Evangelicalism has experienced a rapid increase in Latin America the last four decades at the expense of Catholicism, as believers look for a more personal relation with God, a more practical religious life and detaching from the institutionality the Catholic Church represents. Due to the nature of Evangelicalism, believers started to get involved into the political life of their countries. The author analyses the use of discursive elements of Evangelicalism by conservative parties in Guatemala and Brazil to gain political power. Such phenomenon is reciprocal as Evangelical leaders take advantage of the exposure and reach they will get once conservative politicians gain power. The goal of the author is to visibilize the existing alliance between the Evangelical communities and conservative political parties in Latin America and the effects it has on secular democracies. The author gets to the conclusion that Latin American secular democracies that allow the participation of resourceful religious institutions or individuals in the political life risk the continuation of the secular democratic state.
Keywords: Evangelicalism, conservatism, liberalism, fascism, Guatemala, ideology, propaganda, Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil
DOI: 10.22250/2072-8662.2019.3.21-27
About the author
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Joel Ivan Gonzalez Cedillo – Ph.D. Student (International Relations and World Politics), St. Petersburg State University; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |