Latin America continues to be a continent enduring profound suffering. 

Alongside some background articles about current affairs in parts of the continent, IPC’s Latin America Director – Yanira Gonzalez – has drawn together some prayer points to focus our hearts and minds on the needs of the people of Latin America.

The effects of the pandemic after a year on the continent have been devastating: deaths, unemployment, increased poverty, depression, domestic violence. Pray that the church will be a prophetic voice in this crisis announcing hope, grace and forgiveness. Latin America needs to hear God’s voice.

During the course of 2021, nine Latin American countries will hold elections, with five—Chile, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Peru—selecting presidents.  In particular, the Chilean and Peruvian elections will be taking place during the coming weeks.

The Chilean elections have already demonstrated the turmoil that 18 months of the pandemic have brought to many nations as Chile's centre-right ruling coalition failed to secure a critical one-third of seats in the body that will draft the country's new constitution.

With 90% of the votes counted, candidates backed by President Sebastian Pinera's centre-right Chile Vamos coalition had won only a fifth while independents picked up the most votes. New proposals will require two-thirds approval and without a third of the delegates, the government will struggle to block radical changes to the constitution unless it can forge new alliances.

At the time of writing this article, the result of Peru’s election remains unclear.  Peru’s left wing candidate Pedro Castillo, a relative newcomer to the political scene, has claimed victory in the after clinging on to a narrow lead as the lengthy vote count ended, although his right-wing rival has pledged to fight the result and has yet to concede.

Castillo ended the count 44,058 votes ahead of Keiko Fujimori, who has made allegations of fraud with little proof and has tried to get some votes annulled.

The result of the ballot held on 6 June has not been formally announced by electoral authorities, but Castillo hailed the win on Twitter.

As tensions increase, United Nations Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet expressed her concern.

"Electoral institutions and the decisions they make must be respected and accepted," she tweeted.  "If the rules of democracy are not accepted before, during and after the elections, it can create dangerous cracks in social cohesion."

Please pray for deeply divided Peru.

Pray: for Colombia’s ongoing protests against increased taxes, corruption, inequality, lack of opportunity and health care reform, proposed by the government of President Ivan Duque Marquez to stop.  The protests have claimed dozens of lives since the end of April, 2021 in Bogota and other main cities. Pray that God will touch the heart of government and demonstrators with peace.

Pray: for a continental movement of repentance from the shedding of innocent blood supported for many abortion laws approved by governments in Latin America. Pray for mercy! (Psalm 106:38 And shed innocent blood, even blood of their sons and of their daughters,/; and polluted the land with blood. Proverbs 6:16, 17... These six things the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood.)

Please pray for a practical solution for the USA – Mexico Southern Border Crisis.

Pray: for the welfare of 21,000+ children incarcerated in US-run shelters awaiting immigration clearance, and for their families facing stressful processes and uncertainties.

Pray: for protection and rescue of trafficked children whose freedom and innocence have been betrayed (Matthew 18:10)

“Unauthorized immigrants are now running head over heels toward the Border Patrol in a most unlikely pattern of controlled anarchy.”  The San Diego Union Tribune May 7, 2021)

In Venezuela, a meeting of the National spiritist council, sorcerers, federation of ancestral religions, shamans, yatiris and governmental leaders of the continent is being summoned for a strategic proclamation of the Bolivarian* movement in Latin America. They want to establish not only a more leftist agenda, but spiritism as an endorsement of popular socialism to activate a revolution in our nations. We invite you to pray against all witchcraft and invocation of ancestral spirits that want to take over Latin America.

*Bolivarianism is a mix of pan-hispanic, socialist and national-patriotic ideals fixed against injustices of imperialism, inequality and corruption named after Simón Bolívar, the 19th-century Venezuelan general and liberator from the Spanish monarchy then in abeyance, who led the struggle for independence throughout much of South America. 

The Bolivarian Revolution is a political process in Venezuela that was led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the founder of the Fifth Republic Movement and later the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).  According to Chávez and other supporters, the Bolivarian Revolution seeks to build an inter-American coalition to implement Bolivarianism, nationalism and a state-led economy.  (Attribution: Wikipedia)

Please pray for the spirits of darkness, ideological, political and occult, to be bound along with their human actors who want to destabilize and destroy Latin America and all freedom-loving nations.

Pray: that God would raise up leaders with integrity, godly inspired to bring transformation to their nations.

More / Sources: AS / COA, Reuters, The Guardian