Religion and Politics in Central America, including the Caribbean1. Brief Introduction 1. Brief Introduction to Religion and Politics in Central America Hanson (“Iberian Powers” below) offers six models of church-state relations from Latin American history: traditional authoritarianism, the triple alliance of landowners, military, and ecclesiastics; culturally diffused religion, where the church had little institutional influence; the state-church institutional alliance of Neo-Christendom; Christian Democracy, Catholic culture and democratic politics; Social Catholicism, oriented toward the poor, and Religious Interest Group, with the church no longer holding a privileged institutional position. Because Central America had disproportionately indigenous and poor societies, countries like El Salvador combined traditional authoritarianism, Christian Democracy, and Social Catholicism in the midst of significant social pressures and even civil war. During the Cold War, the United States would have preferred Christian Democratic regimes, but when faced with instability, the Reagan Administration supported the authoritarian right with political and military aid. This area has traditionally supplied basic market crops, leading to the concentration of land in the hands of the rich. This unequal land distribution contributed to highly stratified social structures, the persistence of authoritarian regimes, and large-scale immigration to the United States. For example, Mexico has continued to fear Central American immigration across its southern boundary. Costa Rica, with its long democratic tradition and lack of military forces, and Castro’s Cuba are at least partial exceptions to this pattern in Central America and the Caribbean. Puerto Rico has not voted for independence since that would cut off its special immigration link to the United States. CAFTA finally passed in the U.S. Congress by a very narrow margin, so Central America will be more and more integrated into NAFTA-like economic dynamics with the United States. Countries like El Salvador have moved from a complete reliance on single agricultural crops to more low-wage manufacturing. Hanson (2006) discusses “Iberian Powers, Indigenous Religions, and the Latin American Polity” (pp. 261-67); and “Central America During the Cold War: United States Intervention and Liberation Theology” (pp. 267-70). 3. A Short Introductory Course to Religion and Politics in Central America Hanson discusses the 1983 trip of John Paul II to Central America and Ernesto Cardenal and Kim Chi Ha as poets of Liberation Theology. Nicholls demonstrates the popular suffering under an authoritarian regime like that of Duvalier in Haiti. For the Somoza and Batista regimes, see Section Four below from the same collection. Mainwaring and Wilde have put together a collection of essays on the progressive church in Central America (3), Brazil (3), and Peru (2). Hallum discusses the Pentecostal Movement in Central America. Because of the disproportionate expansion of Pentecostalism and neo-Pentecostalism in Central America, Steigenga and Cleary's edited volume on Latin America in general is very useful. Francisco Goldman treats the very politically significant assassination of Guatemalan Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera in 1998. Eric O. Hanson, The Catholic Church in World Politics (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987), 94-101, 107-13. Nicholls, David, “The Duvalier Regime in Haiti,” in in Chehabi, H.E. and Linz, Juan J., Sultanistic Regimes (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998), 153-81. Mainwaring, Scott, and Wilde, Alexander, eds. The Progressive Church in Latin America. (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1989). Hallum, Anne Motley, “Looking for Hope in Central America,” in Jelen, Ted Gerard, and Wilcox, Clyde. Religion in the Comparative Perspective: The One, the Few, and the Many (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 225-42. Steigenga, Timothy J., and Cleary, Edward L., Conversion of a Continent: Contemporary Religious Change in Latin America (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2007). Goldman, Francisco. The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop? (New York: Grove Press, 2007). 3. Other Key Resource Materials for Religion and Politics in Central America Aristide, Jean-Bertrand. Eyes of the Heart: Seeking a Path for the Poor in the Age of Globalization (Monroe, Me.: Common Courage Press, 2000). Booth, John A., “The Somoza Regime in Nicaragua,” in Chehabi, H.E. and Linz, Juan J., Sultanistic Regimes (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998), 132-52. Chesnut, R. Andrew, “A Preferential Option for the Spirit: The Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Latin America’s New Religious Economy,” Latin American Politics and Society 45, no. 1 (spring 2003): 55-85. Crahan, Margaret, “Church and State in Latin America: Assassinating Some Old and New Stereotypes,” in Daedalus (1991). Domínguez, Jorge I., “The Batista Regime in Cuba,” in Chehabi, H.E. and Linz, Juan J., Sultanistic Regimes (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998), 113-31. Gill, Anthony. Rendering Unto Caesar: The Catholic Church and the State in Latin America (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998). Hartlyn, Jonathan, “The Trujillo Regime in the Dominican Republic,” in Chehabi, H.E. and Linz, Juan J., Sultanistic Regimes (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998), 85-112. Klaiber, Jeffrey, S.J. The Church, Dictatorships, and Democracy in Latin America (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1998). Levine, Daniel H., and Stoll, David, “Bridging the Gap Between Empowerment and Power in Latin America,” Rudolph, Susanne Hoeber, and Piscatori, James, Transnational Religion and Fading States (Boulder, Co.: Westview Press, 1997), 63-103. Montgomery, Tommie Sue. “El Salvador: The Descent Into Violence,” International Policy Report (March 1982). Nichols, Bruce, “Religious Conciliation Between the Sandinistas and the East Coast Indians of Nicaragua,” in Johnston, Douglas, and Sampson, Cynthia, eds. Religion, The Missing Dimension of Statecraft (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), 64-87. Smith, Brian H. Religious Politics in Latin America: Pentecostal vs. Catholic (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1998). 5. Recent News Articles on Central America “Labor Progress Clashes With Global Reality,” New York Times, April 24, 2001. Problems with labor standards as El Salvador switches to garment exports. "Rival's Concession Clears Way for Ortega, Once and Future President of Nigaragua," New York Times, November 8, 2006. For analysis, see November 11 New York Times, "Ortega Redux." Ortega won with only 38 percent of the vote and the National Assembly is divided among four parties. He ran on "jobs, peace, and reconciliation," without attacking the United States. Nicaragua needs to export textiles and fruit, plus receive remittances, to survive. "Religious groups feel cut off from Cuba," McClatchy Newspapers, February 25, 2007. Treasury Department has greatly tightened access of U.S. religious groups to their co-religious. "Why hasn't Catholicism had a more positive effect?" National Catholic Reporter, March 30, 2007. Analysis of John L. Allen, Jr. on visit to Honduras. Poverty, as Cardinal Rodriguez says that Honduras' real exports are "illegal immigrants and drugs." "Onward Christian Cubans," Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2007. Cuban government forces newly appointed bishop to close small Catholic magazine Vitral. Catholic dissident movement. "Healing Hearts and, Possibly, Divisions in Guatemala," New York Times, November 6, 2007. Newly elected vice president Rafael Espada is famous heart surgeon who has commuted between Houston and Guatamala City. Ran with Álvaro Colom, a center-left businessman who pledged to "convert Guatamala into a social democratic country with a Mayan face." They won 53 to 47 percent over retired army General Otto Pérez Molina. Great social stratification gap within country. "Nicaraguan Councils Stir Fear of Dictatorship," New York Times, May 4, 2008. Ortega establishes Citizens Power Councils (C.P.C.s), neighborhood committees controlled by the Sandanista Party, to administer antipoverty programs, despite a vote against them in the National Assembly. They are funded by a deal with Venezuela that supplies nearly 10 million barrels of oil per year on extremely favorable terms. Article covers debate for and against. "Honduran Army Ousts President Allied to Chavez," New York Times, June 29, 2009. First Central American coup since 1983 (Guatemala) sends President Manuel Zelaya to Costa Rica. Zelaya had been seeking to eliminate single four-year term for presdent. Despite Latin American political split between those supporting Venezuela and others like Brazil and Chile, "Rare Hemispheric Unity in Assailing Honduran Coup." (NYT, same date). The struggle between Zelaya and alternative president Roberto Micheletti continues as of October 2009. "Amid a Crisis, Hondurans Heap Large Hopes On a Tiny Religious Icon," New York Times, October 19, 2009. Honduran hopes in patroness of country, Our Lady of Suyapa, worker of miracles. Split of Catholic Church: Cardinal Rodriguez and establishment supporting outster of Zelaya, priest-environmental activist Andres Tamayo and Jesuit-run Radio Progreso supporting Zelaya, and Tegucigalpa's Auxiliary Bishop Juan Jose Pineda shuttling between the supporters of Zelaya and Micheletti. "The Other America," by Tim Padgett, America, March 8, 2010. The Honduras crisis set in the context of niggardly U.S. aid and Catholic polarization during the twenty years since the Chamorro election over Ortega in 1990. See also Tom Quigley, "Democracy Undone: the U.S. & the Honduran Mess," Commonweal, December 18, 2009, on the politics of the Catholic Church in the Honduran crisis. "Political Struggle Lays Bare the Frailty of Guatemala's Justice System Experiment," New York Times, July 4, 2010. The International Commission against Impurity in Guatemala (cicig), a joint project of the country and the United Nations involving both international and national prosecutors of powerful interests. Spanish juirist Carlos Castresana resigned on June 7 after asserting that Guatemala's attorney general had links to organized crime, with the attorney general denied. "Honduras Faces Criticism Over Journalist Killings After a Coup," New York Times, July 27, 2010. The Committee to Protect Journalists releases report which states that the Honduran government's failure to investigate the killings of seven journalists has brought about "a climate of lawlessness that is allowing criminals to kill journalists with impunity." August 9, 2010. |
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