Displaying items by tag: Latin America

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

There are over 75 people dead, 200 still missing and 3,319 in shelters, many of them with dead or missing loved ones, unable to return to homes and land destroyed by Guatemala’s most active volcano. Firefighters said the chance of finding anyone alive was now practically non-existent. The thick grey ash covering the region has been hardened by rainfall, making it even more difficult to dig through the piles of rocks and debris. Pray for the exhausted rescue workers still searching for survivors. Pray for those who have lost loved ones. Pray for the rural communities who have lost everything - land, livestock and livelihood - in a once-fertile collection of canyons, hillsides and farms now reduced to a moonscape of ash and debris. ‘In a matter of three or four minutes the village disappeared as a sea of muck came crashing into homes, inundating people, pets and wildlife’, said one survivor.

In a worsening economic crisis Venezuelans re-elected president Maduro, causing an international backlash to the ‘landslide vote’ marred by opposition boycotts and vote-rigging claims. Fourteen countries, including Argentina, Brazil and Canada have recalled their ambassadors from Caracas in protest. Leaked data from two Caracas hospitals show major shortages of food and essential supplies causing more underweight babies being born and an increase of babies and new mothers dying. Venezuela is the most corrupt country in Latin America. A recent investigation by Transparency International showed that the government had signed contracts worth at least US$30 billion with Odebrecht, the Brazilian construction giant at the heart of an enormous bribery scandal in Latin America and elsewhere. Donald Trump called for new elections to ‘end the repression’ of Venezuelans. See

Many Argentines blame the IMF for the country’s 2001 financial meltdown, punctuated by a sovereign bond default and steep currency devaluation, which tossed millions of middle-class Argentines into poverty. Now left-leaning activists have taken to the streets to protest the IMF negotiations taking place in Washington while President Macri is trying to convince average Argentines that his policies will attract the investment needed to establish sustainable economic growth. In Buenos Aires, teachers have been staging protests because life is unbearable as the value of the peso continues to decline by a further 30%, sparking even more inflation. They are demanding pay rises, and say they have been living below the poverty line. To watch a video of thousands of people taking to the streets almost every day go to:

President Morales has announced that the Guatemalan embassy will be moved to Jerusalem in May, just two days after the United States. The president, an outspoken Christian Evangelical, has been publicly supportive of Israel since the beginning of his mandate. After receiving an award recently he said, ‘From the bottom of my heart, I tell you, I don’t feel I deserve this. I’m just trying to do the right thing and allow my God, my people, and history to judge me.’ Vice president Jafeth Cabrera said his country is fulfilling biblical prophecy: ‘Yes, we do share the idea that prophecy is coming to pass. We are pleased that Guatemala is contributing to having that happen, and we hope it will soon be a reality.’ The vice president also said the decision could not have happened without prayer.

Argentina has recently hosted a meeting of the G20 anti-corruption group, with national delegations and international organisations seeking to address the best ways of curtailing corruption and promoting integrity in state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Controlled by national governments, SOEs rank among the largest companies in the world and are often some of the biggest employers in their country. They are central to the daily lives of citizens, providing critical goods and public services in sectors such as transport, utilities, health and telecommunications. When they indulge in corruption and malpractice, citizens feel the impact: trains are delayed, households go without power or water, and the sick are deprived of essential medical treatment. SOEs are particularly vulnerable to corruption because of their closeness to politicians and public officials, and the scale of resources, contracts and operations they control.

We extend greetings and blessings from the Christian church in Bolivia. We are very grateful for your prayers in favor of our continent. Those who could participate in the UPRISING organized in Bolivia in November 2017, now understood in greater depth the role of prayer to transform a nation and now we can see many results of those days of UPRISING, since the prayer in Bolivia has risen a lot.

On January 10, 2018, the Extraordinary Assembly of the National Association of Evangelicals of Bolivia (ANDEB) was held, with the participation of different denominations, missions, evangelical organizations, and some Evangelical United Departmental and Regional Churches to analyze the situation of the country and draw conclusions and determinations regarding the enactment by the President in exercise of Law 1005 of the Code of Procedure of the Bolivian Criminal System, as according to this Code, our country faces the possibility that as of 2019, evangelism activities are punishable by law.

In this sense, we request you to pray for our country, with the following prayer requests:

1. Pray for the ABROGATION of the aforementioned Law 1005 of the New Bolivian Penal Code.

2. Pray for the unity of ALL the Evangelical Church in Bolivia through its National, Departmental and Regional representation bodies in such a way that we are one voice, according to the prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ "So that all may be one ... so that the world believes that you sent me.”

Cochabamba, January 18th, 2018
Asamblea General Extraordinaria
Asociación Nacional de Evangélicos de Bolivia (ANDEB)
Iglesias Evangélicas Unidas Departamentales (IEUD

The International Justice Mission (IJM) writes, ‘Praise God for a successful and restoring 2017! Our Latin America teams walked faithfully alongside seventy boys and girls who are survivors of sexual violence and sex trafficking, through the ups and downs of trauma-focused therapy. In this process, our social workers and psychologists consistently work with each survivor and their family, to address the trauma they have experienced and help create a safe and stable environment that will support their healing process.’ IJM invites us to pray for these boys and girls, their families, and their communities.

May our Abba fulfil you with His everlasting joy, love, grace and revelation.

We, the planning team would like to invite you to join us for the UPRISING Bolivia Gathering to be held at Cochabamba, Bolivia, Nov 29 Dec 2, 2017.   In 1972, Bolivia, experienced a visitation from the Lord through a national revival, where one of the prophecies received was; “Bolivia, small and despised among the nations, but dear to my heart, I will cause that a great revival will be brought forth from you.”   Despite the ancestral bad reports on our country, the youth in our nation is ready to envision the fulfilment of that call.  

At the beginning of this year, the brethren in Bolivia dreamed of an UPRISING in our country and were summoned to earnestly pray about it, and believe that our Lord Jesus Christ designated our nation to become the site of the next UPRISING. We believe UPRISING will be an event that will affect the whole American Continent. The date set for the event is November 29 to December 2, at the Colonial Hotel, in the city of Cochabamba, interesting enough; the location of the event is the geographical center of our 9 States country.

UPRISING Bolivia will gather different denominational networks to impart worship and plenary sessions about a global revival and mission movement among the youth, children and women. Leaders of national, regional and international networks of prayer are being invited to share, pray, listen, learn and collaborate in the new strategies we believe the Lord will give us for Bolivia and our Continent.  The first day, a National Worship & Praise Altar will be displayed at Plaza de Las Banderas, for a transformation cry out over our Nation and region, while 700 young leaders will actively participate in the four-day gathering.

We would like to have your honorable presence and would love for you to join us at the UPRISING Bolivia event. We truly know that God's heart and anointing has been imparted among the fathers and mothers of our nation and now it will be passed on our youth and this generation.

Feel free to visit our web page: http://uprisingbol.pdlanzas.org for more information. We hope that you will invest your valuable time and effort to be part of the next movement of God surging from Bolivia to the nations and the world.

Every blessing in Christ,

On behalf of the Church in Bolivia,

Manuel Alejandro de la Torre UgarteCadima
Director MinisterioPuntas de Lanzas
UPRISING  Bolivia 2017 Convenor

Former Guatemalan football federation official Hector Trujillo, arrested in December 2015 in Florida, has become the first person to be sentenced in investigations into corruption in FIFA. He had accepted almost $200,000 in bribes from a sports marketing company. A further forty football and marketing executives have been accused. Many of the charges involve bribes paid around the organisation of regional tournaments and World Cup qualifying games. Prosecutors in Switzerland have also been investigating, and FIFA has conducted internal enquiries.