Why be afraid of Islamic radicalism?

By: Hugo Marcelo Balderrama - 24/12/2025

Guest columnist.
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In my early childhood, I was raised by my Catholic and conservative grandmother (she was a member of Opus Dei). Also, with a grandmother who owned a beautiful and well-stocked library, my childhood was spent surrounded by books, almost daily Mass, and praying the rosary several times a week. I looked up to Marcelina, as we called the family matriarch, as a role model, admiring her knowledge, her character, and her business acumen. I learned to read and write around the age of four or five; math took a little longer; I don't think it's necessary to clarify that she was the one who taught me.

What's the point of all this nostalgic introduction?

Because my grandmother, especially to the woke movement, would be a radical and dangerous, a fanatic who should be imprisoned. In fact, in England, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, a woman who used to pray outside abortion clinics, was arrested using those arguments.

Although, with the support of ADF International, an organization dedicated to defending freedom of thought, Vaughan-Spruce obtained compensation from the West Midlands Police Command, concerns remain, as this is not an isolated incident, but rather a consistent pattern of hostility towards Christianity.

However, the attitude of Wokism towards Islam is completely different, as it ironically condemns most of the progressive flags that are so fashionable with death.

According to the Pew Research Center, there are 1.9 billion Muslims in the world, and they have the highest population growth rate globally. Of that total, 25% are jihadist radicals, some 475 million people. To put this into perspective, Bolivia has a population of approximately 12 million. This means that the number of Muslim fighters is equivalent to 39 times the country's population. This explains why radical groups like the Islamic State and Hamas can so easily establish armed cells around the world.

Just a quarter of a century ago, when I was in my early university years, talking about the presence of Muslims in Bolivia seemed improbable. However, especially after the coca grower Morales and his cronies seized power, our country's geopolitical orientation shifted, as we abandoned the pursuit of integration into Western markets and instead aligned ourselves with the Iranian theocracy.

Indeed, Evo Morales was the first Bolivian president to visit Iran. Likewise, the security agreements and the opening of the Anti-Imperialist Military School, financed by the ayatollahs, raised alarms in neighboring countries and international security research centers. In this regard, John Griffiths, head of research at AthenaLab, explains:

The renewed rapprochement between Bolivia and Iran in May 2023 should be of concern to Chile, because while we know an agreement was signed, its contents remain unclear. Indeed, this opacity is one of the most worrying aspects, because a security and defense agreement involves advisory services, technology transfer, and could encompass a range of other things, such as training, drone development, and rocketry—areas in which the Iranians have considerable expertise.

For her part, María José Mora, an expert on the Middle East and an academic at the Institute of History of the University of the Andes, comments:

The truth is that Iran had never been particularly interested in Latin America, but that interest began to grow once the sanctions imposed by the United States and the West as a result of its nuclear program started to tighten. Consequently, it sought partners in Latin America to help it circumvent its isolation. And that is where it began to increase its political and economic ties with certain Latin American countries, especially with the dictatorships of 21st-century socialism.

In closing, while the militants of Wokism strive to destroy Western history and culture, to the point of treating geniuses like Thomas Jefferson as genocidal figures, Muslims are conquering our countries; for example, Europe no longer exists. We are replacing the values ​​of freedom and life with those of subjugation and death. Do you want that for your children and grandchildren? I don't.

«The opinions published herein are the sole responsibility of its author».