The Evangelical Christian Movement for Venezuela (Mocev) is an organization that describes itself in the South American country as the “union of men and women who believe in God”.
Created in 2017, Mocev has been the right arm of Chavismo within the Venezuelan evangelical community in recent years, especially during electoral periods.
Through on one blog, which belongs to one of its state coordinations, Mocev says it has the participation of several representatives of evangelical Christian churches in Venezuela. In total, around 5 thousand associated pastors are part of the movement, which also claims to have a structure present in all 24 states of the country.
In the controversial 2018 Venezuelan presidential elections, Mocev openly declared its support for the re-election of dictator Nicolás Maduro. The presidential contest that year was marked by accusations of fraud, high abstention on voting day and the boycott of the opposition, persecuted and censored by the Chavista regime.
Mocev, at that time, not only supported Maduro but also endorsed the continuity of the oppressive regime started by the late dictator Hugo Chávez.
The relationship between Mocev and the Maduro regime is not just symbolic. The movement, which also identifies itself as “sociopolitical”, is presided over by the self-styled pastor Moisés García, who is a deputy in the National Assembly, the Venezuelan parliament, for the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), of which the current Chavista dictator is a member.
On social media, García shows himself as a fervent follower of Maduro and Chavismo. Your Instagram profile It is full of photos with the Venezuelan dictator, one of which is even his profile photo, and images from campaigns carried out by the movement.
The alliance between Mocev and the Venezuelan dictatorship is publicly manifested through religious acts by evangelicals, government events and actions by the PSUV. In these places, it is common to see pastors and Mocev followers joining together in “prayer” to ask for “blessings” for the regime and show support for Chavismo.
During election periods, Mocev usually offers Chavismo important local evangelical leaders to hold rallies and campaign events that aim to attract the support of evangelicals, especially the poorest, to whom basic food baskets, supplies and announcements of government programs are offered that many are sometimes not fulfilled.
Earlier this month, to try to reach evangelicals who are not part of the movement, Maduro announced that he was developing a plan to lower church taxes. The dictator also mentioned that he would intensify his plan for renovations and delivery of furniture to temples, “My Well Equipped Church”, which was announced last year.
“We are going to repair the church, condition it, fully equip it with what it needs, work through prayer,” said Maduro, also indicating at that time that he would reduce fees for opening new evangelical temples in Venezuela.
In addition to the program to equip churches, the Chavista regime also created, in 2023, the “Bônus do Bom Pastor”, a financial aid aimed at leaders of Christian communities who are registered on the government platform known as “Sistema Pátria”, that is, that are aligned with Maduro's policies, just as Mocev does, as reported by the independent website Cocouyo Effect.
In the view of political scientist Daniel Santolo, Chavismo's rapprochement with evangelicals is a way of counterbalancing the influence of the Catholic Church in the country, which in parts is more critical of the regime.
“Left-wing governments tend to make these alliances with religious currents other than Catholicism to balance the influence of the Catholic Church,” said Santolo in an interview with the portal Cocouyo Effectalso pointing out that this approach can also be seen as a way for the regime to gain support in the most needy bases in the South American country.
“The evangelical movement, like other cults […]has a significant presence in popular sectors due to its easy penetration, which is perceived by the government as an opportunity to influence in this way and possibly as an element of pressure on the Catholic Church. […]
Evangelicals are well organized, carry out home visits, preach in public squares; are leaders considered necessary at this time, especially in light of the upcoming electoral processes”, said Santolo, stating that “in Venezuela, the number of followers of the evangelical church has increased, although it is still smaller compared to the Catholic one”.
Despite all this, the Venezuelan Evangelical Council, which has existed in the country since 1972, and is affiliated with other international movements, states that not all Venezuelan evangelicals support Mocev's position. The organization makes it clear that many churches it is aware of in the country defend the separation between State and Church.
Maduro's approach to evangelicals contrasts with the situation of persecution and violence that Christians, in general, face in Venezuela, according to reports from the NGO Portas Abertas, which monitors religious freedom around the world.
The NGO reported that Venezuelan authorities generally do not allow opposition or criticism of the regime within churches, which means that several religious leaders run the risk of being targets of repressive actions by the dictatorship if they decide to denounce irregularities or illegalities that occur throughout the country during activities in temples.
Currently, Venezuela occupies 53rd place on the 2024 World Persecution List, prepared by Open Doors, which classifies the countries where Christians face the most hostility because of their faith.
Prayer to “overturn sanctions” and rapprochement with Edir Macedo’s Universal Church
With the presidential elections scheduled to take place on July 28th, which happens to be dictator Chávez's birthday, Maduro returned to campaigning alongside evangelicals and Mocev.
This year's presidential election is already being marked by the intense persecution of Chavismo against the opposition, which even resulted in the replacement of María Corina Machado, the strongest candidate chosen by the opposition platform to face the Chavista dictator who, by all indications, must remain in power.
On the 7th, Maduro met with around 17 thousand evangelical pastors from Venezuela to seek, according to information from the Argentine portal Infobaethe “divine intercession for the lifting of international sanctions”, imposed against the country due to the existence of several complaints about repression and persistent persecution against opponents.
Dressed in white, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, followed in silence a prayer led by the bishop of the Universal Church in Venezuela, Ronaldo Santos. In Brazil, members of the church, which is presided over by Edir Macedo, are generally critical of the Chavista regime. In Venezuela, it seems that there may be an attempt at rapprochement between Maduro and Universal.
In his prayer, Santos “cried to the heavens” for the removal of international blockades and sanctions that, as he said, “have prevented” Venezuela from “standing out, from moving forward.”
The event with the pastors was also suitable for the Venezuelan dictator to announce new “benefits” for the evangelical community.
At the scene, Maduro said he would include around 20,000 new pastors in the “Bonus do Bom Pastor” system, the money passed on to those who align themselves with Chavista policies. He also once again promised more space for evangelicals on the country's televisions and the expansion of the temple renovation program.
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