Christians forced from their homes in central Mexico state

More than 176 displaced evangelicals in Hidalgo state, Mexico, cannot return to their homes until they pay a $9,000 fine to local authorities. Last month, villagers in Coamila and Rancho Nuevo, Mexico, cut power to the Christians’ homes and ultimately forced them to flee the area.

Hidalgo Gov. Julio Menchaca promised to facilitate talks between the municipal government and the displaced evangelical families, but he also blamed the Christians for “not cooperating economically and paying their taxes,” according to local news outlet El Sol de Hidalgo. Anna Lee Stangl, head of advocacy for Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), called on Menchaca to intervene in favor of the evangelicals, but state officials have not responded.

The villages of Coamila and Rancho Nuevo are small villages under the municipal authority of the nearby town of Huejutla de Reyes. The April 25 attack in Coamila and Rancho Nuevo was not the first time Pastor Rogelio Hernández Baltazar and members of his Great Commission Baptist Church experienced hostilities because of their faith. But this time, the whole church community was systematically threatened.

“They planned to commit acts of violence,” Baltazar’s assistant Juan Nicolás Hernández Solorzano told me. “As they were [cutting electricity], they began conversing amongst themselves, threatening to harm us at night, boasting that once our phones ran out of charge, we would not have any way to communicate for help or record evidence.” The families left the area and sought help from authorities in Huejutla de Reyes, who initially provided shelter but have stopped helping them according to CSW.

Villagers targeted the evangelicals because they refused to participate in local rituals that combine indigenous and Roman Catholic traditions. Local indigenous communities cite the Law of Uses and Customs, which grants autonomy to indigenous peoples in Mexico, to coerce religious minorities into obedience, said Jeff King, president of International Christian Concern.

“A typical example is the annual festivals,” King said. “These are drunk and hedonistic multi-day festivals where everyone has to contribute financially. And so they come to the Christians … but we don’t want to support it—we can’t support it morally. That’s when the pressure starts to come.”

Pastor Baltazar’s assistant Solorzano, who first heard the gospel in 2015, began receiving multiple threats from village leaders soon after becoming Baptist. Three years later, Protestant believers in Rancho Nuevo lost their rights to education, healthcare services, and government assistance, all withheld by local authorities. Community officials went so far as to prevent Christians from reporting their fiscal obligations to the state, Solorzano said.

“Although we paid our dues, we were no longer taken into account,” Solorzano said. “They would no longer receive our financial contributions. They argued that we were disobedient and did not want to pay. We responded that we were willing to pay anything for the good of the community. But in regards to religion, we would not be obliged, because in Mexico there are laws stating that religious liberty can be individual or collective.”

Mexico ranks 37th on the Open Doors World Watch List of countries with the worst persecution of Christians. Cuba and Nicaragua also saw a spike in cases of religious persecution over the last year. Even so, King says there is a brighter side to the worsening trends of religious persecution in Latin America.

“My guess is that it’s just the spread of evangelicalism. This is traditionally seen as a threat, especially in this region,” King said. “There’s a deeper spiritual thing going on, too, where there’s two kingdoms colliding Sometimes we can get caught up about Christianity in our own country, but overall, Christianity is an unstoppable force.”