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This weekend, the Brazilian ayahuasca community woke up to the news that União do Vegetal (UDV), the largest Brazilian ayahuasca religion in terms of numbers, is going through a crisis after some of its most prominent leaders demanded public support for Bolsonaro and the coup against democracy.
The disclosure, which is in plain view, of a powerful group of UDV members linked to Bolsonarism, supporters of a coup d’état, is stunning, given UDV’s beautiful history. It was UDV that started the heroic battle for religious freedom and fundamental rights in the United States, culminating in the victory against the U.S. government in the Supreme Court. This victory granted UDV the right to consume ayahuasca in religious ceremonies throughout the United States, one of the most significant achievements of the ayahuasca community worldwide.
This news is also impacting because UDV has a very pioneering focus on environmental actions in the ayahuasca universe, including environmental education, permaculture, agroforestry, the preservation of springs, bioconstruction, and a sustainable management of the plants that are used to prepare hoasca.
How is it possible that such a highly regarded institution, recognized as an example of organizational management, has reached the point of experiencing an internal schism because of the fascist postures of some of its most prominent members?
How is it possible that such a highly regarded institution, recognized as an example of organizational management, has reached the point of experiencing an internal schism because of the fascist postures of some of its most prominent members? A more detailed sociological analysis makes it clear that the current crisis is not a surprise, nor did it happen by chance. It is the result of political stances developed and cultivated over several years. For decades, UDV has adopted a considerably sectarian position in the ayahuasca field, seeking to distinguish itself from other groups as more authentic, truthful, and serious, and discrediting institutions and people who have different viewpoints.
According to many members of the group, the uses of ayahuasca in traditions and contexts other than UDV’s are considered illegitimate and as spurious appropriations of UDV’s Superior Master’s teachings. They call ayahuasca leaders others than from UDV “masters of curiosity,” even though UDV was founded after other ayahuasca religions, and it is a much more recent phenomenon, compared to beginning of the use of ayahuasca by Indigenous peoples and riverine populations.
There are UDV documents and speeches from important masters that condemn homosexuality. In addition, LGBTQIA+ people cannot assume a leadership role in the organization, just as women cannot ascend to the position of master (with the exception that confirms the rule, Mestre Pequenina, the wife of the religion’s founder).
This sectarian posture was accompanied by the difficulties of dealing with diversity and with the plurality of people’s existential conditions, along with the promotion of a panoptic surveillance of its members in matters related to their personal and affective life. There are UDV documents and speeches from important masters that condemn homosexuality. In addition, LGBTQIA+ people cannot assume a leadership role in the organization, just as women cannot ascend to the position of master (with the exception that confirms the rule, Mestre Pequenina, the wife of the religion’s founder).
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This standpoint—which also, until very recently, viewed with great reserve any scientific or academic research on the institution carried out by people who did not officially represent the group—was part of an expansionist project that sought institutional recognition by public authorities. As a result, the institution promoted a controversial alliance with economic and political elites. Not only did they cherish members who belonged to the most privileged classes, they also flirted with parliamentarians whose agenda did not consider the desires and needs of the other ayahuasca groups and traditions.
In its request for the patrimonialization of ayahuasca in Brazil, for example, UDV, along with other groups, excluded Indigenous peoples and ICEFLU (the largest branch of the Santo Daime religion) from the process.
Like a serpent’s egg waiting to be hatched, these institutional choices and paths are now beginning to take a toll on UDV.
This approach surpassed the control of UDV’s bureaucracy, who are proud of the institution’s cohesion and strength. It also gave rise to reactionary and anti-democratic movements within the institution, with prominent figures such as masters Monteiro and Luis Felipe Belmonte, who once held the most prestigious position within UDV, openly supporting a political coup that would be led by Jair Bolsonaro.
This alliance invaded religious spaces and ceremonies, causing an internal schism in the institution, which, in the last four years, was unable to curb such fascist impulses and control these powerful members. At the same time, the then-deputy Jessica Salles, who has ties to UDV, proposed, out of the blue, a bill to legalize ayahuasca in Brazil, without any dialogue with other ayahuasca traditions and, even worse, without consulting any representatives of Indigenous peoples, the immemorial guardians of the medicines of the forest.
This bill had several twists and turns, until deputy Paula Belmonte, wife of the aforementioned sponsor of Bolsonaro’s campaign, Luis Felipe Belmonte, acted as the bill’s spokesperson. The bill was eventually shelved after pressure from various ayahuasca religions and Indigenous leaders.
Justice be done, antidemocratic, authoritarian, and fascist views are not exclusive to UDV. They also pervade other ayahuasca groups, such as Santo Daime, neoshamanic, and neoayahuasquiero groups.
Nevertheless, UDV became the subject of the article “Religião que usa chá de ayahuasca vive crise após mestres cobrarem apoio a Bolsonaro e a golpe” [Ayahuasca Religion Experiences Crisis After Leaders Demand Support to Bolsonaro and the Coup d’État] in Folha de São Paulo, one of Brazil’s most important newspapers. The article addresses the internal problems that UDV is currently facing, stating that, in the midst of gaining public prestige and celebrating solemn sessions in the chamber of deputies, a serpent’s egg was also being hatched.
A sad situation, considering the beautiful and brave history of UDV, which, in 2022, has celebrated the centenary of its founder, Mestre Gabriel, a Northeasterner of humble origins. Nevertheless, every cloud has a silver lining. This issue gives us the chance to understand that the ayahuasca field is also built by social ties, by political views, and by the way we take part in it.
Fortunately (and this is important to stress), among UDV’s members, there are many who did not agree with the shift towards the extreme right of some of its most important members, and even had the courage to publish an open letter in which they expose the incompatibility of the Bolsonarist discourse with the principles cultivated by Mestre Gabriel.
As anthropologist Ronaldo Almeida argues, religion and politics overlap, and the religion of Bolsonarism gets stronger by dividing the “brotherhood.” Fortunately (and this is important to stress), among UDV’s members, there are many who did not agree with the shift towards the extreme right of some of its most important members, and even had the courage to publish an open letter in which they expose the incompatibility of the Bolsonarist discourse with the principles cultivated by Mestre Gabriel. This letter, in addition to the initiative of other people who have not refrained from taking a critical stance in relation to the views of some UDV members, has strengthened a reaction within the institution, which has recently removed some of its explicitly denialist and coup-plotting members from prominent positions.
We also wish that this pressing situation becomes an invitation to the ayahuasca community to take a stand for democracy, establishing a true interreligious dialogue recognizing the rights and causes of native peoples, and welcoming diversity.
We salute the initiative of those who stress that UDV’s history should not be confused with authoritarian and anti-democratic stances, and we hope that the current crisis is an opportunity for UDV to firmly resume its commitment to its values of light, peace, and love. We also wish that this pressing situation becomes an invitation to the ayahuasca community to take a stand for democracy, establishing a true interreligious dialogue recognizing the rights and causes of native peoples, and welcoming diversity.
Furthermore, we have had wonderful experiences with UDV, to which we offer our highest respect. We even hope to be able to return one day, and that the current board of directors has the necessary firmness and courage to reaffirm its commitment to democracy, the environment, and human rights.
Finally, we hope that the current crisis may turn into a seed for a prosperous and welcoming tomorrow in this noble mission of UDV to bring peace to the world.
Art by Karina Alvarez
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