Claudia Castellanos Wins Senate Seat
Election Success
Claudia Rodríguez Castellanos, co-pastor with her husband Cesar of Misión Carismática Internacional (MCI) Church in Bogotá - one of the fastest growing churches in the world – and former Colombian Ambassador to Brazil, was elected to the Colombian Senate in the March 12th national elections.
Standing as a candidate for the centre-right party, Radical Change, she won a seat in the Senate with 55,783 votes - the third highest vote in her party out of fifteen and the 23rd highest in the final list of new Senators.
Radical Change leader, Senator Germán Vargas Lleras, won the highest number of votes overall with 213,599 compared to second place, Gustavo Petro, leftist leader and friend of Hugo Chavez, with 135,391 votes. Várgas Lleras, grandson of former Liberal President Carlos Lleras Restrepo (1966-1970), is now tipped to become President in 2010.
MCI Church also had leaders standing for the Radical Change Party as Candidates for the 166 members House of Representatives. Luis Barrios was successful in the Bogota DC Department, winning one of the 18 available seats with 24,795 votes.
Unsuccessful candidates included Carlos Hernandez in Anitoquia, Clara Lucia Sandoval in Cundinamarca, Diogenes Munoz in Santander and Consuelo Hernandez in Valle.
In all, Evangelicals obtained almost 400,000 votes.
Friends with the President
The church is an outspoken supporter of President Álvaro Uribe Vélez who was elected in May 2002, publicly backing his campaign at their Annual Convention in January 2002 and supported his successful attempt to change the Constitution to allow him to run a second time this May.
The President addressed the MCI Annual Convention in 2004 and 2005 and meets with the pastors before his weekly Cabinet meeting.
Christian influence in Politics
Senator Vargas Lleras committed himself publicly to adopting a ‘Christian’ agenda at the 11th MCI Annual Convention and pledged to ‘accept the challenge of facing change with the help of the Christian community’ and promised to commit to all of the goals of the Christian agenda for family, national security and the eradication of poverty.
He has promised to oppose the legalisation of abortion and the union of homosexuals. The party’s position in on these issues has been credited by the weekly Semana magazine to the influence of Claudia Castellanos.
During my visit to Colombia for the Convention in January 2006, I had the opportunity to interview Pastor Castellanos. She told me that the Christian agenda is:
“Committed to a new beginning for Colombia spiritually, morally, economically and politically.
“Conditions in South America compared with North America are completely different. Number one is a priority of government in the face of guerrilla warfare. President Uribe has stopped groups that bear arms and who are acting outside the law. We want to strengthen a culture of legality.
“Secondly we want to strengthen the security of the family, including the protection of the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman and the protection of children before they are born, as well as afterwards.
“My main agenda over the next four years is that I want to concentrate on eradicating poverty.
“Colombian people need dignity, a place to work, a home, food, clothes, rights. The State must assure the right to work and freedom of enterprise. These are Christian principles.
She also spoke about her desire to use the principles of the G12 model practiced in the church in
“I want to generate jobs in Colombia by implementing the G12 model in business. Everything we have done as cells in the church can also work at the business level.”
These ideas were reported in the national daily newspaper El Espectador.
In the elections, Uribe supporters were elected in strength. In the Senate, pro-Uribe parties won 61 of the 102 available seats. The largest parties, the Party of National Unity won 20 seats, the Conservative Party 18 seats (up from 13) and the Radical Change Party, 15 seats (up from 9).
In the in the lower House of Representatives, Uribe supporters took 91 of the 166 seats.
President Uribe now looks set to win re-election in May.
Claudia Rodríguez Castellanos, co-pastor with her husband Cesar of Misión Carismática Internacional (MCI) Church in Bogotá - one of the fastest growing churches in the world – and former Colombian Ambassador to Brazil, was elected to the Colombian Senate in the March 12th national elections.Standing as a candidate for the centre-right party, Radical Change, she won a seat in the Senate with 55,783 votes - the third highest vote in her party out of fifteen and the 23rd highest in the final list of new Senators.
Radical Change leader, Senator Germán Vargas Lleras, won the highest number of votes overall with 213,599 compared to second place, Gustavo Petro, leftist leader and friend of Hugo Chavez, with 135,391 votes. Várgas Lleras, grandson of former Liberal President Carlos Lleras Restrepo (1966-1970), is now tipped to become President in 2010.
MCI Church also had leaders standing for the Radical Change Party as Candidates for the 166 members House of Representatives. Luis Barrios was successful in the Bogota DC Department, winning one of the 18 available seats with 24,795 votes.Unsuccessful candidates included Carlos Hernandez in Anitoquia, Clara Lucia Sandoval in Cundinamarca, Diogenes Munoz in Santander and Consuelo Hernandez in Valle.
In all, Evangelicals obtained almost 400,000 votes.
Friends with the President
The church is an outspoken supporter of President Álvaro Uribe Vélez who was elected in May 2002, publicly backing his campaign at their Annual Convention in January 2002 and supported his successful attempt to change the Constitution to allow him to run a second time this May.
The President addressed the MCI Annual Convention in 2004 and 2005 and meets with the pastors before his weekly Cabinet meeting.Christian influence in Politics
Senator Vargas Lleras committed himself publicly to adopting a ‘Christian’ agenda at the 11th MCI Annual Convention and pledged to ‘accept the challenge of facing change with the help of the Christian community’ and promised to commit to all of the goals of the Christian agenda for family, national security and the eradication of poverty.He has promised to oppose the legalisation of abortion and the union of homosexuals. The party’s position in on these issues has been credited by the weekly Semana magazine to the influence of Claudia Castellanos.
During my visit to Colombia for the Convention in January 2006, I had the opportunity to interview Pastor Castellanos. She told me that the Christian agenda is:
“Committed to a new beginning for Colombia spiritually, morally, economically and politically.
“Conditions in South America compared with North America are completely different. Number one is a priority of government in the face of guerrilla warfare. President Uribe has stopped groups that bear arms and who are acting outside the law. We want to strengthen a culture of legality.
“Secondly we want to strengthen the security of the family, including the protection of the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman and the protection of children before they are born, as well as afterwards.
“My main agenda over the next four years is that I want to concentrate on eradicating poverty.
“Colombian people need dignity, a place to work, a home, food, clothes, rights. The State must assure the right to work and freedom of enterprise. These are Christian principles.
She also spoke about her desire to use the principles of the G12 model practiced in the church in
“I want to generate jobs in Colombia by implementing the G12 model in business. Everything we have done as cells in the church can also work at the business level.”
These ideas were reported in the national daily newspaper El Espectador.
In the elections, Uribe supporters were elected in strength. In the Senate, pro-Uribe parties won 61 of the 102 available seats. The largest parties, the Party of National Unity won 20 seats, the Conservative Party 18 seats (up from 13) and the Radical Change Party, 15 seats (up from 9).
In the in the lower House of Representatives, Uribe supporters took 91 of the 166 seats.
President Uribe now looks set to win re-election in May.
posted by WESLEY at 10:38
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