Religious party seeks gains in Peru's legislative elections

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Religious party seeks gains in Peru's legislative elections

A member of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, holds out her right arm to maintain her balance as she walks through a market on the muddy banks of the Amazon River, in Alto Monte de Israel, Peru, Sunday, March 28, 2021. The political arm of the messianic group, the Agricultural People's Front of Peru, known as Frepap, has emerged as a potential favorite in Sunday's April 11th legislative elections. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Andrea Rodrigo, a member of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, removes the husk from a yucca or cassava root, on the banks of the Amazon River in Jose Carlos Mariategui, Peru, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. The 21-year-old Peruvian woman makes yucca flour that her family sells in markets along Peru's remote borders with Brazil and Colombia. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Supporters of the Agricultural People's Front of Peru political party, known by its acronym Frepap, take part in an election campaign caravan in San Pablo, Peru, Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Frepap is the political arm of a messianic religious group called the Israelites of the New Universal Pact, which merges Old Testament Christianity with Andean culture. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Asunta Salazar and her husband Mariano Torres, who are members of Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, guide a mule through a lakelet as they head home after harvesting bananas from their farmland, near San Pablo, Peru, Monday, March 29, 2021. For more than 30 years, Israelite communities have popped up in remote Amazon forests as the faithful have migrated there from the Andes Mountains or from desert neighborhoods on Peru's Pacific coast. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Leonidas La Torre reads passages from the Bible while sitting next to his son Daniel, inside their home in Alto Monte de Israel, Peru, Saturday, March 27, 2021. Father and son are members of a messianic religious group called the Israelites of the New Universal Pact, which merges Old Testament Christianity with Andean culture. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A man braves a rain showers as he walks barefooted on a muddy road to sell his chickens at the weekend market, in Alto Monte de Israel, Peru, Sunday, March 28, 2021. Peruvians head to the polls on Sunday, April 11, to choose a president from a field of 18 candidates following years of political turmoil that have seen a series of presidents and even the whole congress itself ousted over corruption scandals. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Gildomero Gomez, a member of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, performs a healing ceremony on Raul Alejos who is infected with the new coronavirus, in San Pablo, Peru, Monday, March 29, 2021. The group believes its leader, Jonás Ataucusi Molina, is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and the Amazon is the promised land or the "land without evil," leading its faithful to populate remote forests bordering Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Gildomero Gomez, a member of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, reads from the Bible during a healing ceremony for a fellow member suffering from COVID-19, in San Pablo, Peru, Monday, March 29, 2021. The country is among those hardest hit by the virus, with more than 1.5 million confirmed cases and over 53,400 deaths. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Julian Ordonez, front, and Miguel Ticopa, members of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, navigate the Amazon River to return to their home in Jose Carlos Mariategui, Peru, Wednesday, March 31, 2021, after a day of farming their land. Peruvians head to the polls on Sunday, April 11, to choose a president from a field of 18 candidates following years of political turmoil that have seen a series of presidents and even the whole congress itself ousted over corruption scandals. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Milfa Mamani Escobar, a member of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, carries an armful of papayas harvested from her farm, in Jose Carlos Mariategui, Peru, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. The first people to join the messianic religious group more than 30 years ago were poor Andean migrants, sometimes sick or orphaned, who had no contacts in the cities, experts say. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Supporters of the Agricultural People's Front of Peru party, the political arm of a messianic religious group called the Israelites of the New Universal Pact, pose for selfies after filming a political ad, in Iquitos, Peru, Sunday, March 21, 2021. Frepap has emerged as a potential favorite in the upcoming April 11 legislative elections amid widespread disgust with Peru's traditional politicians and an extremely fragmented electorate. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A pet bird perches on the head of Pablo Rodrigo, a member of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, as he says a prayer over the morning meal, in his home in Jose Carlos Mariategui, Peru, Thursday, April 1, 2021. Rodrigo says now that the Israelites are in politics, people respect them. But before that "because of our hair and beards, people said we had lice and other atrocities." "We don't drink, we don't smoke, we live in peace," said the farmer. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Young female members of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, push an overloaded motorbike taxi up a hill during an Agricultural People's Front of Peru or Frepap campaign rally, in San Pablo, Peru, Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Analysts say Frepap's clean image and backing in distant or impoverished communities far away from media and pollsters could produce an April 11 electoral surprise. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Commuters travel on a ferry on the Amazon River towards Jose Carlos Mariategui, Peru, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. Peruvians head to the polls on Sunday, April 11, to choose a president from a field of 18 candidates following years of political turmoil that have seen a series of presidents and even the whole congress itself ousted over corruption scandals. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Agricultural People's Front of Peru congressional candidates greet supporters as they are driven past a statue of Cuban revolutionary hero Ernesto "Che" Guevara, in San Pablo, Peru, Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Known by its acronym, Frepap is the political arm of a messianic religious group called the Israelites of the New Universal Pact, which merges Old Testament Christianity with Andean culture. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Congressional candidate Arturo Pereyra, of the Agricultural People's Front of Peru or Frepap, greets supporters accompanied by a person dressed as the party's symbol, a blue fish, in San Pablo, Peru, Tuesday, March 30, 2021. In a Jan. 26, 2020 special election to choose lawmakers, Frepap, the political arm of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, came from nowhere to stun prognosticators by winning 15 seats in the 130-seat legislature to become the third largest bloc. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
With the aid of a flashlight and kerosene flame, 12-year-old Zairi Olivia, a member of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, looks at The Children's Illustrated Bible, inside her house in Jose Carlos Mariategui, Peru, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. For more than 30 years, Israelite communities have popped up in remote Amazon forests as the faithful have migrated there from the Andes Mountains or from desert neighborhoods on Peru's Pacific coast, obeying their late leader's call to populate the rainforest region. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
The Ordonez family, members of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, eat dinner illuminated by a kerosene flame in Jose Carlos Mariategui, Peru, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. The group believes its leader, Jonas Ataucusi Molina, is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and the Amazon is the promised land or the "land without evil," leading its faithful to populate remote forests bordering Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
An election poster promoting a congressional candidate from the Agricultural People's Front of Peru political party is displayed on a store front as a customer shows the owner, who rents out telephone services, the number she would like his wife to dial, in the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious community of Alto Monte de Israel, Peru, Sunday, March 28, 2021. The party, known as Frepap, has emerged as a potential favorite in Sunday's legislative elections amid widespread disgust with Peru's traditional politicians and an extremely fragmented electorate.  (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Pablo Rodrigo, second left, and some family family members, who belong to the messianic religious group called the Israelites of the New Universal Pact, make yucca or cassava root flour for selling, on their land in Jose Carlos Mariategui, Peru, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. "God says if you work, you will be flooded with bread. But if you are idle, you will be poor," said the farmer who several months ago bought an electricity generator and a computer to write his community's agreements. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Rosa Torres, a member of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact, cooks breakfast for her three daughters in their home in San Pablo, Peru, early Monday morning, March 29, 2021. The first people to join the religious group were poor Andean migrants, sometimes sick or orphaned, who had no contacts in the cities, experts say.  "They were drawn to the movement because it offered them a way to survive in communities, in agriculture," said Juan Ossio, professor of anthropology. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A member of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group poses for a photo after a heavy rain in Alto Monte de Israel, Peru, Sunday, March 28, 2021. The group believes the Amazon is the promised land or the "land without evil."  Experts say the surprise emergence of its party, the Agricultural People's Front of Peru known as Frepap, as a political force has to do with the roots it has sown and the proselytizing it has done in remote communities and poor neighborhoods. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Religious party seeks gains in Peru's legislative elections

A member of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, holds out her right arm to maintain her balance as she walks through a market on the muddy banks of the Amazon River, in Alto Monte de Israel, Peru, Sunday, March 28, 2021. The political arm of the messianic group, the Agricultural People's Front of Peru, known as Frepap, has emerged as a potential favorite in Sunday's April 11th legislative elections. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Andrea Rodrigo, a member of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, removes the husk from a yucca or cassava root, on the banks of the Amazon River in Jose Carlos Mariategui, Peru, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. The 21-year-old Peruvian woman makes yucca flour that her family sells in markets along Peru's remote borders with Brazil and Colombia. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Supporters of the Agricultural People's Front of Peru political party, known by its acronym Frepap, take part in an election campaign caravan in San Pablo, Peru, Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Frepap is the political arm of a messianic religious group called the Israelites of the New Universal Pact, which merges Old Testament Christianity with Andean culture. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Asunta Salazar and her husband Mariano Torres, who are members of Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, guide a mule through a lakelet as they head home after harvesting bananas from their farmland, near San Pablo, Peru, Monday, March 29, 2021. For more than 30 years, Israelite communities have popped up in remote Amazon forests as the faithful have migrated there from the Andes Mountains or from desert neighborhoods on Peru's Pacific coast. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Leonidas La Torre reads passages from the Bible while sitting next to his son Daniel, inside their home in Alto Monte de Israel, Peru, Saturday, March 27, 2021. Father and son are members of a messianic religious group called the Israelites of the New Universal Pact, which merges Old Testament Christianity with Andean culture. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A man braves a rain showers as he walks barefooted on a muddy road to sell his chickens at the weekend market, in Alto Monte de Israel, Peru, Sunday, March 28, 2021. Peruvians head to the polls on Sunday, April 11, to choose a president from a field of 18 candidates following years of political turmoil that have seen a series of presidents and even the whole congress itself ousted over corruption scandals. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Gildomero Gomez, a member of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, performs a healing ceremony on Raul Alejos who is infected with the new coronavirus, in San Pablo, Peru, Monday, March 29, 2021. The group believes its leader, Jonás Ataucusi Molina, is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and the Amazon is the promised land or the "land without evil," leading its faithful to populate remote forests bordering Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Gildomero Gomez, a member of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, reads from the Bible during a healing ceremony for a fellow member suffering from COVID-19, in San Pablo, Peru, Monday, March 29, 2021. The country is among those hardest hit by the virus, with more than 1.5 million confirmed cases and over 53,400 deaths. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Julian Ordonez, front, and Miguel Ticopa, members of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, navigate the Amazon River to return to their home in Jose Carlos Mariategui, Peru, Wednesday, March 31, 2021, after a day of farming their land. Peruvians head to the polls on Sunday, April 11, to choose a president from a field of 18 candidates following years of political turmoil that have seen a series of presidents and even the whole congress itself ousted over corruption scandals. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Milfa Mamani Escobar, a member of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, carries an armful of papayas harvested from her farm, in Jose Carlos Mariategui, Peru, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. The first people to join the messianic religious group more than 30 years ago were poor Andean migrants, sometimes sick or orphaned, who had no contacts in the cities, experts say. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Supporters of the Agricultural People's Front of Peru party, the political arm of a messianic religious group called the Israelites of the New Universal Pact, pose for selfies after filming a political ad, in Iquitos, Peru, Sunday, March 21, 2021. Frepap has emerged as a potential favorite in the upcoming April 11 legislative elections amid widespread disgust with Peru's traditional politicians and an extremely fragmented electorate. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A pet bird perches on the head of Pablo Rodrigo, a member of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, as he says a prayer over the morning meal, in his home in Jose Carlos Mariategui, Peru, Thursday, April 1, 2021. Rodrigo says now that the Israelites are in politics, people respect them. But before that "because of our hair and beards, people said we had lice and other atrocities." "We don't drink, we don't smoke, we live in peace," said the farmer. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Young female members of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, push an overloaded motorbike taxi up a hill during an Agricultural People's Front of Peru or Frepap campaign rally, in San Pablo, Peru, Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Analysts say Frepap's clean image and backing in distant or impoverished communities far away from media and pollsters could produce an April 11 electoral surprise. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Commuters travel on a ferry on the Amazon River towards Jose Carlos Mariategui, Peru, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. Peruvians head to the polls on Sunday, April 11, to choose a president from a field of 18 candidates following years of political turmoil that have seen a series of presidents and even the whole congress itself ousted over corruption scandals. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Agricultural People's Front of Peru congressional candidates greet supporters as they are driven past a statue of Cuban revolutionary hero Ernesto "Che" Guevara, in San Pablo, Peru, Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Known by its acronym, Frepap is the political arm of a messianic religious group called the Israelites of the New Universal Pact, which merges Old Testament Christianity with Andean culture. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Congressional candidate Arturo Pereyra, of the Agricultural People's Front of Peru or Frepap, greets supporters accompanied by a person dressed as the party's symbol, a blue fish, in San Pablo, Peru, Tuesday, March 30, 2021. In a Jan. 26, 2020 special election to choose lawmakers, Frepap, the political arm of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, came from nowhere to stun prognosticators by winning 15 seats in the 130-seat legislature to become the third largest bloc. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
With the aid of a flashlight and kerosene flame, 12-year-old Zairi Olivia, a member of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, looks at The Children's Illustrated Bible, inside her house in Jose Carlos Mariategui, Peru, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. For more than 30 years, Israelite communities have popped up in remote Amazon forests as the faithful have migrated there from the Andes Mountains or from desert neighborhoods on Peru's Pacific coast, obeying their late leader's call to populate the rainforest region. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
The Ordonez family, members of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group, eat dinner illuminated by a kerosene flame in Jose Carlos Mariategui, Peru, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. The group believes its leader, Jonas Ataucusi Molina, is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and the Amazon is the promised land or the "land without evil," leading its faithful to populate remote forests bordering Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
An election poster promoting a congressional candidate from the Agricultural People's Front of Peru political party is displayed on a store front as a customer shows the owner, who rents out telephone services, the number she would like his wife to dial, in the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious community of Alto Monte de Israel, Peru, Sunday, March 28, 2021. The party, known as Frepap, has emerged as a potential favorite in Sunday's legislative elections amid widespread disgust with Peru's traditional politicians and an extremely fragmented electorate.  (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Pablo Rodrigo, second left, and some family family members, who belong to the messianic religious group called the Israelites of the New Universal Pact, make yucca or cassava root flour for selling, on their land in Jose Carlos Mariategui, Peru, Wednesday, March 31, 2021. "God says if you work, you will be flooded with bread. But if you are idle, you will be poor," said the farmer who several months ago bought an electricity generator and a computer to write his community's agreements. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Rosa Torres, a member of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact, cooks breakfast for her three daughters in their home in San Pablo, Peru, early Monday morning, March 29, 2021. The first people to join the religious group were poor Andean migrants, sometimes sick or orphaned, who had no contacts in the cities, experts say.  "They were drawn to the movement because it offered them a way to survive in communities, in agriculture," said Juan Ossio, professor of anthropology. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
A member of the Israelites of the New Universal Pact religious group poses for a photo after a heavy rain in Alto Monte de Israel, Peru, Sunday, March 28, 2021. The group believes the Amazon is the promised land or the "land without evil."  Experts say the surprise emergence of its party, the Agricultural People's Front of Peru known as Frepap, as a political force has to do with the roots it has sown and the proselytizing it has done in remote communities and poor neighborhoods. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
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