La conversión religiosa en el Estamento Militar Guatemaltecouna aproximación al fenómeno social 1982-1992

Abstract

This doctoral research aims to delve into the social phenomenon of religious reconversion in the recent past of Guatemalans in general, and the human component of the Military Establishment in the decade of 1982-1992. The core of this study lies in the knowledge of the dynamics of the behavior of society, religion, and the military, in a period that defines the present and future of the nation. The period from 1982 to 1992, which includes the political administration of the Republic of Guatemala of General Efraín Ríos Montt (1982) and Engineer Jorge Antonio Serrano Elías (1992) is paradigmatic because it marks the first centenary of the arrival from the evangelicals to the national territory; for being both pastors of two evangelical churches (El Verbo and Shaddai, respectively); and because both of them served as the First Magistracy of the country and the General Command of the Guatemalan Army. In parallel, at the beginning of the decade the Military Institution increased exponentially due to new legal provisions and the intensification of the internal armed conflict (CA In); Added to the above is the absence of spiritual assistance from the Catholic Church towards the members of the Armed Institution in particular, and the population in general, which facilitated the religious reconversion in a vertiginous way. The doctoral study is limited to the research question and its comprehensive response through the general objective that seeks to determine the increase in converts in the Guatemalan Military Establishment in the decade 1982-1992, as well as through the operational objectives that seek to determine the areas with the highest concentration of evangelicals in the national territory; to compare the numerical growth of the Guatemalan Military Establishment and the conversion of its members in the decade 1982-1992; visualize the regions that contribute human capital to the Guatemalan Army and the degree of evangelical penetration; compare the regions in relation to evangelicals and Catholics; determine the decrease of Catholics in the Military Institution; and to quantify the growth of evangelical beliefs in the military personnel of that time. All this to understand the phenomenon that intertwines society, religion and the military: What were the factors that contributed to the religious conversion in the Guatemalan military establishment in the period 1982-1992 and what was its impact on society? Based on the proposed hypothesis: The religious action of Protestantism in the Military Estate was a determining factor for religious conversion in the period 1982-1992. The magnitude of the social phenomenon, the particularities, causes and effects of the reconversion in Guatemalans and in members of the Guatemalan Army are clear. The search for the antecedents of the massive penetration of the evangelical churches (until today), the social dynamics from the religious beliefs and the recruitment of the components of the militia in the various regions of the country and religions, including syncretism, allow us to visualize religious reconversion in all its manifestation and intensity