Preaching mixing criticism of the state, heavenly forces and economic freedom is not new to the Argentine leader
DOUGLAS GAVRAS
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Folhapress) – For a stage with black background and pulpit, positions himself under the only spotlight and makes, for about 40 minutes, his first speech in the province of Chaco (Northeast Argentine) since he was elected president.
Preaching mixing criticism of the state, heavenly forces and economic freedom is not new to the Argentine leader. However, last weekend, he became the first occupant of Casa Rosada to inaugurate an evangelical temple – the Del Cielo portal in resistance, which is now the largest evangelical church in Argentina, a sign of how the religious group has been growing in the country.
The event marked the opening of Portal Del Cielo, with a capacity of 15,000 people (the same as one of Buenos Aires’s most important shows, Movistar Arena) and VIP entrances of up to 100,000 Argentine pesos (R $ 440 at the official price).
In his speech in the Temple of Chaco, Milei said that “the state is the representation of the evil one on earth,” the same image that before being president he had used to refer to Pope Francis -after being elected, he apologized.
In Chaco, the Ultraliberal said that “every time the state is advancing more poverty, more calamities, misery” and that “social justice is neither more than envy with rhetoric, that is, it is envy disguised as something very thinking, but it is still a capital sin.”
Political forces see evangelicals as a great potential source of votes -in 2008, 9% of Argentines declared themselves evangelicals; In 2019, 15.3% (13% being Pentecostals or neopentecostals), according to the latest national research on religious beliefs and practices in Argentina, coordinated by Conicet (National Council for Scientific and Technical Research).
The regions of Patagonia, south, and the Northeast (where is Chaco Province) have a higher percentage of evangelicals than other points of Argentina.
In other countries in the region, such as Brazil, churches are stronger and have been actively involved in politics, with their members voting in blocks and with articulated representation in Congress. In Argentina, the situation is different, with a large number of smaller churches, closer to local power and who do not actively participate in national policy.
“Having an evangelical bench and politicization like Brazil is not the only possible destination for a country with evangelicals. In addition, evangelical politicization in Brazil – I managed in the country for eight years and I know it well – is neither homogeneous nor continuous in the same direction,” ponders anthropologist Pablo Semán.
According to Conicet researcher, churches in Argentina are much more divided, having difficulty producing homogeneous and vertical politicization (in which the religious leader indicates a vote). “We should not draw a hasty conclusion about Milei’s contact with Chaco’s evangelicals. He tries to reach evangelicals the same way all politicians have tried since the 1990s. Kirchnerism has also broad contacts with these groups.”
Milei’s relationship with faith is fluid -Biographers claim that he used a paranormal to contact his dead dog and that his sister, counselor and secretary general of the presidency, Karina, resorts to the tarot to make decisions. Of Catholic origin, he identifies himself with Judaism values (depending on the audience, in some speeches, he says he is Jewish; in others, who is a Christian who defends the Jews).
However, the president’s speech correlates freedom and prosperity, attribute their arrival in power to the “forces of heaven”, maintain an alignment with the state of Israel and criticize abortion, positions that find echo among part of the country’s evangelical leaders.
How do Argentine evangelicals think
50,3%
opine that abortion should be allowed only in cases of rape and life -threatening
60,9%
state that social programs discourage the demand for employment
50,4%
They say the state should not finance churches
Source: National Survey on religious beliefs and practices in Argentina (2019)
The temple where Milei spoke is led by Pastor Jorge Ledesma of the International Christian Church. He has an approach that mixes faith and miracles, conducts TV shows and has published several books in Spanish. The church was founded by Jorge and his wife, Alicia, in 1994.
Leesma’s son, Cristian, told a radio program that a “miracle” allowed the construction of the temple, arguing that money was stored in Argentine weights into a vault and that, by the force of faith, they appeared converted into dollars.
Federal Prosecutor of Resistance, Patricio Sabadini, began a preliminary investigation for alleged money laundering against the pastor. Consulted would give an opinion on the action, the international Christian church did not respond.
Milei’s participation in the event was not supported by all evangelicals. In a letter, the director of Aciera (Christian covenant of evangelical churches of the Argentine Republic), Norberto Saracco, said that Milei loaned the church’s pulpit to “direct his diatribe plagued by false arguments, malicious distortions, and statements totally contrary to the teachings of the Gospel.”
He adds that, to the discourse of hatred and the disqualification of the opponent that the president lifts as a flag, it is necessary to add the disqualification of the state. “For millions of Argentines, this sounds like the singing of a mermaid. What the president forgets or ignores is that countries with the best standard of living for all, not just for some, are the Scandinavian countries, based on Protestant principles, but – and here is the difference – applied by a very present state.”
“Many of the president’s remarks about the dangers of socialist philosophy are founded, especially when he points out aspects that contradict Judeo-Christian values,” says Walter Ghione, pastor and provincial deputy for Holy Fa. “One of its greatest errors is to say that the state represents evil. This idea contradicts not only biblical history but also Christian theology.”
