Supreme Federal Court The Supreme Federal Court ( pt, Supremo Tribunal Federal, , abbreviated STF) is the supreme court (court of last resort) of Brazil, serving primarily as the Constitutional Court of the country. It is the highest court of law in Brazil for consti ...

. In 2013, Pereira's ex-wife initiated in the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) a new judicial process, alleging that the pastor committed physical violence, followed by death threats. Katia Maia said that during the aggression there were "kicks and punches, that caused a puncture in er

eardrum In the anatomy of humans and various other tetrapods, the eardrum, also called the tympanic membrane or myringa, is a thin, cone-shaped membrane that separates the external ear The outer ear, external ear, or auris externa is the extern ...

". Pereira, however, said he acted in legitimate self-defense after a car pursuit in the streets of Rio de Janeiro.

Pastor Marco Feliciano

Federal deputy Pastor Marco Feliciano, one of the most prominent names of the PSC, stated that Africans were cursed by Noah,Josef Oehrlein: ''Unaufhaltsame Abwanderung'', FAZ, 20. Juli 2013, S. 10 leading to accusations of racism. The deputy was falsely accused with attempted rape and assault by 22-year-old Patricia Lelis, a PSC activist who attended the same church as the pastor. The deputy chief of staff, Talma Bauer, was arrested for initially being suspected of kidnapping the young woman and forcing her to record videos defending the deputy in order to dismiss the initial complaint. After a police inquiry, Bauer was released and the São Paulo Civil Police concluded that there was no kidnapping or aggression, and requested the arrest of Patrícia Lélis for the crimes of slanderous denunciation and extortion against Bauer.

Guatemala

Jimmy Morales

In January 2017, Samuel "Sammy" Morales, the older brother and close adviser to

n President Jimmy Morales, whose campaign slogan was, "neither corrupt, nor a crook", as well as one of Morales' sons, José Manuel Morales, were arrested on corruption and money laundering charges. According to media reports, the arrests prompted several large protests of up to 15,000 people demanding for President Morales' removal. Jimmy Morales ordered the expulsion of Colombian

Iván Velásquez Iván Velásquez (born August 27, 1976 in Cartagena, Colombia) is a Colombian footballer currently playing for Independiente Medellín of the Primera A in Colombia. He played as a striker. Teams * Independiente Santa Fe 1999 * Deportes Tolima 2 ...

, commissioner of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), after it began "investigating claims that his party took illegal donations, including from drug-traffickers" and asked "congress to strip him of immunity from prosecution." After Minister of foreign affairs

Carlos Raul Morales Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhe ...

refused to sign the executive order, he was removed from office along with viceminister Carlos Ramiro Martínez. The Constitutional Court of Guatemala finally blocked the move. Furthermore, former cabinet minister Édgar Gutiérrez accused Jimmy Morales of having sexually abused young female public workers with complicity of other government officials.

Criticism

Some parties and candidates are criticized for being supporters of

over the scientific theories of Evolution and

, or for believing in conspiracy theories like

, Gender ideology and New World Order. They are also often accused of