Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 11, No. 1, 1994, Page 42
Cults in Latin America
Alfredo Silletta
Argentinean Foundation for the Study of Cults
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Abstract
The author estimates that more than 5,000 religious groups operate in Argentina, with
as many as 50,000 sects and cults throughout Latin America. First are the “destructive
cults,” which demand total submission from their followers and utilize thought-reform
techniques. Second are “controversial groups,” which take advantage of the misery and
marginality in the Latin American continent by playing to the population‟s alienation
from the mainstream culture and need for simple, authoritative answers. Third are “risk
groups,” or the New Age movement. These groups, which promise personal peace and
oneness with the cosmos, are most commonly found among the middle class, which
often feels alienated from the Catholic Church and the evangelical-pentecostal pastors
who cater to the lower class. The Argentinian Foundation for the Study of Cults (FAPES)
was founded to help combat this problem. Between March and November of 1993,
FAPES received more than 1,000 telephone calls and gave lectures attended by more
than 15,000 people.
Cults and related groups are invading Latin America. They pass through plazas, parks,
streets, and especially humble neighborhoods. Extremely limited in the 1960s, their
presence began to be noticed in the 1970s. Today, more than 40 million Latin Americans
have fallen under their mystical influence. As Latin America grows more impoverished each
day, more millions of dollars circulate in the name of God. If we take Argentina as an
example, there are more than 5,000 groups operating. This does not even take into account
the 50,000 sects across the continent, from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego, some small, others
massive.
Are all the cults churches? Are some better than others? Until a few years ago the majority
of studies classified cults according to their origin and dogmatism: Christian, para-Christian,
spiritual, Afro-Brazilian, Eastern, charismatic, and so forth. This method has not fully
equipped us to understand the cult phenomenon and its danger. For example, many people
of Catholic origin could believe that an Eastern group is more dangerous than one of
Christian origin. From our point of view at the Argentinean Foundation for the Study of Cults
(FAPES), it is not dogma that is important but rather the recruitment and control methods
that the cults use. Given this premise, we divide the world of cults, sects, and related
groups into destructive cults, controversial groups, and risk groups.
Destructive Cults
Destructive cults are groups totally structured and tightly organized to support a new way of
life and to demand total submission from their followers. Usually members of these groups
live in communities, and the leader possesses all the power. They are groups that utilize
thought-reform techniques, known popularly as brainwashing. Within their principle
characteristics we note the cult‟s demand for total adherence to the cult and a person‟s
break with all social ties-parents, partners, friends, work, school, and so on. The
suppression of individual freedom and right to privacy and the control of all incoming
information is also common.
These groups arrived in Latin America in the 1970s and established themselves in the big
cities, especially trying to capture adolescents from the middle and upper-middle classes.
Among the main cults we can name the Unification Church (the Rev. Moon), Scientology
Cults in Latin America
Alfredo Silletta
Argentinean Foundation for the Study of Cults
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Abstract
The author estimates that more than 5,000 religious groups operate in Argentina, with
as many as 50,000 sects and cults throughout Latin America. First are the “destructive
cults,” which demand total submission from their followers and utilize thought-reform
techniques. Second are “controversial groups,” which take advantage of the misery and
marginality in the Latin American continent by playing to the population‟s alienation
from the mainstream culture and need for simple, authoritative answers. Third are “risk
groups,” or the New Age movement. These groups, which promise personal peace and
oneness with the cosmos, are most commonly found among the middle class, which
often feels alienated from the Catholic Church and the evangelical-pentecostal pastors
who cater to the lower class. The Argentinian Foundation for the Study of Cults (FAPES)
was founded to help combat this problem. Between March and November of 1993,
FAPES received more than 1,000 telephone calls and gave lectures attended by more
than 15,000 people.
Cults and related groups are invading Latin America. They pass through plazas, parks,
streets, and especially humble neighborhoods. Extremely limited in the 1960s, their
presence began to be noticed in the 1970s. Today, more than 40 million Latin Americans
have fallen under their mystical influence. As Latin America grows more impoverished each
day, more millions of dollars circulate in the name of God. If we take Argentina as an
example, there are more than 5,000 groups operating. This does not even take into account
the 50,000 sects across the continent, from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego, some small, others
massive.
Are all the cults churches? Are some better than others? Until a few years ago the majority
of studies classified cults according to their origin and dogmatism: Christian, para-Christian,
spiritual, Afro-Brazilian, Eastern, charismatic, and so forth. This method has not fully
equipped us to understand the cult phenomenon and its danger. For example, many people
of Catholic origin could believe that an Eastern group is more dangerous than one of
Christian origin. From our point of view at the Argentinean Foundation for the Study of Cults
(FAPES), it is not dogma that is important but rather the recruitment and control methods
that the cults use. Given this premise, we divide the world of cults, sects, and related
groups into destructive cults, controversial groups, and risk groups.
Destructive Cults
Destructive cults are groups totally structured and tightly organized to support a new way of
life and to demand total submission from their followers. Usually members of these groups
live in communities, and the leader possesses all the power. They are groups that utilize
thought-reform techniques, known popularly as brainwashing. Within their principle
characteristics we note the cult‟s demand for total adherence to the cult and a person‟s
break with all social ties-parents, partners, friends, work, school, and so on. The
suppression of individual freedom and right to privacy and the control of all incoming
information is also common.
These groups arrived in Latin America in the 1970s and established themselves in the big
cities, especially trying to capture adolescents from the middle and upper-middle classes.
Among the main cults we can name the Unification Church (the Rev. Moon), Scientology
