- Oct 17, 2011
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[In January of this year,] President Nicolás Maduro met with evangelical Christian pastors from where he ordered the execution of the My well-equipped church plan, [to help fund] "parochial houses so that parishioners can develop their faith in the encounter with God," he announced from El Laguito, in Fuerte Tiuna, Caracas.
The president also launched the Social Church Program, "which serves as a means of supporting those most in need"
So far, 2.500 churches have benefited from infrastructure improvements and maintenance, 1.245 temples have undergone extensive intervention, and 13.915 Venezuelan pastors have been registered to provide them with social protection.
“In times where evil dresses in a cassock and tries to resume hatred and violence, let's say: No to violence! No to hate! Yes to peace, harmony, union and happiness!"
He also added that God will provide the prosperity, peace and happiness of the great Bolivarian Venezuela.
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[This stuff about 'evil in cassocks' points to some friction between Maduro and the Catholic hierarchy. Venezuela remains majority (~70%) Catholic.]
These plans are promoted in the midst of a confrontation between sectors of the Catholic Church and Chavismo, since Maduro has lashed out on various occasions against Catholic actors and especially the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (CEV), accusing them of becoming political actors in favor of the Venezuelan opposition.
...
In addition, he reported that he would help launch a television program called Corazón Cristiano, in which “meeting spaces would be promoted in different groups of apostolates and Christian churches framed in a specific agenda of cultural and spiritual actions.”
Finally, he ordered the president of the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel), Jorge Márquez, to set up a technical table to “give full support to the Christian Church for Christian radio broadcasting.
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When [Maduro's predecessor Hugo] Chavez was in power (1999-2013), the Government created a program called “Mi Casa Bien Equipada” (My well-equipped House), which had the mission of providing the population with very affordable electrical appliances.
Maduro has had the great idea of rolling out his own version of Mi Casa Bien Equipada, but this time it’s the Mi Iglesia Bien Equipada (My well-equipped Church).
Let me clarify, these aren’t any [and all] churches, only Evangelical ones and I’d even dare to say only Pentecostal ones to be exact.
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“I still don’t understand,” said Guillermo Luis, Avalon’s 34-year-old owner. “We had all the paperwork and they still arrested us. Not even brothels in Venezuela face actions like this.”
The men were outed and ridiculed, the club was closed for weeks and Venezuela’s LGBTQ+ community fears a new government drive to criminalize homosexuality. The authoritarian socialist state is one of the few countries in South American that does not recognize same-sex marriage.
In the first quarter of the year, the Venezuelan Observatory on LGBTIQ+ Violence recorded at least 60 attacks against the gay community. Thirty percent, the observatory says, were committed by a state agency. [The Observatory's coordinator Velásquez] noted that the raid was the fifth against a gay establishment in the past two years, but the first time such a large group was arrested.
Officers sent the men’s pictures, names and ID numbers to reporters, who posted them on Twitter.
Most of the men were held for three days before they were released. Attorney General Tarek William Saab, amid protests, eventually announced that charges against them would be dropped. But Luis and two of his employees were held for a week; their charges remain pending.
Velásquez says the government is trying to strengthen ties with increasingly powerful and wealthy evangelical Christian groups.
“We see with concern how the government has strengthened the alliance with religious groups that use anti-rights language,” Velásquez said. “These groups have funds and institutional support.”
The president also launched the Social Church Program, "which serves as a means of supporting those most in need"
So far, 2.500 churches have benefited from infrastructure improvements and maintenance, 1.245 temples have undergone extensive intervention, and 13.915 Venezuelan pastors have been registered to provide them with social protection.
“In times where evil dresses in a cassock and tries to resume hatred and violence, let's say: No to violence! No to hate! Yes to peace, harmony, union and happiness!"
He also added that God will provide the prosperity, peace and happiness of the great Bolivarian Venezuela.
--
[This stuff about 'evil in cassocks' points to some friction between Maduro and the Catholic hierarchy. Venezuela remains majority (~70%) Catholic.]
While confronting Catholicism, Chavismo announces plans with evangelical pastors
Maduro’s measures intend to allocate resources to social missions to restore temples, support those in need through evangelical volunteering and even create television and radio programs to spread the word of this current of Christianity.These plans are promoted in the midst of a confrontation between sectors of the Catholic Church and Chavismo, since Maduro has lashed out on various occasions against Catholic actors and especially the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (CEV), accusing them of becoming political actors in favor of the Venezuelan opposition.
...
In addition, he reported that he would help launch a television program called Corazón Cristiano, in which “meeting spaces would be promoted in different groups of apostolates and Christian churches framed in a specific agenda of cultural and spiritual actions.”
Finally, he ordered the president of the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel), Jorge Márquez, to set up a technical table to “give full support to the Christian Church for Christian radio broadcasting.
--
When [Maduro's predecessor Hugo] Chavez was in power (1999-2013), the Government created a program called “Mi Casa Bien Equipada” (My well-equipped House), which had the mission of providing the population with very affordable electrical appliances.
Maduro has had the great idea of rolling out his own version of Mi Casa Bien Equipada, but this time it’s the Mi Iglesia Bien Equipada (My well-equipped Church).
Let me clarify, these aren’t any [and all] churches, only Evangelical ones and I’d even dare to say only Pentecostal ones to be exact.
--
Venezuelan Police raid, arrests at gay spa provoke fears of new persecution
Within moments of [the police's] arrival on July 23, they had rounded up 33 men, including Araujo and the club’s owner, on charges of indecent outrage, noise pollution and criminal association.“I still don’t understand,” said Guillermo Luis, Avalon’s 34-year-old owner. “We had all the paperwork and they still arrested us. Not even brothels in Venezuela face actions like this.”
The men were outed and ridiculed, the club was closed for weeks and Venezuela’s LGBTQ+ community fears a new government drive to criminalize homosexuality. The authoritarian socialist state is one of the few countries in South American that does not recognize same-sex marriage.
In the first quarter of the year, the Venezuelan Observatory on LGBTIQ+ Violence recorded at least 60 attacks against the gay community. Thirty percent, the observatory says, were committed by a state agency. [The Observatory's coordinator Velásquez] noted that the raid was the fifth against a gay establishment in the past two years, but the first time such a large group was arrested.
Officers sent the men’s pictures, names and ID numbers to reporters, who posted them on Twitter.
Most of the men were held for three days before they were released. Attorney General Tarek William Saab, amid protests, eventually announced that charges against them would be dropped. But Luis and two of his employees were held for a week; their charges remain pending.
Velásquez says the government is trying to strengthen ties with increasingly powerful and wealthy evangelical Christian groups.
“We see with concern how the government has strengthened the alliance with religious groups that use anti-rights language,” Velásquez said. “These groups have funds and institutional support.”
