SIM SWEDISH INSTITUTE OF MISSION RESEARCH PUBLISHER OF THE SERIES STUDIA MISSIONALIA SVECANA & MISSIO PUBLISHER OF THE PERIODICAL SWEDISH MISSIOLOGICAL THEMES (SMT) This publication is made available online by Swedish Institute of Mission Research at Uppsala University. Uppsala University Library produces hundreds of publications yearly. They are all published online and many books are also in stock. Please, visit the web site at www.ub.uu.se/actashop The Hour of God? People in Guatemala Confronting Political Evangelicalism and Counterinsurgency (1976-1990) Veronica Melander UPPSALA 1999 The our of God? People in Guatemala Confronting Political Evangelicalism and Counterinsurgency (1976-1990) Veronica Melander UPPSALA 1999 Printed edition of doctoral dissertation presented to the Faculty ofTheology, Uppsala University, 1998 ABSTRACT Melander, Veronica 1998: The Hour of God? People in Guatemala Confronting Polit­ ical Evangelicalism and Counterinsurgency (1976-1990). Studia Missionalia Upsali­ ensia LXXI. 328 pp. Uppsala. ISBN 91-85424-54-4. This dissertation is focused on one of many aspects of religion and politics in Guate­ mala in recent history {1976--1990). This period is characterized by unequal wealth distribution, ethnic divisions, civil war, and U.S. influence. It is a contemporary mis­ sion history examining missionary efforts directed from the United States, Guatema­ lan responses, and indigenous initiatives. The problem concerns a movement within Protestant evangelicalism, which in this study is called Political Evangelicalism, and its relationship to the counterinsurgency war which the Guatemalan military waged against guerrillas, political opposition, and the Mayan majority. The problem centers on the following interrelated questions: How did Political Evangelicalism appear in Guatemala and how did it develop? How did agents of Political Evangelicalism act? What kind of discourse was employed to legitimize armed and structural violence? What was the relationship between Political Evangelicalism and counterinsurgency strategy? Political Evangelicalism must be reflected through different actors and aspects of Guatemalan conflicts to be understood. Therefore, Political Evangelicalism is placed in the broader context of the Guatemalan situation and its relation to the United States. This is a chronological study describing the role and development of Political Evangelicalism on three levels: the relationship between the United States and Guate­ mala; Guatemala on the national level; and an in-depth study of the Ixil people. The focal point is on the Guatemalan national leveL A wide array of empirical material is employed, including interviews, unpublished documents, official documents, book­ lets, articles, and so on. Keywords: Guatemala, Ixil, Mission history, Counterinsurgency, Strategic hamlets, Efrafn Rios Montt, Evangelicalism, Political Evangelicalism, Fundamentalism, Do­ minion theology, Church growth Veronica Melander, Department ofTheology, Uppsala University, Box 1604, SE-751 46 Uppsala, Sweden. © Veronica Melander 1998 ISSN 0585-5373 ISBN 91-85424-54-4 Typesetting: Editorial Office, Uppsala University Printed in Sweden by Elanders Gotab, Stockholm 1999 Distributor: Uppsala University Library, Box 510, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden To Allan and Linnea Contents Preface.. 11 CHAPTER 1: Introduction. 15 The Relevance of the Study . 15 The Objective . 17 The Scholarly Discussion on Evangelicalism in Latin America. 19 On the Issue of Fundamentalism . 19 On Protestantism and Social Change in Latin America . 21 Endogenous or Exogenous Causes to Protestant Growth . 24 Methodological Considerations . 27 Points of Departure . 27 The Field Work and the Material... 29 The Outline. 31 CHAPTER 2: Contexts in Historical Perspective . 32 The History of U.S. Counterinsurgency . 32 Introduction . 32 The Beginnings . 33 Counterinsurgency in Latin America... 35 Low Intensity Conflict and Low Intensity Warfare . 40 A Synopsis of Guatemalan History since Independence from Spain. 41 Introduction . 41 From Liberal Modernization to Counterinsurgency State....... 43 Ethnic Division within the Guatemalan Nation-State . 48 Religion and Politics in the Twentieth Century . 50 The Ixil People between Subordination and Resistance . 55 Religion and Politics in lxil during the Spanish Era . 55 The Modernization of Ixil Country: An Internal Colonization within the Guatemalan Nation-State . 62 The Return of Orthodox Christianity . 66 Catholic Action and Liberation Christianity. 69 The First Phase of Protestantism in Ixil . 70 CHAPTER 3: Evangelicals and Politics in Guatemala from Carter to Reagan (1976-1982).. 72 Introduction . 72 From Laugerud Garda to Lucas Garcia........................ 76 In Defense of"Privatelnitiative" . 76 Economic and Social Crises . 77 Political and Revolutionary Crises. 78 Contradictions within the Roman Catholic Church . 81 The "Hawks" Seize the Initiative . 84 From Trilateralism to Containment Militarism..... 84 The Reagan Administration and Guatemala . 86 From Human Rights to "Ethical Realism" . 86 The New Religious Political Right Emerges . 91 Dominion Theology: The Ideological Background . 94 The Constituency for the New Religious Political Right. 96 Containment Militarism and Religious Mobilization . 98 New Mission Initiatives toward Guatemala and Latin America . 99 The Electronic Church and Latin America . 99 The Frontier Mission Movement . 102 The U.S. Center for World Mission ........................ 103 Edinburgh 1980 ....................................... 105 Overseas Crusades and the Discipling of a Whole Nation-State ... 106 Neo-Pentecostalism and Independent Churches in Guatemala ...... 111 The Charismatic Movement . 111 The Christian Fraternity ................................. 113 The V erbo Church and Its Background . 114 Rfos Montt and the Verbo Church . 116 Neo-Pentecostalism and Politics ........................... 119 Beginnings ofPolitical Evangelicalism in Guatemala ............. 121 CHAPTER 4: Counterinsurgency and Conversion in the Ixil Area (1976-1982) ............................................. 127 Introduction ............................................ 127 The Army and the Guerrillas . 128 The Formation of the Guerrilla Movement EGP .............. 128 Early Military Involvement in Ixd.n ........................ 129 The Guerrilla and the Army in the Ixil Region . 131 Counterinsurgency and Religion ............................. 133 Army Support for the Evangelicals ......................... 133 The Repression Against the Catholic Church: 400 Catechists Killed 135 Catholic Charismatics and New Protestant Growth in the Ixil Area .. 138 Neutrality and Conversion . 141 CHAPTER 5: Genocide and Piety: The Two Faces ofRfos Montt (1982-1983) ............................................. 144 Introduction . 144 Rios Montt Comes to Power . 145 Political Changes to Maintain the Status Quo ................ 145 The Details of the Coup d'Etat . 148 The Politics of Rios Montt. 150 Evangelization and Counterinsurgency . 153 The Verbo Church Enters the Public Spotlight ............... 153 The Moral Campaign and the Protestant Centennial Celebration . 155 Overseas Crusades, Church Growth, and Rios Montt . 157 Rios Montt and the United States . 164 Contradictions and Similarities in U.S. and Guatemalan Security Policies . 164 A Political or Military Solution for Central American Conflicts? . 168 The Verbo Church in Guatemala and Its North American Contacts 170 The Verbo Church and the "Spiritual Battle Field" ............ 174 Rios Montt and the Guatemalan Churches . 176 A Military and Pious Strongman . 176 Rios Montt and the Catholic Church. 178 The Struggle for Control of the Evangelical Churches. 180 The Evangelical Churches and Rios Montt . 182 The Ouster ofRios Montt ................................. 185 CHAPTER 6: Counterinsurgency with Catholic and Evangelical Contradictions (1983-1985) ................................. 188 Introduction . 188 Escalation of Low Intensity Warfare in Central America .......... 188 Guatemala between Contadora and the Kissinger Commission . 188 Catholic and Evangelical Support for Reagan in Central America . 193 Mejia Victores and the Guatemalan Churches . 197 The Politics of Mejia Victores . 197 The Roman Catholic Church. 200 Evangelical Churches . 201 In Search of an Evangelical Folk in Guatemala. 203 New Influences from Dominion Theology. 203 Political Evangelicalism and the Elections . 206 The Goal of Overseas Crusades: One-halfEvangelicals in Guatemala by 1990 .................................. 210 CHAPTER 7: Evangelicalism and the Turn of the War in the Ixil Region (1982-1985) ....................................... 214 Introduction . 214 The Army Strategy in the Ixil Region ......................... 215 The Army's Strategy for National Integration of the Ixil People. 215 Military Destruction and Reconstruction. 218 Guns, Beans, and Spiritual Diet ............................. 223 Counterinsurgency and Food Assistance . 223 The Work ofFUNDAPI in the Ixil Region .................. 225 FUNDAPI and the Battle for Salqull . 231 The Evangelicals and the Civil Patrols ....................... 233 The Relation Between Religious and Political Change ............ 235 Everybody Wants to be an "Innocent Indian" ................. 235 Evangelicalism as a Survival Strategy ........................ 238 Evangelicalism and the Return of the Catholic Church .......... 239 The Role of Evangelicalism in the Turn of the War .............. 241 CHAPTER 8: The Hour of the Black Christ: