Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

This text addresses the relationship between the experience of criminal violence, the sense of social responsibility and the war against demons, which occupies an important place in the religious practice of evangelical communities in Central America. Methodologically inspired by oral history research, the article is based on the life history of Guatemalan Pentecostal pastor Armando Sazo Batres. Born in 1936, the pastor belonged to the first generations of endogenous missionaries and officials of the Assemblies of God in Central America. He developed his ministry in a district of the Guatemala City metropolitan area that over the years became a focus of gang violence. The pastor dedicated himself to the task of delivering the local youth from the violence through education, evangelism, and exorcism. The article concludes by emphasizing the multiple facets of spiritual warfare as an evangelical strategy of societal intervention.

El propósito de este trabajo consiste en describir y analizar mediante la teoría fundamentada las vivencias acerca del manejo del Covid-19 en personas de América Latina que padecieron la enfermedad o estaban en proceso de duelo por causa de ella. Las unidades de análisis fueron las entrevistas abiertas y semiestructuradas vía Zoom a diez personas de siete países de América Latina que habían experimentado el Covid-19. Las entrevistas se analizaron mediante el software Atlas.ti. Los resultados muestran la emergencia de una teoría sustantiva sobre el manejo del Covid en cuatro aspectos: conocimiento de la enfermedad, acompañamiento en la enfermedad y el duelo, ejercicio de la espiritualidad, y estrategias de afrontamiento. Se concluye que el manejo del Covid-19 involucra aspectos no solo psicoespirituales sino también sociales y económicos.

In recent years, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has been the subject of interest from multiple disciplines seeking to understand the relationship between spirituality and the process of recovery from alcoholism. There is a debate in these studies about whether or not AA or its 12 Step Program is religious. In this article I am going to carry out a critical evaluation, from a comparative-reflexive perspective, of the methodological aspects applied to the analysis of the AA Program. The central thesis of the article is that, to understand the effects of spirituality in AA, it is necessary to attend to the approach of its Program, as well as the conceptions of spirituality that those who participate in the groups have. One of the central conclusions is that, although AA has unavoidable Christian roots, it is placed above any religion, since spirituality refers to the subjective dimension of experience that transcends the "I". For this reason, one of its principles, "the notion of a higher Power", is not reduced to a belief, but rather compromises the willingness to admit ungovernability: to gain control of one's life, control must be ceded to a higher Power.

Reseña del libro: Ruiz Andrés, R. (2022). La secularización en España. Rupturas y cambios religiosos desde la sociología histórica.Madrid: Cátedra, España, pp. 321.

Beginning with a historical review based on unpublished archive documents, in addition to the pertinent literature, this article analyses the rupture of the traditional forms of Catholic and Protestant beliefs established in the State of Michoacán, Mexico. As a consequence, this led to the arrival of the first Pentecostal, para-protestant and Christian churches, which managed to successfully establish themselves in a society that resented the lack of spiritual support from their Catholic leaders, who suspended activities of worship during the Cristero War, and of a Protestant and secular society that was weary of the constant confrontations between these two institutions. The authors attempt to demonstrate that the arrival of other religious propositions to the State, depended largely on the weakness of traditional religions, which could not contain their progress as they were immersed in internal problems derived from religious policies and their schisms, thus contributing with their arrival to the diversification of beliefs and a new restructuring of the religious map.Keywords: Pentecostalism, Christian churches, Protestantism.

Desenvolvemos no presente artigo uma reflexão a partir da análise de mensagens trocadas por grupos de WhatsApp, ligadas a narrativas religiosas institucionais e não institucionais sobre a COVID-19. As mensagens analisadas foram coletadas entre abril e maio de 2020, durante o período inicial da pandemia do Coronavírus no Brasil. Discutimos a presença e as novas roupagens de uma tônica conservadora nas narrativas selecionadas, com o objetivo de tecer considerações que trataram de algumas especificidades e contradições que o campo religioso brasileiro, particularmente no que diz respeito à tônica conservadora, apresentou neste contexto tão específico da modernidade. Ao final, os resultados teóricos apontaram a insuficiência do termo “conservadorismo” para expressar o que se observou nas mensagens.

Intriducción al dosier.

The bivalve mollusc, Anadara tuberculosa, (concha prieta), is located in the mangrove ecosystem of the provinces of El Oro and Esmeraldas of Ecuador, where it is subjected to a relevant extraction activity. This resource is fundamental in the daily food diet, in addition to being a relevant source of economic sustenance for many families, it is also being to trade throughout the Ecuadorian territory and with neighboring countries. The objective of this research is to propose the strategies that must overcome the value chain of the prieta shell, to improve its economic and social use in a sustainable way. The research was conducted specifically in the Jambelí archipelago, El Oro province, Ecuador. The descriptive methodology applied was based mainly on the exhaustive review and analysis of bibliographic material, mainly generated in recent years by the authors. Based on this information, complemented by the results of previous studies on the performance of the value chain of the prieta shell, composed of the dimensions of productivity, competitiveness and quality of life, strategies were identified, whose achievement will contribute to improving this performance: 1) Restoration of the mangrove ecosystem 2) Promotion of low-intensity aquaculture of the shell 3) Good sanitary management and purification 4) Promotion of enterprises with a value approach,  5) Strengthening of organizations and agreements for the use and custody of mangroves and 6) Creation of an institutional system that contributes to the advancement of these challenges.

At present, it is notoriously important to know about the state of health of workers and its relationship with age and sex, due to normal aging and the prevalence of specific ailments and symptoms. Nevertheless, there are few studies on this problem in our country. In this sense, the aim of this study was to compare the differences in risk of the main health problems in adults and older versus younger people by sex. For this purpose, data from the application of the First Survey on Safety and Health Conditions at Work (I-ECSST) in a sample of workers in the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil (n = 1049) were used. In general, women report more health problems than men. The probability of suffering from upper limb and head complaints and gastrointestinal, ophthalmological and cardio-circulatory problems increases with increasing age in women. The different findings suggest the need for further studies to clarify the explanatory factors of health status. Until then, health promotion actions should be reinforced in the older working population, as they are preventable predictors of mortality.