‘They stole my hope’: In Mexico, La Luz del Mundo survivors protest the closure of the investigation
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Naasón Joaquín, leader of the La Luz del Mundo evangelical church, is serving a sentence in the United States for child sexual abuse and faces new federal charges for organized crime, sex trafficking, and child pornography. The U.S. justice system defines the congregation as a cult and links it to money laundering activities. In Mexico, however, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) closed a seven-year investigation, claiming it found no grounds to prosecute any crime.
The victims of the Apostle of Jesus Christ, as Naasón Joaquín’s followers call him, feel betrayed. “I feel deceived. They stole my hope,” says Sochil Martin in a telephone interview. “The problem is that in Mexico there is a marriage, a pact, between the government and La Luz del Mundo,” she laments.
Martin and her husband, Sharim Guzmán, 40 and 41 years old respectively, were the first to speak out against the crimes committed by the leaders of the evangelical congregation. Their accusations have reached the authorities and have also become public knowledge; they have supported other victims, encouraging them to come forward; they have exposed the links between church members and the political and judicial apparatus; and through constant travel between Mexico and the United States, they have dedicated a large part of their lives to the pursuit of justice in both countries.
Read more https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-04-16/they-stole-my-hope-in-mexico-la-luz-del-mundo-survivors-protest-the-closure-of-the-investigation.html
Content retrieved from: https://english.elpais.com/international/2026-04-16/they-stole-my-hope-in-mexico-la-luz-del-mundo-survivors-protest-the-closure-of-the-investigation.html.
