Envoy cites security as reason for withdrawal of missionaries

CARACAS, Venezuela — Visa problems is not the only reason The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has pulled foreign missionaries out of Venezuela, an American diplomat said.

U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield told the Venezuelan broadcaster Union Radio on Tuesday that the "security situation" also contributed to the church's decision.

"I understand the decision of the Mormon church," Brownfield said, noting that many LDS missionaries are only 19 years old. "The security situation is complicated," he said, without elaborating.

The church did not cite security among its reasons. It said in a statement that it had "experienced difficulties over the past few months in renewing visas and obtaining new visas for U.S. missionaries in Venezuela."

The church's decision comes nearly two months after the government of President Hugo Chavez said it was temporarily suspending the granting of visas for foreign missionaries to maintain more stringent controls over those permitted to work in the country.

"The visa situation is one reason they are leaving," Vivian Angulo, a church spokeswoman in Caracas, said Wednesday. "It's also due to the rotation of foreign missionaries who have finished their work here and will be replaced by Venezuelans."

The U.S. Embassy said 219 American missionaries from the LDS Church had left over the weekend.

Angulo said those who left also included Spanish and Colombia nationals. Many went on to other Spanish-speaking countries, while others returned to Canada and the United States, she said.

Dozens more foreign missionaries will be departing in the coming weeks, and soon only Venezuelan missionaries will remain, Angulo said. She said there had been about 500 missionaries in the country — including both foreigners and Venezuelans — before the departures.

"I'm sorry they are leaving," Brownfield told Union Radio. "I think it's important to have that kind of people-to-people contact."

The church estimates its membership in Venezuela at more than 128,800.

It was unclear whether similar situations had come up recently in other Latin American countries.

Government officials did not immediately comment on the departures of the LDS missionaries, or the current status of its visa policies for foreign missionaries.

Venezuela announced in August that it was temporarily suspending the granting of visas for foreign missionaries but denied the measure was specifically aimed at Americans.

That came after U.S. religious broadcaster Pat Robertson publicly called for Chavez's assassination. Robertson later apologized for that remark.