The Honorable Ron DeSantis
Governor of Florida
The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
Dear Governor DeSantis,
We write as Latino evangelical bishops, pastors, and church members representing congregations across the State of Florida. We come to you with the urgency that our reverence for life demands to ask: pause executions, without delay.
Our communities hold firmly to the belief that human life is to be protected from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. Yet this year in Florida, sixteen people have been executed, a pace that puts the state ahead of every other state in the country combined, and more executions are already scheduled. Last year, Florida executed nineteen people, the most in the state's modern history.
It is especially troubling to consider who is being executed. Among them are people whose stories trouble our conscience. Military veterans who served this country have gone to the death chamber. So have people the courts themselves recognized as suffering from extreme mental or emotional disturbance. So have elderly and infirm prisoners, so diminished by age and decades of incarceration that they can no longer bathe or dress without help. None of those realities erase responsibility for wrongdoing. But a state that executes its own veterans and its most mentally and physically broken citizens has lost sight of what justice requires. Mercy remains a Christian obligation even in the face of grave harm.
Scriptures reveal the missional character of God’s justice, which consistently restrains human violence and protects the possibility of restoration. The Cities of Refuge reveal a God who slows retaliation, safeguards life, and keeps space open for truth, repentance, and communal repair. The death penalty closes that space forever, declaring a life beyond redemption and a community beyond healing. For a church called to participate in God’s reconciling mission, such finality cannot align with the justice of the kingdom, where mercy and restoration are never taken off the table.
"This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live." Deuteronomy 30:19
No human system is free from error. Florida has freed thirty people from death row after they were wrongly convicted, more than any other state in the nation. They include men who came within days or hours of execution for crimes they did not commit. For the state to take an innocent life is a grave sin, and one that no court can undo and no apology can reach. Scripture warns us solemnly against shedding innocent blood, and that warning falls on governments as surely as it falls on men.
We carry in our prayers every family that has lost someone to violence. Their loss is real and their grief is lasting. We hold them before God, and pledge to keep company with all whose lives have been broken by violence.
We do not raise here every question that surrounds capital punishment. We ask you to please show mercy and simply pause all executions. A pause will allow Florida to reckon honestly with what is being done, to sit with the doubt it cannot fully put to rest, to weigh the true cost borne by surviving families, to take account of the full life of each person on death row, and to leave room for the mercy and restoration that God has not yet finished offering.
A genuine reverence for life calls us toward mercy. As Latino evangelical faith communities representing hundreds of thousands of believers across this state, we stand ready to walk alongside our public servants, our communities, and one another in seeking a better way.
We ask only this: God has set before you life and death. Today, we ask that you would choose life, stop executions and let mercy have room.
With pastoral conviction and deep respect, on behalf of the undersigned Latino evangelical bishops, pastors, and church members of Florida,
Bishop Tomas Acevedo
Iglesia de Dios Fuente de Redención, Tampa
Andres Romero
Bishop, DCFM, Orlando
Rev. Esteban Rodríguez
Bishop and Pastor, Iglesia Pan de Vida, Kissimmee
Carlos Trabal
Bishop, Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal M.I., Kissimmee
Bishop Dr. Saturnino Gonzalez
Senior Pastor Emeritus, El Calvario Church; Former District Superintendent, Florida Multicultural District of the Assemblies of God
Rev. Ricardo Cortijo
Lead Pastor, La Viña Church, DeLand
Angel Maldonado
Lead Pastor, Promesa Church, Orlando
Abiud Caba
Senior Pastor, Centro Cristiano Shalom, Davenport
Rev. Juan Carlos Calderón
Asst. Presbyter, Assemblies of God; Senior Pastor, UNC Church (Un Nuevo Comienzo), Palm Beach County
Rev. Santiago Panzardi
Presbyter, Lead Pastor Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal M.I., Hollywood
Tomas Miranda
Senior Pastor, Iglesia Oasis, Orlando
Dr. Ada Rivera
Pastor Emerita, Church of God, Tampa
Jeanette Rios
Senior Pastor, Iglesia Agape, Osteen
Rev. Omar Johnson
Founder and Pastor, Freedom House, Winter Springs
Rev. Virgilio Rios
Pastor, Agape Church, Orange City
Rev. Jimiro Feliciano
Rosa de Saron, Fort Myers
Antonio Santana
Assoc. Pastor, Iglesia Siquem, Orange City
Kevin Vazquez
Family Pastor, New Life Church, Sanford
David Rivera
Pastor, Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal M.I., Tampa
Christian DeJesus
Missions Pastor, Calvario Church, Orlando
Anthony Guadalupe
Minister, Deeper Fellowship, Orlando
Jessica Guadalupe
Pastor, Deeper Fellowship, Orlando
Cynthia Jackson
Pastor, Tampa
Ivan Garcia
Pastor, Centro Familia, Brandon
Tony Hernandez
Pastor, Vida Nueva Church, Sanford
Irene Familia
Pastor, Iglesia Gracia y Gloria, Sanford
Esther Omeben
Pastor, Reclaim Church, Alachua
Leila Rosado
Pastor, Vida Community Church, Dade City
Yamil Ramos
Pastor, Calvario Church, Orlando
Fersan Canelas
Pastor, Fortaleza, Tampa
Blanca Canelas
Pastor, Fortaleza, Tampa
Neftali Maldonado
Pastor, La Vida Church, Fruitland Park
Naomy Santana
Pastor, Siquem Church, Orange City
Carlos Reyes
Pastor, House of Redemption, Interlachen
Laura Olivo
Senior Pastor, Gracia Community Church, Winter Springs
Maritza Duran
Pastor, Iglesia Nueva Vida, Kissimmee
Sonia Rodriguez
Pastor, Kissimmee
Aimee Hernandez
Pastor, Oviedo
Ruben Rodriguez
Lead Pastor, Leesburg
Ivelise De Jesus
Lead Pastor, Leesburg
Dianeliz Kercado Negron
Pastora, Saint Cloud
Angel Sanchez Colon
Pastor, Saint Cloud
Melanie Cortijo
Pastor, Iglesia La Viña, DeLand
Annette Reyes
Prophetess, House of Redemption, Interlachen
Leonardo Rivera-Andino
Elder, Visible Church, Kissimmee
Xiomara Vazquez
Family Pastor, New Life Church, Sanford
Jessenia Rodriguez
Children’s Ministry Leader, The House of Redemption, Interlachen
Jaanel Berrick
Deacon, Reclaim Church, Alachua
Jose Cuadrado
Lider de Misiones, Reaching Hands Christian Center, Orange City
Matthew Skolar
Ministry Leader, Reclaim Church, Alachua
Leenoshka Rodriguez
Administrative Leader, Iglesia Vida Nueva, Deltona
Harelyn Rodriguez
Program Director, Iglesia Pan de Vida, Kissimmee
Katrina Baker
Usher and Fiscal Lead, Silver Springs, FL
Ines Figueroa
Leader, House of Redemption, Interlachen
Judith Rodriguez
Administrator, ABBA Church (Assemblies of God), Miami
Eliu Hernandez
CCM Nexus Coordinator, Calvario, Orlando
Victor Rosario
Usher, House of Redemption, Interlachen
Laquetta Kassab
Church Leader, Ignite Life Center, Gainesville
Juan A. Mezquita
Usher, La Viña Church, DeLand
Idiltrudis Torres
Presidente, Davenport
Evangeline Mendoza
Church Leader, Deltona
Nitza Colon
Chaplaincy Teacher, Apopka
William Santiago
Church Leader, CTC, Kissimmee
José Grau
Missionary Leader, St. Cloud
Jeanette Torres
Esposa de Pastor, LaBelle
Agustin Quiles
President, Mission Talk
Pedro Rosa
Church Leader, Kissimmee
Roberto Anglero
Church Leader, Kissimmee
Sylvia Angulo
Church leader, The Visible Church, Kissimmee
Angel Alvarez
Member, Orlando
Maria Fernanda Gomez Castaneda
Church Leader, Calvario Church, St. Cloud
Mario Fernandez
Missionary, The Light, West Palm Beach
Rafael Castro
Usher, Reaching Hands Cristian Center, DeBary
Caleb Medina
Church Leader, Vida Nueva, Deltona
Katherine Soto
House of Redemption, Palatka
Jessica Nunez
Church Leader, Nueva Vida Church, Kissimmee
Valerie Busto
Law School Student, Tallahassee
Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Rios
Passion Center, Kissimmee
Sarah Ingold
Church Leader, La Viña Church, DeLand
Grace M. Mojica
General Secretary, Iglesia La Viña, DeLand
Nancy Rodriguez
Church Leader, Calvario, Orlando
Gabriel Soltren
Church Leader, Calvario, Orlando
Carmen Soltren
Church Leader, Calvario, Orlando
Rebecca Johnson
Freedom House Orlando, Winter Springs
Shelly Vazquez
Teacher, Calvario Church, Orlando
Kevin Quinones
Volunteer, Freedom House, Orlando
Gabriela Nunez
Volunteer, Freedom House, Orlando
Out of State Signers:
Jack Miranda
Director, Jesse Miranda Center, La Mirada, California
Bishop Lidelmar E. Caceres
Church of God of Prophecy, Lynn, Massachusetts
Bishop Eleuterio Prieto
Northwest Latin Conference, Grandview, Washington
Joia Thornton
Director, Faith Leaders of Color Coalition (FLOCC), Atlanta, Georgia
Bishop Dr. Elias T. Rodriguez
Church of God of Prophecy, Calhoun, Georgia
Rev. Carlos L. Malave
Founder and President, Latino Christian National Network, Concord, Virginia
Jacqueline Tavarez
Pastor, Raleigh, North Carolina
Rev. Rigoberto Ramos
Pastor, Cleveland, Tennessee
Dr. Lizanne Espina
Minister, Bronx, New York
Joel Araujo
Mission Talk
