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This article is an electronic version of an article originally published in
Cultic Studies Journal, 1994, Volume 11, Number 1, pages 56-65. Please keep in
mind that the pagination of this electronic reprint differs from that of the
bound volume. This fact could affect how you enter bibliographic information in
papers that you may write.
The Experience of the SPES Foundation:
Some Remarks on the Different Attitudes
Toward New Religious Movements
in Argentina and in Europe
José María Baamonde, Ph.D.
SPES Foundation
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Abstract
Cults appear to be as active in Argentina as in most European countries. At the
end of 1992, 2,986 distinct religious movements had been registered with the
Ministry of Cults and Foreign Affairs. Although “cult” has a less pejorative
connotation in Argentina than in the United States, many of these registered
groups are probably cults according to the usual definition of the term in the
United States. The SPES Foundation (Servicio Para el Esclarecimiento en Sectas)
is a professional organization founded to help deal with this problem. In 1992
the SPES Foundation responded to 1,745 inquiries. Argentina's cult situation
differs from that of Europe in three ways. First, in Argentina large numbers of
“Pentecostal” groups are so psychologically manipulative that they can be
considered cults. Second, Argentina has had an influx of Afro-Brazilian cults
not seen in Europe. And third, in Argentina there is much less understanding of
the problem and more reluctance to take concrete action against it.
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