Quakers in Latin America - Guatemala and Other Latin American Countries

Guatemala and Other Latin American Countries

There are approximately 20,000 Friends in the nation of Guatemala. Yearly meetings are Iglesia Evangélica Embajadores Amigos (Evangelical Ambassadors Friends Church), Iglesia Evangélica Nacional Amigos de Guatemala (National Evangelical Friends Church of Guatemala), and Junta Annual Amigos de Santidad (Friends of Holiness Yearly Meeting). There is also a small unprogrammed meeting, Guatemala Monthly Meeting affiliated with Pacific Yearly Meeting, which operates PROGRESA, an educational program at the high school and university level.

In Peru there are about 5,000 Friends, they are a part of the Iglesia Nacional Evangélica Los Amigos del Perú (National Evangelical Friends Church of Peru). There are about 2,000 Friends in Honduras. They are members of the Junta Annual Amigos de Santidad (Friends of Holiness Yearly Meeting).

Mexico has about 800 Friends in two yearly meetings—the Asociación Religiosa de las Iglesias Evangélicas de los Amigos (Religious Association of the Evangelical Churches of Friends) and the Reunion General de los Amigos en México (General Meeting of Friends in Mexico). In addition, Mexico City Monthly Meeting, affiliated with Pacific Yearly Meeting, is an unprogrammed meeting in the Mexican capital. In El Salvador there are about 550 Friends, members of The Iglesias Evangélicas de los Amigos en El Salvador (Evangelical Friends Churches in El Salvador).

There are about 373 Friends in Cuba. They are members of the Cuba Yearly Meeting, which is affiliated with Friends United Meeting.

There are also about 72 Friends in Costa Rica and about 20 in Colombia.

There have been unprogrammed worship meetings and groups in Latin America in Costa Rica and Mexico for several years.

Also in Cuba there is small unprogrammed group in Havana since 1994, which has done great efforts to spread silent worships to the whole island; there were unprogrammed groups in Holguin for two years, one in Santiago de Cuba and in Santi Spiritus for a while but these three couldn't continue.

Unprogrammed worship groups in Latin American had their first annual meeting in November in 2006 in Costa Rica in Monteverde; the next annual meeting would be on November, 2007, in Friends House in Mexico D.F.