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the Evangelicals to the realization that they were numerous and the possibilities that they could have for political participation. Freston notes that Guatemala has been one of the best known examples of Protestant political involvement in the Third World (2004a: 132).\u000AAfter R\u00EDos Montt presidency, Serrano El\u00EDas member of the ESH church founded the Movimiento de Acci\u00F3n Solidaria (MAS) with whom he won the 1991 elections. This election result shows that the Evangelical vote is important in Guatemala. Cant\u00F3n says that the election of Serrano El\u00EDas in January 1991 occurred thanks to the Evangelical push (1998: 6). At the end of the 1980s the effervescence of the NNPs for politics led them to found political parties and several of them put their names forward as presidential candidates.\u000AThis project of carrying out changes to benefit society from above is an essential part in the aspirations and propaganda of NPPs. The \u2018Frente Republicano Guatemalteco\u2019 party founded by R\u00EDos Montt won the 1994 legislative elections and the Presidential elections of 1999. A similar Evangelical political experience can be observed in other countries of Latin America as well. Freston says that although many Evangelicals are involved in politics in Brazil the key actors tend to be mainly Baptists and Pentecostals. In the 2002 elections twelve Evangelical congressmen and two senators were elected (2004:147). In other words the Guatemalan Neo-Pentecostals have taken party politics as a normal part of what they are and what they do every day. For example, Francisco Bianchi who was the governing elder of the ICV church was the founding member and presidential candidate of the ARDE political party.\u000AThe vice-presidential candidate of the same party, Manolo Bendfelt is a member of the ESH church. Efra\u00EDn Recinos leader of the \u2018Guardianes del Vecindario\u2019 movement (a civil middle class organization whose aim is to protest against the abductions and violence\u000A121\u000A


































































































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