Pentecostalism and Power in Guatemala

Abstract

Guatemala is the most Protestant country in Latin America, with a rising population of Pentecostals. Although evangelicals have had substantial social and political influence for decades—one of them was a military dictator at the height of the country’s civil war in the early 1980s, and was later tried for genocide—many remain ambivalent about direct engagement with secular power. Instead, evangelical groups have been active in addressing gaps left by the state in a society struggling with violence, in areas such as education, social services, and security.