FRONT ROYAL, VA — The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, STL, president of Human Life International, (HLI) today condemned death threats made against Archbishop Antonio Arregui Yarza, of Guayaquil, President of the Ecuadorian Episcopal Conference, and Amparo Medina, president of Ecuador's Pro-Life Action Foundation, the Ecuadorian affiliate of Human Life International.

Euteneuer said, “A ‘warning’ was sent to our colleague, Amparo Medina: a shoebox containing a dead rat and the message ‘death to pro-lifers’ with a longer letter placed at her door threatening to kill her.” The threats result from their opposition to pro-abortion and anti-family language in the nation's proposed new constitution.

The letter contained the message, "Remember that accidents exist, remember that accidental deaths happen daily in our country. DO NOT CONTINUE YOUR ANTI-WOMAN AND HOMOPHOBIC CAMPAIGN...death to traitors, death to those who oppose the nation, DEATH OR REVOLUTION." (Emphasis in the original.)

In another incident, the severed head of a dog with a Eucharistic Host in its mouth was found in a Catholic chapel as a warning to clergy who dare to speak out. It is believed that this and similar actions were instigated by comments by Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa.

“Clearly,” Euteneuer said, “These attempts at intimidation go beyond death threats to cruelty and blasphemy. Anyone who doubts the criminal, diabolical, nature of the international abortion lobby needs look no further.

“These threats just confirm what we always known about the promoters of abortion—they are violent and deadly.” Euteneuer said. “We categorically condemn any threats of violence against our affiliate, and we stand with the valiant priests and bishops in Ecuador who are bravely defending the right to life against systematic campaigns and intrusion from foreign influences trying to impose western pro-abortion values on Latin America.
“We call on President Correa to cease his attacks against the Church and on the people of Ecuador to reject this heinous constitution in the referendum on Sept 28th,” Euteneuer said.