The current president of the Methodist Pentecostal Church, the main evangelical congregation in Chile with more than two million faithful, Bishop Roberto López Rojas, was an agent for repressive and espionage agencies during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

This was confirmed by the Efe agency through Navy documents to which it had access and in an interview with the bishop, who asserted that he was not involved in "any crime," but said he felt "honored" to have performed the duties assigned to him as a non-commissioned officer of the naval institution.

López, who leads that church with over a century of presence in Chile, was a member of the National Intelligence Center (CNI), the successor to the DINA as Pinochet's secret police. His resume includes advanced training courses in the CNI and the Navy, where he also operated as an agent for the Navy Intelligence Directorate (Dirinta), including courses in "Naval Intelligence," "Operational Intelligence Training," and "Special Warfare." Furthermore, he was an agent of the Navy's Secret Service, with operations in both the internal and external spheres of the institution.

His status as an agent is confirmed in the Navy's "Ordinary Official Letter number 1505/0323/1590 INT," to which Efe had access. The document does not detail what functions the bishop performed in the agencies where he served, but it notes that López also performed tasks for the National Defense General Staff.

In an interview with Efe, Roberto López confirmed his time in all the aforementioned agencies, although when it was pointed out that it was necessary to record some of his answers in addition to taking notes, he refused and set as a condition the presence of a lawyer at a new meeting, which he would convene.

Subsequently, the bishop changed his mind and did not agree to a new interview. Roberto López does not appear to be involved in crimes against humanity and asserts that he is not ashamed of his past. When asked if he does not consider himself morally disqualified from heading an institution that advocates for peace and human rights, after having been in repressive agencies that violated those rights, such as the CNI and the Navy's intelligence services, he stated "no." "On the contrary, with great honor, I feel proud to have fulfilled my duties, as I was never involved in any crime," he replied. In 1985, Judge Carlos Cerda instructed the case "ROL 2-77" against the criminal conspiracy "Comando Conjunto," for the kidnapping and disappearance in 1976 of communist militants Edras Pinto Arroyo and Reinalda Pereira Plaza. According to the file of this proceeding, on December 10, 1985, Judge Cerda ordered the arrest of a person who, from a vehicle, was photographing his entry and that of witness Carlos Paredes into the San Miguel prison, where he had to carry out some proceedings. According to an official letter drafted by the judge and incorporated into the file, the detainee said his name was "Roberto Alejandro López Rojas" and claimed he was there "to visit a friend who had fallen" and who was being held. Judge Cerda then ordered Roberto López to be taken into the prison facility to be interrogated and to have his camera seized. In a judicial statement given that same day, López Rojas admitted to having been sent "to take photos of the people entering the prison." Subsequently, on December 11, 1985, the Navy sent Judge Cerda official letter number 40-87, in which it reported that López was sent to the prison "to provide protection to Navy Lieutenant Daniel Guimpert Corvalán." This episode was also confirmed to Efe by Bishop López, who remained in the Navy between August 1, 1979, and July 15, 2001. Lieutenant Daniel Guimpert was a triple agent for the DINA, Comando Conjunto, and Naval Intelligence, who is currently being prosecuted for several crimes against humanity. Judicial testimonies related to the trials in which he is charged coincide in that he was noted for his extreme cruelty toward prisoners. In 1986, Guimpert appeared on a list of 40 Comando Conjunto agents prosecuted by Judge Carlos Cerda for the kidnapping and disappearance of Edras Pinto and Reinalda Pereira, a list headed by the former member of the military junta and former head of the Air Force (FACh), Gustavo Leigh Guzmán, who died years later. The Comando Conjunto was created in 1975, primarily on the initiative of the FACh, and maintained frequent disputes with the DINA, which was formed in November 1973 by Augusto Pinochet, although its official creation dates to July 14, 1974. It was dissolved on August 13, 1977, and replaced by the CNI. Like the DINA, the Comando Conjunto was composed of all branches of the Armed Forces, as well as the civil and uniformed police, although the Army's participation was less relevant because the integration of Air Force agents took precedence.

Source: La Nación, April 11, 2011

Evangelical Bishop Roberto López and his links to the CNI: "I feel proud to have fulfilled my duties."

According to information published by the Efe Agency, the president of the Methodist Pentecostal Church participated in the National Intelligence Center (CNI) during the regime of dictator Augusto Pinochet.

In addition, he performed duties as an agent of the Navy Intelligence Directorate (Dirinta). The news regarding Bishop Roberto López Rojas's link (pictured celebrating the day of the evangelicals alongside former President Bachelet) to national intelligence services caused a severe shock.

After the leader of the Methodist Pentecostal Church himself admitted "with great honor" to having performed duties within the CNI and Dirinta, reactions were immediate. "I feel proud to have fulfilled my duties, as I was never involved in any crime," the bishop of one of the largest churches in the country, with around two million faithful, assured the Efe Agency.

Indeed, Roberto López has no record of association with any of the crimes committed by the CNI, an organization to which he allegedly belonged starting in 1979. However, he does have a record of participation in advanced training courses within the Navy, where he also served as a secret agent.

López was detained in 1985 by Judge Carlos Cerda in the framework of the "Comando Conjunto" investigation, which looked into the responsibilities behind the deaths of Edras Pinto Arroyo and Reinalda Pereira Plaza.

According to what is stated in the file, Roberto López Rojas was caught photographing witnesses in the case from a vehicle, after which he was interrogated by Cerda, who also seized his camera. A day later, the Navy sent a statement to Judge Carlos Cerda, asserting that López was providing protection to Lieutenant Daniel Guimpert, a DINA agent who is currently being prosecuted for various crimes that occurred during the dictatorship.

"THERE IS NO JUSTICE IN CHILE"

In the opinion of the spokesperson for the Association of Relatives of the Forcibly Disappeared (AFDD), Gabriela Zúñiga, "the seriousness of this case is that he is an evangelical bishop who belongs to a church whose ideological foundation is the common good, human rights, and the well-being of society, and he belonged to a terrorist criminal association, as has been determined by the courts of justice, and he also has the luxury of saying that he does so with great honor." Zúñiga stressed that "he says he was not associated with any crime, but if he belonged to this terrorist criminal association, he is undoubtedly splattered by the most terrible crimes that the history of Chile has experienced. It was not for nothing that he was there, and it is not for nothing that he now directs the Methodist Pentecostal Church, which is one of the largest." For his part, Deputy Hugo Gutiérrez (PC) stated that López "is not up to the level of the church itself, which has undoubtedly made a significant moral and ethical contribution to Chilean society." The parliamentarian explained that "a person who was part of the CNI and who, furthermore, continued to be part of security agencies during the military dictatorship, carries out an activity that is absolutely incompatible with what this church does." On the other hand, Gutiérrez highlighted that "like many people who today pass as honorable citizens of the homeland, we had no information that the person directing one of the most prestigious churches in the nation was a member of the CNI in his time." Finally, the AFDD spokesperson reflected on how common it has become to find former agents of the military dictatorship's intelligence apparatuses in various civilian positions, arguing, "Today it is the Evangelical Church, another day you find them in the Catholic Church, in supermarkets, or teaching classes." Zúñiga added that "ultimately, all of this manages to happen because there is no justice in Chile."

Source: El Ciudadano, April 12, 2011

Case of the CNI pastor: His departure from the Methodist Pentecostal Church is demanded

The Association of Relatives of the Forcibly Disappeared (AFDD) and the president of the Chamber's Human Rights Commission, Deputy Hugo Gutiérrez (PC), called on the Methodist Pentecostal Church, the main Chilean evangelical congregation, to remove former National Intelligence Center (CNI) agent Roberto López Rojas from the presidency of its organization's board of directors. "I believe that this church, with great ethics and morality, will take the necessary measures so that López Rojas leaves the board," said Gutiérrez, pointing out that "the person who was part of the CNI and who, furthermore, continued to be part of security agencies during the military dictatorship, developed an activity that is totally incompatible with what this church develops." The parliamentarian acknowledged the spiritual work of the Methodist Church but warned that having among its ranks someone who "belonged to a criminal organization undoubtedly discredits this church." He stressed that "one of the things that hurts the most is that López Rojas does not repent for having been part of the dictatorship's security agencies, but on the contrary, considers it a great honor. That shows that this person does not have the slightest compassion for his fellow human beings, and even less can he be a bishop or president of this church." The PC deputy, along with leaders of the AFDD, made public a letter to the authorities of the Methodist Pentecostal Church, where they call to "urge the president of the board of directors, Mr. Roberto López Rojas, to submit his resignation from his position." They emphasize in the document that "it causes us great annoyance that there are people who, instead of showing repentance, persevere in vindicating their participation in the dictatorship's repressive groups that extinguished so many human lives." That is why they point out that the presence of López Rojas in the ecclesiastical organization "only serves to muddy the great ethical and moral contribution that this Church makes to Chilean society." The letter stresses that "the values and principles that the church has managed to sow in our country cannot be dirtied by a person who, far from repudiating the actions of the criminal association to which he belonged, shamelessly vindicates his actions and is proud to have been part of it." Summons to the Senate Meanwhile, the president of the Senate's Human Rights Commission, Mariano Ruiz Esquide (DC), announced that the body will analyze the case of Roberto López. "It is very shocking and at the same time very regrettable news, because all churches are important points of reference for human rights as one of the most painful matters we have had," he added. Ruiz Esquide indicated that they will invite representatives of the evangelical churches, groups, and the president of the Human Rights Institute to the legislative body.

Source: La Nación, April 12, 2011

Pastor Roberto López denies having been a CNI agent

The president of the Methodist Pentecostal Church said that he also did not participate in actions that constitute human rights violations. The president of the Methodist Pentecostal Church, Roberto López Rojas, denied today that he belonged to the National Intelligence Center (CNI) while he was an active military officer, as reported by an international media outlet last week. "I was never an agent of the National Intelligence Center, nor did I perform any work in that agency," he said emphatically. "Furthermore, throughout my entire life," he added, "I have never engaged in actions that violate the dignity of the human person, that constitute human rights violations, or that are crimes against humanity." López, who presides over a cult with more than two million followers in Chile, revealed that his father, after the end of democracy in 1973, was arbitrarily detained, which is why he has no affinity with those who defend the crimes committed by intelligence agencies in the past. "Shortly after the coup d'état that ended democracy in Chile in 1973, my father was arbitrarily detained. I was a teenager of only 15 years old then, so I was able to know, early on, the pain of the relatives and victims of human rights violations," he noted. Finally, the pastor considered "a painful and undeserved grievance the imputations that I have received in the course of the last few days." However, Pastor López acknowledged that when he was in the Navy, he joined the ranks of the Navy Intelligence Directorate (DIRINTA). "That assignment was not a voluntary option, nor one in which I could have had the slightest right to consider different alternatives," he maintained.

Source: Emol.cl, April 15, 2011

Evangelical bishop denies having belonged to the CNI

Bishop Roberto López Rojas (center) is the president of the Methodist Pentecostal Church, the largest evangelical entity in Chile, with two million faithful. Evangelical Bishop Roberto López Rojas, president of the Methodist Pentecostal Church of Chile, flatly denied this Friday having belonged to the National Intelligence Center (CNI), the repressive agency of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship in the 80s and 90s.

López Rojas, accompanied by the highest authorities of his church, read a statement in which he pointed out that "I was never a CNI agent and I did not perform any work in that agency." He added that he never committed human rights violations.

The bishop explained that in 1977 he entered the Navy as a conscript and that in 1979 he began his career as a 2nd class sailor. He added that the command assigned him to the Navy Intelligence Directorate (Dirinta), where he served between 1979 and 1987 and then between 1990 and 1992.

He also clarified that he never said he felt proud to have belonged to the CNI, as reported by an Efe agency cable. "What I stated and now reiterate is that I feel proud to have belonged to the Navy in such a complex period of national history," he indicated.

Regarding the ordinary official letter cited by the Efe agency to identify him as a former CNI agent, Bishop López affirmed that it was an assignment for a month and a half to a course taught by the CNI intelligence school. "Thousands of personnel from the three branches of the Armed Forces were assigned to this school without them leaving their regular duties because of it," he added.

He also acknowledged that Minister Carlos Cerda ordered his arrest in 1985, when he was caught taking photographs outside the San Miguel prison, where a former Navy lieutenant was being held. However, the minister did not initiate judicial actions against him. "It was the only time the High Command ordered me to perform a task of that type," said the bishop.

Finally, López Rojas showed himself willing to collaborate with the Human Rights commissions of Congress, the Human Rights Program of the Ministry of the Interior, and with the Association of Relatives of the Forcibly Disappeared, "whose pain I share," the bishop concluded.

Source: La Nación, April 16, 2011

Methodist Pentecostal Church leaders ask for López's departure

Representatives of the Evangelical Church asked this Saturday for the resignation of the bishop president of that entity, Roberto López Rojas, who has been linked to the National Intelligence Center (CNI), the secret police of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship.

Through Navy documents to which Efe had access and in an interview with Bishop López Rojas, he asserted last Monday that he was not involved in "any crime," but said he felt "honored" to have performed the duties assigned to him as a non-commissioned officer of the naval institution, although on Friday he claimed not to have belonged to the security agency.

Three members of the 11 directors of the Methodist Pentecostal Church of Chile, with more than two million faithful, and two pastors who said they represented 60 of them, asked this Saturday for the resignation of López Rojas. "We believe that Bishop Roberto López must make his position available to elect a new president," said board members Eduardo Durán Castro, Ricardo Fierro Carrasco, and Daniel Balladares, and pastors Tito Maturana Bravo and Ricardo Fierro Sauterel in a public statement.

Damage to the Church "We will not allow the actions of one of our directors to damage the beautiful work on behalf of our neighbor and our nation," they added. In the resume of López, who leads that church with over a century of presence in Chile, there are advanced training courses in the CNI and the Navy, where he also operated as an agent of the Navy Intelligence Directorate (Dirinta), including "Naval Intelligence," "Operational Intelligence Training," and "Special Warfare." In addition, he was an agent of the Navy's Secret Service, with operations in both the internal and external spheres of the institution. His status as an agent is confirmed in the Navy's "Ordinary Official Letter number 1505/0323/1590 INT," to which Efe had access. The document does not detail what functions the bishop performed in the agencies where he served, but it notes that López also performed tasks for the National Defense General Staff. "As a church, we ask for forgiveness from the relatives of the victims of human rights violations and from the brothers of our country, for the situation generated by the statements of Bishop Roberto López, which has caused damage and confusion," maintained the directors of the Evangelical Church who are asking for López's resignation. Human Rights Program Meanwhile, the Human Rights Program of the Ministry of the Interior will investigate the participation of López Rojas in repressive and espionage agencies during the Pinochet dictatorship. This was made known to journalists by the program's executive secretary, Rossy Lama, who specified that "the Human Rights Program is going to investigate all the background information related to Bishop Roberto López." In the middle of the week, Communist Party (PC) Deputy Hugo Gutiérrez and the board of the Association of Relatives of the Forcibly Disappeared (AFDD) delivered a letter to the board of directors of the Methodist Pentecostal Church to demand the bishop's dismissal.

Source: La Nación, April 16, 2011

President of Chilean evangelical church was a CNI agent

The current president of the Methodist Pentecostal Church (the main evangelical congregation in Chile, with more than two million faithful), Roberto López Rojas, was an agent of the National Intelligence Center (CNI), the successor to the DINA as Pinochet's secret police.

This was confirmed by the Efe Agency through Navy documents to which it had access, and in an interview it conducted with the bishop himself, who asserted that he was not involved in "any crime" and felt "honored" to have performed the duties assigned to him as a non-commissioned officer of the naval institution.

López's resume includes advanced training courses in the CNI and the Navy (where he also operated as an agent of the Navy Intelligence Directorate, Dirinta), including "Naval Intelligence," "Operational Intelligence Training," and "Special Warfare." In addition, he was an agent of the Navy's Secret Service, with operations in both the internal and external spheres of the institution.

His status as an agent is confirmed in the Navy's "Ordinary Official Letter number 1505/0323/1590 INT," to which EFE had access. The document does not detail what functions the bishop performed in the agencies where he served, but it notes that López also performed tasks for the National Defense General Staff.

The religious leader does not appear to be involved in crimes against humanity. (Photo: UPI) The defense In an interview with Efe, Roberto López confirmed his time in all the aforementioned agencies, although when it was pointed out that it was necessary to record some of his answers in addition to taking notes, he refused and set as a condition the presence of a lawyer at a new meeting, which he would convene.

He subsequently changed his mind and did not agree to a new interview. Roberto López does not appear to be involved in crimes against humanity and asserts that he is not ashamed of his past. When asked if he does not consider himself morally disqualified from heading an institution that advocates for peace and human rights, after having been in repressive agencies that violated those rights, such as the CNI and the Navy's intelligence services, he stated "no." "On the contrary, with great honor, I feel proud to have fulfilled my duties, as I was never involved in any crime," he replied.

Judicial background In 1985, Judge Carlos Cerda instructed the case "ROL 2-77" against the criminal conspiracy "Comando Conjunto" for the kidnapping and disappearance in 1976 of communist militants Edras Pinto Arroyo and Reinalda Pereira Plaza.

According to the file of this proceeding, on December 10, 1985, Judge Cerda ordered the arrest of a person who, from a vehicle, was photographing his entry and that of witness Carlos Paredes into the San Miguel Prison in Santiago, where he had to carry out some proceedings.

According to an official letter drafted by the judge and incorporated into the file, the detainee said his name was "Roberto Alejandro López Rojas" and claimed he was there "to visit a friend who had fallen" and who was being held.

Judge Cerda then ordered Roberto López to be taken into the prison facility to be interrogated and to have his camera seized. In a judicial statement given that same day, López Rojas admitted to having been sent "to take photos of the people entering the prison." Subsequently, on December 11, 1985, the Navy sent Judge Cerda official letter number 40-87, in which it reported that López was sent to the prison "to provide protection to Navy Lieutenant Daniel Guimpert Corvalán," a triple agent for the DINA, Comando Conjunto, and Naval Intelligence, who is currently being prosecuted for several crimes against humanity, and whom judicial testimonies highlight for his extreme cruelty toward prisoners. In 1986, Guimpert appeared on a list of 40 Comando Conjunto agents prosecuted by Judge Carlos Cerda for the kidnapping and disappearance of Edras Pinto and Reinalda Pereira, a list headed by the former member of the Military Junta and former head of the Air Force, Gustavo Leigh. This episode was also confirmed to Efe by Bishop López, who remained in the Navy between August 1, 1979, and July 15, 2001.

Source: Cooperativa.cl, April 11, 2011

Regarding the accusation against Pastor Roberto López of being a CNI agent

The current president of the Methodist Pentecostal Church (the main evangelical congregation in Chile, with more than two million faithful), Roberto López Rojas, was an agent of the National Intelligence Center (CNI), the successor to the DINA as Pinochet’s secret police.

This was confirmed by the Efe Agency through Navy documents to which it had access, and in an interview conducted with the bishop himself, who claimed not to be involved in “any crime” and to feel “honored” to have performed the duties assigned to him as a non-commissioned officer of the naval institution.

López’s curriculum vitae includes advanced training courses in the CNI and the Navy (where he also operated as an agent of the Navy Intelligence Directorate, Dirinta), including “Naval Intelligence,” “Operational Intelligence Training,” and “Special Warfare.”

Furthermore, he was an agent of the Navy Secret Service, with operations in both the internal and external spheres of the institution.

His status as an agent appears confirmed in the Navy’s “Ordinary Official Letter number 1505/0323/1590 INT,” to which EFE had access.

The document does not detail what functions the bishop performed in the organizations where he served, but it notes that López also carried out tasks in the National Defense General Staff.

The religious leader does not appear to be involved in crimes against humanity. (Photo: UPI)

The Defense

In an interview with Efe, Roberto López confirmed his time in all the aforementioned organizations, although when it was pointed out that some of his responses needed to be recorded, in addition to taking notes, he refused and set the presence of a lawyer as a condition for a new meeting, which he would convene. He later changed his mind and did not agree to a new interview.

Roberto López does not appear to be involved in crimes against humanity and asserts that he is not ashamed of his past. Asked if he does not consider himself morally impeded from heading an institution that advocates for peace and human rights, after having been in repressive organizations that violated those rights, such as the CNI and the Navy’s intelligence services, he expressed that he did not.

“On the contrary, with great honor, I feel proud to have performed my duties, since I was never involved in any crime,” he replied.

Judicial Background

In 1985, Judge Carlos Cerda instructed the case “ROL 2-77” against the criminal conspiracy known as the “Joint Command” for the kidnapping and disappearance, in 1976, of communist militants Edras Pinto Arroyo and Reinalda Pereira Plaza.

According to the file of this proceeding, on December 10, 1985, Judge Cerda ordered the arrest of a person who, from a vehicle, was photographing his entry and that of witness Carlos Paredes into the San Miguel Prison, in Santiago, where he was to carry out some proceedings.

According to an official letter drafted by the judge and incorporated into the file, the detainee said his name was “Roberto Alejandro López Rojas” and claimed he was there “to visit a friend who had fallen” and who was being held.

Judge Cerda then ordered Roberto López to be taken into the prison facility to interrogate him and seize his camera. In a judicial statement given that same day, López Rojas acknowledged having been sent “to take photos of the people entering the prison.”

Subsequently, on December 11, 1985, the Navy sent Judge Cerda official letter number 40-87, in which it reported that López was sent to the prison “to provide protection to Navy Lieutenant Daniel Guimpert Corvalán,” a triple agent for the DINA, the Joint Command, and Naval Intelligence, who is currently being prosecuted for several crimes against humanity, and whom judicial testimonies highlight for his extreme cruelty toward prisoners.

In 1986, Guimpert appeared on a list of 40 Joint Command agents prosecuted by Judge Carlos Cerda for the kidnapping and disappearance of Edras Pinto and Reinalda Pereira, a list headed by former Military Junta member and former Air Force chief Gustavo Leigh.

This episode was also confirmed to Efe by Bishop López, who remained in the Navy between August 1, 1979, and July 15, 2001.

This information was also reproduced by La Tercera, El Mercurio, and La Nación.

This was the response from former Bishop López:

OPEN LETTER TO MY BROTHERS AND THE PEOPLE OF CHILE

1. I was never an agent of the National Intelligence Center (CNI), nor did I perform any work in that organization. Furthermore, throughout my entire life, I have never engaged in actions that violate the dignity of the human person, that constitute human rights violations, or that are crimes against humanity.

Shortly after the coup d’état that ended democracy in Chile in 1973, my father was arbitrarily detained. I was a teenager of only 15 years old at the time, so I was able to learn, early on, of the pain of the families and victims of human rights violations.

With the passage of time, I received from the Lord the understanding that respect for human dignity stems from the imperative to love one’s neighbor (Matthew 22:35–40) and to recognize God in our neighbor (Matthew 25:31–46).

For this reason, I consider the imputations I have received over the course of the last few days to be a painful and undeserved grievance.

2. The Lord Jesus Christ stated: “I have spoken openly to the world (…) and I have said nothing in secret” (John 18:20). I have nothing to hide, and there is no significant fact in my life that I have not made known to my brothers in the Methodist Pentecostal Evangelical Church.

For that reason, the information that has now been installed in the social media came from us (1 John 2:19) some time ago and allowed it to be disclosed in the magazine “El Periodista” in its edition No. 85 of Friday, July 8, 2005.

That information has now been resurfaced, with higher levels of repercussion. For the same reason, after imploring the Lord for wisdom (James 1:5), I have decided to make all the necessary background information available to all of Chilean society.

3. I entered the Navy as a conscript on August 28, 1977, in compliance with the obligations that the Chilean State imposed and imposes on young Chileans. In the exercise of that responsibility, I decided to start a career in the institution.

I did so out of a choice of public service and because I liked the sea. Furthermore, for a young man from a modest family, it was a possible alternative for professional development. That is to say, I had no reasons substantially different from those that have motivated and today motivate thousands of young Chileans to pursue a career in a uniformed institution.

On August 1, 1979, I began as a 2nd-class sailor and took a service course. Shortly after the start of my career, the command assigned me to the Navy Intelligence Directorate (DIRINTA), a technical body of a permanent nature within this institution, which is also a permanent body of the Chilean State.

Certainly, that assignment was not a voluntary choice, nor one regarding which I could have had a minimal right to consider different alternatives. I performed those tasks between 1979 and 1987, and then between 1990 and 1992.

During these periods, I was never assigned tasks related to internal order and security, much less related to the surveillance or persecution of political dissent. I did not carry out any activity that could be considered a violation of human rights.

For those reasons, there is absolutely no judicial proceeding, nor could there ever be one, that involves me directly or indirectly. The very cable from the EFE Agency of April 11 that has caused this controversy points out, almost in passing, that “Roberto López does not appear to be involved in crimes against humanity.”

I have never indicated to this Agency that I feel proud to have belonged to the CNI, because I never belonged to the CNI and I have never participated in any of the reprehensible and illicit actions in which it engaged.

What I stated, and what I now reiterate, is that I feel proud to have belonged to the Navy during a complex period of national history and to have performed my duties with strict adherence to the ethics of the Gospel.

Furthermore, if the commanders had given me an order aimed at committing an illicit act, my career in the Navy would have ended at that very moment, since the argument of “due obedience” will have no meaning before the Throne of God (Revelation 20:11–15).

4. What is the origin of this false imputation that I belonged to the CNI? According to the EFE Agency cable, it would be contained in “Ordinary Official Letter number 1505/0323/1590 INT.” What it does not indicate is that the document speaks of an assignment that lasted for less than a month and a half: between May 2 and June 11, 1984.

The EFE Agency adds: “It does not detail what functions he performed”… In strict terms, what this document alludes to is an assignment to a brief course at the Intelligence School that the organization administered.

Between 1977 and 1989, there were thousands of personnel from the three branches of the Armed Forces who were assigned to receive training at this School, without that implying that they left their regular duties in their institutions, nor that they became “CNI agents.” That is precisely my case. I never abandoned my work in the Navy. I was never part of the National Intelligence Center.

It should be added that I was 25 years old at the time and held the rank of 1st-class Sailor, and the assignment to that training course was not the result of a personal choice either.

An additional detail. The EFE Agency cable also alludes to an episode that occurred on December 10, 1985. Minister Carlos Cerda ordered my arrest while I was taking photographs in front of the San Miguel Prison, where I had to carry out some proceedings.

In this regard, I can specify that I was a 2nd-class corporal at the time, that it was the only occasion that the Navy High Command gave me a task of this type, which consisted of providing protection to a former Navy lieutenant; that—as the same EFE cable points out—I had no problems stating the whole truth to the judge when I was required to; and that Minister Cerda, whom the whole country recognizes for his courage and consistency in ethical and legal terms, did not initiate any judicial action against me.

5. I have stated that I have nothing to hide and, for the same reason, I not only share this Open Letter now with my evangelical sisters and brothers and with the public opinion of the country, but I express my absolute willingness to meet to talk about this matter with all those who so require it, including, of course, the Human Rights Commissions of the Senate and the Lower House, the Human Rights Program of the Ministry of the Interior, and the Association of Relatives of the Forcibly Disappeared, whose pain I share and for whom I implore the Lord Jesus, for mercy, that they may obtain justice, reparation, and peace in their spirits.

I consider it necessary to add that in the Evangelical Church there are no authorities who are considered infallible. Here, no one enjoys impunity and we must all answer to the community of brothers and, when appropriate, to the judicial or administrative authorities of the secular power.

Here, all of us recognize ourselves as sinners who need the Lord for salvation, and each day that passes we ask the Lord for forgiveness for our faults, just as we also forgive those who offend us (Matthew 6:12).

In this sense, although I have a clear conscience, I express that if I have failed in any way in my ethical responsibilities toward my neighbor, even if by omission, I implore their forgiveness and mercy.

Roberto López Rojas Bishop President Methodist Pentecostal Church.

Source: elotrocanuto.wordpress.com,

The substantial real estate contribution of Bachelet and Piñera to evangelical expansion

The delivery of properties benefited evangelical churches from Arica to Punta Arenas. What is surprising is that a good part of it was done during the government of Michelle Bachelet, between 2015 and 2016, while Víctor Osorio was Minister of National Assets.

One of the minister’s advisors was also a pastor of one of the most benefited churches: that of Bishop Eduardo Durán Castro, a historic ally of the right. Another detail that draws attention: it was the Biobío Region that concentrated the real estate contributions and, at the same time, the region where José Antonio Kast registered his best electoral result in the 2017 presidential elections.

Lota was historically a bastion of the left. The commune nestled on the coast of the Biobío Region bears the mark of the combative coal miners who demanded better working conditions throughout the 20th century.

But that is now in the past. In the 2017 presidential election, the ultra-conservative candidate José Antonio Kast obtained his best national result there: 20.25% of the votes. The holy alliance of the hard right with the evangelicals that is already bearing fruit in Central America and Brazil—with the election of Jair Bolsonaro—had its first milestone in Chile in Lota.

Already in 2002, 56.98% of the inhabitants of Lota declared themselves evangelical. That could explain the substantial state contribution that Protestant churches with a presence in that commune have received in recent years.

CIPER delved into the databases of the Ministry of National Assets and found that in just three years (2015-2017) the State gave them 16 fiscal properties. In total, the land amounts to 3,566 square meters.

That religious power is expressed year after year during the celebration of the Day of the Evangelical and Protestant Churches. On October 27, 2017, it was commemorated in Lota with a massive martial parade.

The parallel between the growth of the evangelical population in Lota and the voting for a candidate like José Antonio Kast is not a communal oddity. Throughout the Biobío Region, evangelicals have leaned politically toward the right.

From there come two of the members of the evangelical bench in Congress: Leonidas Romero (the same deputy who just rudely questioned the commander-in-chief of the Army in the Chamber) and Francesca Muñoz, both from National Renewal.

Two other communes in Biobío where the Ministry of National Assets has delivered properties to evangelical churches are Curanilahue (seven properties) and Los Álamos (five). As in Lota, all were ceded between 2015 and 2017.

The political correlation was the same. In the 2017 presidential elections, José Antonio Kast obtained 16.22% of the votes in Curanilahue and 14.37% in Los Álamos. Surprising results if we consider that at the national level, Kast reached 7.93%.

That phenomenon is repeated in Mariquina, where the Treasury has delivered nine properties to evangelical churches also between 2015 and 2017. There, José Antonio Kast exceeded his national percentage: 9.26% of the votes.

Although the State’s real estate contribution to evangelicals in Biobío draws attention, it is not a regional policy. CIPER systematized the resolutions and decrees of National Assets between 2010 and 2018. The search shows that, in that period, 152 documents were signed that officialize the delivery of properties from Arica to Punta Arenas.

In first place on the list of churches most benefited by state contribution appears the First Methodist Pentecostal Church, led by Bishop Eduardo Durán Castro, who is being investigated for money laundering (see CIPER report).

That church is also joined by his son, Deputy Eduardo Durán Salinas (RN). Only between 2014 and 2018 has it received eight fiscal properties on loan. A pastor of Durán’s church was an advisor to the Minister of National Assets while that department was benefiting it with the delivery of state real estate.

VÍCTOR OSORIO’S ALLIANCE WITH DURÁN CASTRO

When organizing the information on the fiscal properties delivered to evangelicals, the increase during the last government of Michelle Bachelet is notorious, especially during the administration of Víctor Osorio as Minister of National Assets.

Osorio was a leader of the Citizen Left (IC), a small party (formerly Christian Left) that was part of the coalition that supported Bachelet’s second government and was in charge of that ministry between March 2014 and October 2016.

A key advisor to Minister Osorio in that portfolio was Darío Salas Verdejo, who was also the secretary general and treasurer of the Citizen Left (IC). During his time at the Ministry of National Assets, Salas Verdejo set up an evangelical roundtable to centralize requests for fiscal land from pastors. He also coordinated Minister Osorio’s cabinet and his salary was $3.8 million.

In parallel to that key position for the interests of evangelicals, Salas Verdejo was appointed pastor of the First Methodist Pentecostal Church. In Angol, the delivery of the eight properties received by the church led by Bishop Eduardo Durán Castro began. On July 10, 2014, a property of 978 square meters with a fiscal appraisal of $414 million was given to it on loan for five years.

Then they received fiscal land and buildings in Coltauco, Yungay, San Carlos, San Fernando, La Serena, and Panguipulli (see details of properties delivered to Durán’s church). To those fiscal properties delivered to the First Methodist Pentecostal Church, one must add a warehouse in Santiago transferred on loan to a corporation controlled by Durán Castro.

The loan of a piece of land delivered in Panguipulli was revoked. On May 3, 2018, the new Minister of National Assets, Felipe Ward, terminated the concession after it was discovered that an electronic games parlor was operating there (see decree). The Ministry of National Assets informed CIPER that two other concessions were annulled for being used for purposes other than those of the churches.

While Darío Salas served as pastor of Durán’s church, he managed the requests of that same church before Minister Osorio. The conflict of interest was evident. What is not fully understood within the evangelical world is what a leftist militant is doing as a pastor of Durán’s church, one of the most conservative leaders and close to the right among evangelical leaders.

Former leaders of the IC (a party that disappeared after the electoral disaster of the 2017 parliamentary elections) assured CIPER that Salas Verdejo tried to bring the evangelical world closer to the left.

He even promised to contribute with signatures from the faithful that would help legalize the party. And they note that that help never materialized. What did reach port was the delivery of properties and the presence of Minister Osorio at ceremonies led by Bishop Durán Castro.

On May 7, 2014, Minister Osorio arrived at a warehouse on Maquinista Escobar street in Estación Central. There he met with Bishop Durán Castro and announced the delivery of that 1,440-square-meter warehouse to the First Methodist Pentecostal Church, so that it could manage a training workshop for former prisoners.

Consulted about it, the Ministry of National Assets clarified to CIPER that the property was delivered in a free-use concession for five years in favor of the Evangelical Corporation for Development (whose legal representative has been Bishop Eduardo Durán). “The term expires on December 6, 2018, and to date, no request has been received for it to be extended,” the ministry reported.

Front of the warehouse delivered in concession by National Assets to a corporation of Bishop Durán.

On that occasion, Bishop Durán had only words of good breeding for the then-minister: “We deeply thank President Michelle Bachelet and Minister Víctor Osorio for having made this space available, which will allow us to advance very significantly in the growth of the work we carry out in the prisons.”

On September 3, 2014, they met again: they attended the former Penitentiary where Osorio highlighted the work of the evangelical church in the social reintegration of inmates. On March 12, 2015, they met once again when they gave the go-ahead for the construction of the training workshop that the First Methodist Pentecostal Church would manage in Estación Central.

Just before Osorio was removed from the Ministry of National Assets (October 2016), Bishop Durán Castro came to his defense: “As an Evangelical Church, we feel very grateful for the work that the Ministry of National Assets has carried out, especially with the work of Minister Osorio, which has always been very close and welcoming, always trying to find the necessary agreements to resolve our concerns, respecting all churches and valuing the work they do.

This work has focused mainly on the regularization of properties and the provision of land for the different evangelical entities and denominations, where there are temples and facilities that are used in social-type work.”

Former Minister Víctor Osorio together with Bishop Eduardo Durán in the warehouse delivered to the First Methodist Pentecostal Church.

Already with Osorio out of National Assets, Bishop Durán Castro unleashed heavy artillery against the Bachelet government. During the ecumenical Te Deum of September 2017, then-President Bachelet was booed by the attendees. It was a strategic communication move with an eye toward the parliamentary and presidential elections.

In an unprecedented event, the bishop’s son and then-candidate for deputy (Eduardo Durán Salinas) occupied the pulpit without being a pastor or bishop, and skipping the programming agreed upon with the event organizers, he launched himself against the value-based agenda promoted by the government. “Enough of those servants who visit our temples and who then promote laws that go against everything we profess,” he accused, referring to the abortion projects in three grounds and equal marriage (see the report “The struggles and negotiations to install evangelical political power in Chile”).

In contrast to the jeers that Bachelet received, then-presidential candidate Sebastián Piñera was given a standing ovation. “The church in general, Catholics and evangelicals, are going to support those people who are for life and who say so courageously.

If someone goes against our principles, we cannot vote for them. So this support arose spontaneously,” Bishop Durán Castro assured the press regarding the applause received by Piñera.

It was not a surprise. Already in 2009, Durán Castro had supported Piñera’s candidacy. That support bore fruit: in that first mandate, his son (current deputy) served as governor of the Ñuble province.

THE EVANGELICALS OF THE RANKING

The evangelical church that leads the ranking of properties transferred by the Ministry of National Assets (along with that of Eduardo Durán) is the Methodist Pentecostal Church of Chile, led by Bishop Bernardo Cartes. Eight fiscal properties were delivered to it between 2011 and 2018.

The first was received on August 30, 2011: 284 square meters in Arica. Then, in 2013, it received another piece of land in Alto Hospicio, followed by properties in the communes of Pica, Collipulli, Guaitecas, Coyhaique, Mariquina, and Puerto Montt.

In third place for state contributions is the United Methodist Pentecostal Church, of Bishop Juan Ormeño Lagos. Between 2011 and 2016, it has received six state properties in the communes of San Carlos, Pozo Almonte, Til Til, Copiapó, Juan Fernández, and Diego de Almagro.

The ranking continues with the Mission of the Church of the Lord (five properties); Evangelical Pentecostal Church (five); Wesleyan Evangelical Mission (four); New Covenant Missionary Evangelical Church (three); Pentecostal Church of Chile (three); and the Christian Apostolic Evangelical Corporation (three).

It is striking that the fiscal land delivered in the communes of Lota and Curanilahue was concentrated between 2015 and 2017. Several resolutions were even signed on the same day. For example, on December 10, 2015, four properties were delivered in Lota.

On July 29 of the same year, two pieces of land were delivered, and the same occurred on October 1 and November 23 (see detail of fiscal properties delivered to evangelical churches in Lota).

Although most of the real estate was delivered under the modality of short-term free-use concessions (which can have a duration of 3, 5, or 10 years), there are cases in which National Assets transferred fiscal assets to evangelical churches in perpetuity.

With that formula, the Intercommunal Association of Pastors of Chile (Agripach) received on July 25, 2016, a property on Fray Camilo Henríquez street (Santiago) with a fiscal appraisal of $148 million.

The same happened with the Evangelical Pentecostal Church, which on January 13, 2011, obtained for free and forever a property appraised at $4.7 million in Tierra Amarilla. The National Evangelical Church of Christ also received another property in Hualaihué in 2013 in perpetuity; as did the Missionary Association of Pentecostal Churches, which in 2015 benefited from a property in Porvenir.

That same year, the Church of the Lord obtained a 322-square-meter property in perpetuity in Mariquina.

The Treasury has also delivered long-term free-use concessions. This was the case with the 979-square-meter building on Dieciocho street (Santiago Centro), where the Council of Pastoral Units (Cuprem) operates, an entity led by Emiliano Soto, the evangelical leader historically close to center-left governments. On February 4, 2016, that property was delivered to them for 30 years.

EXPLOSIVE ASSET GROWTH

The Chilean Protestant world is divided into more than 3,500 legalized denominations: Pentecostal, Lutheran, Anglican, Baptist churches, among others. In this world, the Pentecostal sector is the majority, but the truth is that among the almost 3.5 million faithful who declare themselves evangelical in our country, there is not a single position and much less a single spokesperson.

The so-called Evangelical Cathedral, where the Te Deum of this religious sector is held every year, has been erected as the nerve center of evangelical influence in Chile. But that public profile does not make it the most massive.

CIPER’s investigation managed to identify other large evangelical churches that extend throughout the national territory and that accumulate real estate capital—which does not only come from state donations—far superior to that of the church led by Durán Castro.

The first on that list is the Evangelical Pentecostal Church, present throughout Chile and which has 863 properties, whose fiscal appraisal exceeds $32.2 billion. Its maximum authority is superintendent Daniel Sepúlveda González.

It is followed by the Methodist Pentecostal Church of Chile, an entity that registers 354 properties appraised by the Treasury at more than $6.64 billion. With a presence in all regions of the country, its leader is Bishop Bernardo Cartes Venegas.

In third place is the United Methodist Pentecostal Church, with 302 properties appraised at more than $8.15 billion. It is led by Bishop Juan Ormeño Lagos. In fourth place is the Pentecostal Church of Chile, with 102 properties appraised at just over $1.6 billion. Its maximum authority is General Bishop Ulises Muñoz Moraga.

The Evangelical Pentecostal Church is the religious entity that registers the most properties registered in the 1981-2018 period. The peak was in 2003, the year in which they added 95 properties in different regions, followed by 2005, with 35 (SOURCE: Santiago Real Estate Registrar and Fojas, database that compiles information from 31 Real Estate Registrars, with the exception of Santiago and others).

Compared to the previous ones, the church led by Bishop Eduardo Durán (with its different tax IDs) registers only 16 properties, whose fiscal appraisal reaches $390 million. These are not the only real estate assets that this church possesses.

On the Evangelical Cathedral website, controlled by Durán, a list of 77 properties appears that would be scattered in “the communes of the Metropolitan Region.”

PINOCHET AT THE ORIGIN

The origin of the power reached by Eduardo Durán in the evangelical world lies in the closeness that the historic bishop of the Methodist Pentecostal Church of Chile, Javier Vásquez, knew how to weave with Augusto Pinochet.

The peak of that relationship was marked by Vásquez as the manager of the first Te Deum of that church that was installed in the Evangelical Cathedral when the Catholic Church was facing the dictatorship.

After Vásquez’s death in 2003, the struggle for his succession broke out. His inheritance was not only the spiritual leadership of the church, but also the control of substantial capital, fueled by tithes, offerings, and a long list of real estate.

There were four names for only two positions: the presidency of the Methodist Pentecostal Evangelical Church and the local headship of the Jotabeche 40 temple (Evangelical Cathedral).

Protagonists of that battle were Bishop Bernardo Cartes, who remained in the presidency of the church; Eduardo Durán, who inherited the position of governing pastor of the Estación Central temple; Roberto López, who assumed as Cartes’s second-in-command; and Jorge Vásquez, the son of the deceased pastor, who aspired to be the administrator of the Cathedral.

As private secretary to the historic bishop Javier Vásquez, Durán knew that he had created in 2001 a public law corporation parallel to the private law corporation that already existed. He also knew that Cartes had remained president only of the public corporation and that most of the assets were in the name of the private entity.

The most vociferous leaders of the Evangelical Church have turned to right-wing positions in recent years.

The dispute for power left by Vásquez’s succession became rougher. Durán managed to get Pastor Roberto López to take over the presidency of the private corporation, which was headless and which was the owner of most of the assets. That was how López gathered under his command the pastors dissident to Bishop Bernardo Cartes. But Durán’s strategy aimed higher. And he moved his pieces.

In January 2011, Durán registered a new church: Evangelical Cathedral of Chile Jotabeche 40 Methodist Pentecostal, and set its address at the Estación Central temple. In the midst of the fierce dispute for control of the bastion of the evangelical church, information transpired that the circle of the late Pastor Vásquez had known—and very well—for years: Pastor Roberto López had been a CNI agent.

López’s days were numbered.

That was how Eduardo Durán Castro cleared the way and became the master and lord of the First Methodist Pentecostal Church, whose headquarters is the Evangelical Cathedral. But Durán had to assume that he would have to coexist with the other two churches resulting from the struggle: the Methodist Pentecostal Church (public law), headed by Bernardo Cartes, and the Methodist Pentecostal Church (private law), now in charge of Pastor Mario Salfate.

At the end of 2017, with Durán already installed in the Cathedral, evangelical voices burst onto the Chilean political scene seeking to emulate what happened in Brazil, where they already controlled the political administration of Rio de Janeiro.

For the first time, a group of evangelicals ran for the Chamber of Deputies, obtaining three seats: Francesca Muñoz and Leonidas Romero for the Biobío Region; and Eduardo Durán Salinas for District 13 of Santiago.

The election of Jair Bolsonaro as President of Brazil, having as support his alliance with the ultra-conservative evangelical world, has functioned as a latest-generation engine for the political aspirations of that religious sector in Chile.

Deputy Eduardo Durán Salinas is already announcing a next tour to the United States, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, and Brazil to advance in the constitution of a continental political-value alliance that aims to increase political power in several countries.

In parallel to that international offensive by the son of Bishop Durán Castro, the fight for the succession of the power managed by the Evangelical Cathedral and its assets is revving up again. In an electoral period as decisive as the one approaching in Chile, no one wants to be close to a bishop formally charged with money laundering and fraud against the Treasury.

And that investigation that has Durán Castro in its sights is in full development.

Source: ciper.cl, November 13, 2018