www.npr.org Open in urlscan Pro
104.115.82.35  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

Accessibility links
 * Skip to main content
 * Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

NPR 24 Hour Program StreamOn Air Now
 * Hourly News
 * Listen Live
 * Playlist

 * Open Navigation Menu
 * 
 * 
 * Newsletters
 * Sign In
 * NPR Shop
 * Donate

Close Navigation Menu
 * Home
 * News Expand/collapse submenu for News
   * National
   * World
   * Politics
   * Business
   * Health
   * Science
   * Climate
   * Race
 * Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture
   * Books
   * Movies
   * Television
   * Pop Culture
   * Food
   * Art & Design
   * Performing Arts
   * Life Kit
   * Gaming
 * Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music
   * Best Music Of 2023
   * Tiny Desk
   * Hip-Hop 50
   * All Songs Considered
   * Music Features
   * Live Sessions
 * Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows
   Daily
    * Morning Edition
    * Weekend Edition Saturday
    * Weekend Edition Sunday
    * All Things Considered
    * Fresh Air
    * Up First
   
   Featured
    * The NPR Politics Podcast
    * Throughline
    * Trump's Trials
    * Pop Culture Happy Hour
   
    * More Podcasts & Shows

 * Search
 * Newsletters
 * Sign In
 * NPR Shop

 * 
 * Best Music Of 2023
 * Tiny Desk
 * Hip-Hop 50
 * All Songs Considered
 * Music Features
 * Live Sessions

 * About NPR
 * Diversity
 * Organization
 * NPR Network
 * Support
 * Careers
 * Connect
 * Press
 * Ethics

Venezuela leftist President Maduro courts evangelical Christians before election
Evangelical Christians are often courted by right-wing politicians. But in
Venezuela, left-wing President Nicolás Maduro is trying to secure the church's
support in the run-up to elections.


WORLD


VENEZUELA'S LEFTIST LEADER MADURO MAKES A PLAY FOR EVANGELICAL VOTERS

February 7, 20245:00 AM ET

By 

John Otis

Enlarge this image

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro gestures as he speaks on Dec. 3. Pedro
Rances Mattey/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Pedro Rances Mattey/AFP via Getty Images


Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro gestures as he speaks on Dec. 3.

Pedro Rances Mattey/AFP via Getty Images

BARINAS, Venezuela — Evangelical pastor Wenceslao Méndez operates on a
shoestring.

To draw people to his sermons, he pedals around this western Venezuelan city on
a bicycle, speaking through a PA system mounted on the handlebars. He holds
forth from a one-room shack still under construction.

But over the past year, Méndez's church has received a boost from the Venezuelan
government. It provided him with free bags of cement, concrete blocks and cans
of yellow paint to spruce up the building. Also on the way are 60 plastic chairs
to seat the faithful.

"Before, we didn't even have a roof," Méndez says as he shows off his freshly
painted altar.

Sponsor Message



The donations are part of an aggressive campaign by Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela's
authoritarian leader, to secure the support of evangelical Christians ahead of a
crucial presidential election later this year in which he will seek another
six-year term.

Enlarge this image

Venezuelan evangelical pastor Wenceslao Méndez draws people to his sermons from
his bike using a speaker system. John Otis for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
John Otis for NPR


Venezuelan evangelical pastor Wenceslao Méndez draws people to his sermons from
his bike using a speaker system.

John Otis for NPR

A program, called "My Well-Equipped Church," is refurbishing thousands of
evangelical churches across the country. The Maduro government is also providing
small cash stipends to 13,000 pastors and has pledged to build an evangelical
university.


POLITICS


'YOU GOTTA BE TOUGH': WHITE EVANGELICALS REMAIN ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT DONALD TRUMP

Maduro's son, also named Nicolás, was appointed vice president of religious
affairs for the ruling Socialist Party and regularly meets with evangelical
pastors. The regime has allowed evangelical political parties, like El Cambio
("Change"), to operate even as it cracks down on opposition parties. In January
2023, Maduro held a televised summit with evangelical pastors, at which he
declared: "I am also a pastor; the grand pastor of Venezuela."

This outreach to evangelicals, who make up 13% of the population, according to a
2020 survey, may seem odd given the faith's longtime connection to conservative
politicians and social causes. In neighboring Brazil, for example, evangelicals
helped elect right-wing populist Jair Bolsonaro in that country's 2018
presidential election and were a key part of his coalition when he narrowly lost
his 2022 reelection bid.


WORLD


WHY BRAZIL'S BOLSONARO IS COURTING EVANGELICALS IN THE WORLD'S BIGGEST CATHOLIC
NATION


PARALLELS


BRAZIL'S EVANGELICALS A GROWING FORCE IN PRAYER, POLITICS

By contrast, the left-wing Maduro claims to be leading a socialist revolution,
one that has cozied up to communist Cuba. What's more, Maduro's mentor and
predecessor, the late President Hugo Chávez, often clashed with religious
leaders — though he aimed most of his fury at Roman Catholic clerics who
criticized his government's efforts to grab more power.

In a 2007 speech, for example, Chávez called the country's Catholic bishops
"devils" and "vagabonds."

Enlarge this image

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro delivers his annual address at the National
Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Jan. 15. Behind is an image of late President
Hugo Chávez. Ariana Cubillos/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Ariana Cubillos/AP


Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro delivers his annual address at the National
Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Jan. 15. Behind is an image of late President
Hugo Chávez.

Ariana Cubillos/AP

Chávez died of cancer in 2013. Since then, Maduro has rolled back democratic
freedoms in Venezuela and led the country into its worst economic crisis in
history. All this has made him deeply unpopular at a time when Maduro is
pledging to hold a free and fair presidential election later this year.

LATIN AMERICA


TO FOSTER A FREE ELECTION IN VENEZUELA, THE U.S. IS OFFERING THE MADURO REGIME A
DEAL

TO FOSTER A FREE ELECTION IN VENEZUELA, THE U.S. IS OFFERING THE MADURO REGIME A
DEAL

Listen· 4:114-Minute ListenPlaylist
Toggle more options
 * Download
 * Embed
   Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1208869387/1208869388"
   width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded
   audio player">
 * Transcript

Should that happen, it could convince the U.S. government to permanently lift
sanctions against his government that crippled the country's vital oil industry.
The U.S. temporarily lifted most of those sanctions in October, but the Biden
administration has threatened to reimpose them if Maduro fails to hold a clean
election.

Analysts say that in a head-to-head contest against opposition leader María
Corina Machado, who is battling government efforts to keep her off the
presidential ballot, Maduro would be the underdog — which is why he's reaching
out to evangelicals.



After burning its bridges with many Catholics, who make up 71% of the
population, according to the 2020 survey, "the government needs some kind of
religious credibility," said Iraní Acosta, director of Fe y Alegría (Faith and
Joy) radio station in western Venezuela, which is affiliated with the Catholic
Church. "This is a country of believers."

Javier Corrales, a professor at Amherst College in Massachusetts who has studied
the connection between evangelicals and politicians in Latin America, points out
that despite the Maduro government's leftist revolutionary rhetoric, it appeals
to many evangelicals because it is actually quite conservative on social issues.

RELIGION


U.S. CATHOLIC LATINOS DRAWN TO EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY

U.S. CATHOLIC LATINOS DRAWN TO EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY

ListenListenPlaylist
Toggle more options
 * Download
 * Embed
   Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4594743/4594744"
   width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded
   audio player">

Venezuela has one of the region's most restrictive abortion laws while same-sex
marriage remains illegal, even as more nations across Latin America are
legalizing such unions. Citing family values, the Maduro government raided a gay
men's club in July, has launched a war against illegal drug use and has even
outlawed e-cigarettes. Until this year, gays were outlawed from Venezuela's
armed forces.

Enlarge this image

Members of several evangelical churches take part in a demonstration called by
different religious groups "in defense of the traditional family" and against
same-sex marriage in Caracas on July 13, 2023. Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption

toggle caption
Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images


Members of several evangelical churches take part in a demonstration called by
different religious groups "in defense of the traditional family" and against
same-sex marriage in Caracas on July 13, 2023.

Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images

RELIGION


CATHOLIC, PROTESTANT CHURCHES VIE FOR LATIN AMERICA

CATHOLIC, PROTESTANT CHURCHES VIE FOR LATIN AMERICA

ListenListenPlaylist
Toggle more options
 * Download
 * Embed
   Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4600761/4600762"
   width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded
   audio player">

"This is an old fashioned, militaristic, homophobic government," Corrales says.

In addition, evangelicals can be a reliable voting bloc as pastors hold huge
sway in their communities.

"As long as [politicians] are feeding them this type of social conservatism ...
these pastors will get you votes," Corrales says. "They are super organized and
it's very vertical. So, candidates don't have to talk to a lot of people. They
just need to get the pastors on board."

At Maduro's evangelical summit, the pastors were squarely in the president's
camp. Enrique Villalba, who heads one of Venezuela's largest evangelical
churches, told Maduro: "We are praying for you and your family."

So is Méndez, the pastor at the half-built church in Barinas.

He admits that Venezuela has weathered extremely hard times under Maduro, but he
thinks that most of his churchgoers will cast their ballots for him. The fact
that Maduro is still in power, he says, proves that "God is on his side."

 * South American politics
 * Venezuelan politics
 * evangelical christianity
 * Venezuela elections
 * Nicolas Maduro
 * evangelicals
 * Venezuela
 * South America
 * evangelical

 * Facebook
 * Flipboard
 * Email






MORE STORIES FROM NPR

MIDDLE EAST

U.S. DRONE STRIKE KILLS A LEADER OF AN IRAN-BACKED MILITIA IN IRAQ

MIDDLE EAST

ISRAEL REJECTS HAMAS' CEASE-FIRE PLAN AFTER MEETING WITH BLINKEN

ANIMALS

A SEAFOOD FIRM WANTS TO FARM OCTOPUS. ACTIVISTS SAY THEY'RE TOO SMART FOR THAT

WORLD

HAMAS GAVE A 'POSITIVE' RESPONSE TO A GAZA CEASE-FIRE PROPOSAL, QATAR SAYS

ELECTIONS

BIDEN TELLS REPUBLICANS TO 'SHOW SOME SPINE,' BUCK TRUMP, AND BACK BORDER BILL

LATIN AMERICA

PORTRAITS FROM EL SALVADOR'S NEARLY 2-YEAR, SPRAWLING CRACKDOWN ON GANG SUSPECTS


POPULAR ON NPR.ORG

POLITICS

I WENT HUNTING FOR THE 14TH AMENDMENT, THE DOCUMENT THAT COULD BAR TRUMP FROM
BALLOTS

MUSIC

WHEN WILL BLACK ARTISTS BE READY TO BREAK UP WITH THE GRAMMYS?

MEDIA

NPR FOUNDING MOTHER LINDA WERTHEIMER IS RETIRING. READ HER BITTERSWEET GOODBYE
NOTE

HEALTH

MASTURBATION ABSTINENCE IS POPULAR ONLINE. DOCTORS AND THERAPISTS ARE WORRIED

BUSINESS

HONDA RECALLS 750,000 VEHICLES OVER AIR BAG FLAW

HEALTH

A GENETICALLY MODIFIED PURPLE TOMATO IS NOW AVAILABLE TO HOME GARDENERS


NPR EDITORS' PICKS

ELECTIONS

A LOCAL REDISTRICTING BATTLE IN A NEW YORK CITY SUBURB MAY LEAD TO A NATIONAL
FIGHT

SPORTS

GABBY DOUGLAS COMES BACK TO COMPETITIVE GYMNASTICS THIS MONTH, EYEING THE
OLYMPICS

MENTAL HEALTH

4 EXERCISES THAT CAN SNAP YOU OUT OF AN ANXIETY LOOP

MUSIC

TINY DESK PREMIERE: BERHANA

CLIMATE

EPA TIGHTENS RULES ON SOME AIR POLLUTION FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER A DECADE

NEW MUSIC

8 TRACKS: PORTISHEAD'S BETH GIBBONS IS A 'PASSENGER ON NO ORDINARY JOURNEY'



READ & LISTEN

 * Home
 * News
 * Culture
 * Music
 * Podcasts & Shows

CONNECT

 * Newsletters
 * Facebook
 * Instagram
 * Press
 * Public Editor
 * Corrections
 * Contact & Help

ABOUT NPR

 * Overview
 * Diversity
 * NPR Network
 * Accessibility
 * Ethics
 * Finances

GET INVOLVED

 * Support Public Radio
 * Sponsor NPR
 * NPR Careers
 * NPR Shop
 * NPR Events
 * NPR Extra

 * Terms of Use
 * Privacy
 * Your Privacy Choices
 * Text Only
 * © 2024 npr




Sponsor Message

Become an NPR sponsor



By clicking “Accept All Cookies” or continuing, you agree to the use of cookies,
similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about your device to
enhance your viewing, listening and user experience, personalize content,
personalize messages from NPR’s sponsors, provide social media features, and
analyze NPR’s traffic. This information is shared with social media,
sponsorship, analytics, and other vendors or service providers. You may
customize which cookies you accept in "Cookie Settings."
Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies



PRIVACY PREFERENCE CENTER

NPR and our service providers and vendors use cookies and similar technologies
to collect information. A cookie is a string of characters that can be written
to a file on the user's computer or device when the user visits a site,
application, platform or service. When you visit a website or use a mobile
application, a computer asks your computer or mobile device for permission to
store this file on your computer or mobile device and access information from
it. Information gathered through cookies may include the date and time of visits
and how you are using the website. Note that if you disable or delete cookies,
you may lose access to certain features of the NPR Services.
User ID: 1a0b1d89-3ef8-41fe-9070-b10d05d14e84
This User ID will be used as a unique identifier while storing and accessing
your preferences for future.
Timestamp: --
Allow All


MANAGE CONSENT PREFERENCES

STRICTLY NECESSARY OR ESSENTIAL COOKIES

Always Active

These cookies are essential to provide you with services available through the
NPR Services and to enable you to use some of their features. For example, these
cookies allow NPR to remember your registration information while you are logged
in. Local station customization, the NPR Shop, and other interactive features
also use cookies. Without these cookies, the services that you have asked for
cannot be provided, and we only use these cookies to provide you with those
services.

PERFORMANCE AND ANALYTICS COOKIES

Performance and Analytics Cookies

These cookies are used to collect information about traffic to our Services and
how users interact with the NPR Services. The information collected includes the
number of visitors to the NPR Services, the websites that referred visitors to
the NPR Services, the pages that they visited on the NPR Services, what time of
day they visited the NPR Services, whether they have visited the NPR Services
before, and other similar information. We use this information to help operate
the NPR Services more efficiently, to gather broad demographic information and
to monitor the level of activity on the NPR Services.

FUNCTIONAL COOKIES

Functional Cookies

These cookies allow our Services to remember choices you make when you use them,
such as remembering your Member station preferences and remembering your account
details. The purpose of these cookies is to provide you with a more personal
experience and to prevent you from having to re-enter your preferences every
time you visit the NPR Services.

TARGETING AND SPONSOR COOKIES

Targeting and Sponsor Cookies

These cookies track your browsing habits or other information, such as location,
to enable us to show sponsorship credits which are more likely to be of interest
to you. These cookies use information about your browsing history to group you
with other users who have similar interests. Based on that information, and with
our permission, we and our sponsors can place cookies to enable us or our
sponsors to show sponsorship credits and other messages that we think will be
relevant to your interests while you are using third-party services.

Back Button


COOKIE LIST



Search Icon
Filter Icon

Clear
checkbox label label
Apply Cancel
Consent Leg.Interest
checkbox label label
checkbox label label
checkbox label label

Reject All Confirm My Choices