Mexican Christians who branch away from the “traditionalist” village
churches, which blend aspects of indigenous paganism and popular
Catholicism, continue to face pressure to return to the fold or leave
their villages.
World Watch Monitor reported recently on the case of Lauro Pérez Núñez,
a convert to Protestant Christianity, who was last year ordered to
leave his village and has only recently been permitted to return home.
But Núñez’s case is far from a one-off. Here are a few other recent and ongoing cases:
Mariano Matamoros, Chiapas
What happened?
The authorities in Mariano Matamoros want more than 100 Protestants –
one third of them children – to leave the village for not contributing
to local festivals.
Why?
The Protestants have had problems since 2009, when they were prevented
from burying one of their children in a local cemetery because they had
left the “traditionalist” church.
“They had to take the body to a neighbouring town”, explained Luis
Herrera, the director of Chiapas’ Coordinación de Organizaciones
Cristianas. “Unfortunately, the measure taken against the non-Catholic
families are ever more frequent. Water and sewer-system cuts, the
illegal confiscation of their properties, physical violence and denial
of health services make it impossible for these families to live normal
lives. Three years ago, their plots of lands, where they cultivated
corn, coffee, fruit and trees, were confiscated. It has even reached the
point that the village’s authorities emitted a decree that forbids
economic transactions with Protestants. Those who sell or buy with them
are fined 5,000 pesos [$280]”.
What next?
The families sent out a press release to complain about their
situation, which was reported in the local press and by some Christian
organisations. They continue to live in the community, but they have
been threatened that they will be evicted and their houses destroyed.
They have also been refused access to education, healthcare and
governmental benefits.
On 18 April, the State Council of Evangelical Churches in Chiapas
proposed a meeting with members of the affected families, the local
authorities and the state government.
“The workers in all levels of the Mexican government have looked away
when dealing with attacks based upon religion that clearly violate
Mexican law and international human rights,” said Isaac Seis, the
director of Judicial Affairs of International Christian Concern. “This
incident in Chiapas is emblematic, given that it is part of the
generalised notion of religious intolerance that strangles the life of
the rural communities in all of Mexico. The ICC has asked the Federal
Authorities of Mexico to take immediate action to help the victims in
Mariano Matamoros. As well, the international community has demanded
Mexico captures those responsible for these violations of human rights.
No man, woman, nor child should be forced to go to bed hungry because of
their religious beliefs.”
Teopisca, Chiapas
What happened?
In April, in the San Jose neighbourhood of Teopisca, five families
refused to contribute 200 pesos ($11) each to the village’s religious
festivals. Local authorities cut their water supply and ordered them to
pay 4,000 pesos ($216) each to receive it again.
Eighty other Protestant families who had threatened not to contribute
to the festivals decided to pay, after being told they would have their
basic services cut if they didn’t.
But on 7 May, the water supply for another 15 families was cut, after
they filed an official complaint against the authorities at a local
court.
In September 2015, in the community of San Isidro de Chijisté, also in
Teopisca, several Protestant families had their water and electricity
services cut, after refusing to pay for local festivals.
Why?
Luis Herrera said he had been told by local officials “it would all end quicker if they just paid the quotas”.
What next?
The families in San Isidro are still waiting for the situation to be
resolved. On 25 April, a meeting took place in Teopisca City Hall.
“Unfortunately there were no results”, Herrera explained. He added that
García Mendoza, the Undersecretary for Religious Affairs, “manipulated”
the information published in local media to make people believe that
the 80 families failed to attend the meeting, when in fact they did
attend.
La Piedad, Chiapas
What happened?
Also in April, 26 families abandoned their homes in the village of La
Piedad after the authorities cut their water and electricity supplies
and prevented them from collecting firewood.
Why?
The families refused to contribute between 30 to 50 pesos ($1-2) towards every local festival.
What next?
A spokesperson for the families, Genaro Jimenez Lopez, says the
authorities have demanded they return to the local church and pay 5,000
pesos ($270) per family, so they can have basic services restored.
“The community did not expel us”, he said, “but, since we have no water
and we are not allowed to collect firewood, 130 people moved to the
city of Comitán, were we shall stay as refugees.”
Meanwhile, their remaining belongings were taken out of the village and piled up in front of the town hall in Las Margaritas.
Zongolica Mountains, Veracruz
What happened?
On 16 March, Protestants from the municipalities of Mixtla de
Altamirano, San Juan Texhuacan and Astacinga complained that they were
being prevented from using burial sites belonging to “traditionalist”
churches.
Why?
“We appeal for the freedom of expression and religion,” spokesman Miguel Ángel Hernández told Quadratín Agency. “Our job is to get the authorities to respect us and respect the rights that we have as citizens.”
What next?
Hernández said they have requested the intervention of the local authorities to help them find new burial sites.
Their case reached the Religious Affairs department of the State
Government, which brokered an agreement for them to be granted space in
the local cemetery.
Nohemi Márquez Escudero, Legal Adviser for the Department of Religious
Affairs for the State of Veracruz, said it now falls to the City Hall of
Sierra de Zongolica to ensure the situation is not repeated, and that
the local authorities must provide land for the Protestants to be able
to bury their dead.
Tuxpan de Bolaños, Jalisco
What happened?
Ten families (30 people in all) from the Huichol native tribe were expelled from the village on 26 January.
Why?
They had faced the threat of eviction for several years. In 2008, the
Baptist Convention of Guadalajara, with help from the US Baptist
Convention, fought successfully for the families’ legal right to remain
in the village. But the village council later ruled that they must
leave.
The Huichols enjoy a degree of autonomy from the Mexican government.
Land is communal property, inherited from father to son. The Huichol
traditions centre on their religious beliefs and customs that are not
always written down.
“This makes them easy to manipulate,” said their legal representative,
Isaí Torres Navarro. “There is a document, but it is mostly dispersed
orally, which allows them to be interpreted at one’s convenience. That
is the reason why the State’s Commission on Human Rights asked the
Huichol authority to write down their customs for the benefit of the
people.”
What next?
Still awaiting resolution. Currently living in temporary housing in the
Bolaños municipality. Several meetings have been organised in the state
capital, Guadalajara, but local authorities have never attended. They
claimed that 1,963 members of the community voted for the Christians’
displacement, but no evidence was produced.
“We believe that this decision was made by a small group without taking
into account the interests of the majority,” said Torres Navarro. “We
are talking about human rights violation for these people. For those
families to be evicted, there must have been at least an accord of the
assembly. That is why it is necessary to find the document in which the
eviction was ratified, as well as the fact the decision happened because
they did not share their [community’s] beliefs.”
Humberto Bayón Moreno, the former representative of Open Doors in
Mexico, who now works as a trainer of missionaries, said: “Something
must be done, before they start displacing any person that does not
share the views of the community.”
Gabriel Leyva Velázquez, Chiapas
What happened?
On 4 January, nine families (33 people in all) belonging to the Church
of Renewal in Christ were thrown out of their homes by villagers
carrying sticks, machetes and guns. Their homes were destroyed and the
entrance to the village placed under guard to prevent their return.
Why?
In April 2014, a pastor’s son was convicted of murder. “The community
started protesting and demanding for the minister not to return to the
village, even though the young man was detained and is serving a jail
sentence,” explained Herrera.
Locals demanded the nine families stop attending the church and leave the village.
What next?
“We did all we could to avoid this”, said state government representative Antonieta Suarez Ruiz.
But the families are still outside the village. They fled into the
mountains, walking for more than six hours before they arrived in the
city of Las Margaritas, where they were provided with food and shelter.
“The constant violation of human rights and lack of guarantees in
Chiapas for religious freedom is an everyday subject, and the employees
of the state solely take the political line of favouring the majority,
even if it violates an endless amount of human rights of religious
minorities,” said Herrera.
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