Editing Human sacrifice (section)

=== The Americas ===

==== Brazil ====
In the city of [[Altamira, Pará|Altamira]], State of [[Pará]], several children were raped, with their genitalia mutilated for what appear to be ritual purposes, and then stabbed to death, [[Altamira child emasculations|between 1989 and 1993]].<ref>{{cite book |first=María Isabel |last=Carrasco Cara Chards |title=The UFO cult that murdered 19&nbsp;boys because they thought they were evil |date=27 April 2017 |url=http://culturacolectiva.com/superior-universal-alignment-ufo-cult-murders/ |access-date=16 June 2017}}</ref> It is believed that the boys' sexual organs were used in rites of [[black magic]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Rocha |first=Jan |date=5 September 2003 |title=Brazil occult sex killer jailed |website=[[BBC News]] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3084532.stm |access-date=16 June 2017}}</ref>

==== Chile ====
In the coastal village Collileufu, native [[Mapuche|Lafkenches]] carried out a ritual human sacrifice in the days following the [[1960 Valdivia earthquake]]. Collileufu, located in the [[Budi Lake]] area, south of [[Puerto Saavedra]], was highly isolated in 1960. The Mapuche spoke primarily [[Mapudungun]]. The community had gathered in Cerro La Mesa, while the lowlands were struck by successive [[tsunami]]s. Juana Namuncura Añen,<ref name=mapuinfo/><ref name=australrios/> a local [[Machi (Shaman)|machi]], demanded the sacrifice of the grandson of Juan Painecur, a neighbor, in order to calm the earth and the ocean.<ref name=austral>{{cite web |title=El cristo mapuche se perdió en el mar |date=23 May 2010 |website=[[El Diario Austral de Valdivia]] |url=http://www.australdelosrios.cl/prontus4_nots/site/artic/20100523/pags/20100523104628.html?s=www.australdelosrios.cl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707005843/http://www.australdelosrios.cl/prontus4_nots/site/artic/20100523/pags/20100523104628.html?s=www.australdelosrios.cl |archive-date=7 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author-link=Patrick Tierney (journalist) |last=Tierney |first=Patrick |title=The highest altar: Unveiling the mystery of human sacrifice |year=1989 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-013974-7}}</ref> The victim was 5&nbsp;year-old José Luis Painecur, ''called'' an "orphan" (''huacho'') because his mother had gone to Santiago, for employment as a [[domestic worker]], and left her son under the care of her father.<ref name=austral/>

José Luis Painecur had his arms and legs removed by Juan Pañán{{Who|date=June 2020}} and Juan José Painecur (the victim's grandfather), and was stuck into the sand of the beach like a stake. The waters of the [[Pacific Ocean]] then carried the body out to sea. The authorities only learned about the sacrifice after a boy in the commune of [[Nueva Imperial]] denounced to local leaders the theft of two horses; these were allegedly eaten during the sacrifice ritual.<ref name=austral/> The two men were charged with the crime and confessed, but later recanted. They were released after two years. A judge ruled that those involved in these events had "acted without free will, driven by an irresistible natural force of ancestral tradition."<ref name=mapuinfo>{{cite web |title=El Niño Inmolado |last=Zúñiga |first=Arturo |date=15 August 2001 |website=Mapuche |language=es |url=http://www.mapuche.info/news02/merc010815.html |access-date=18 September 2017}}</ref><ref name=australrios>{{cite web |title=El Cristo mapuche se perdió en el mar |last1=Carrillo |first1=Daniel |last2=Obreque |first2=Rodrigo |date=23 May 2010 |website=Diario Austral |language=es |url=http://www.australdelosrios.cl/prontus4_nots/site/artic/20100523/pags/20100523104628.html |access-date=18 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110416073208/http://australdelosrios.cl/prontus4_nots/site/artic/20100523/pags/20100523104628.html |archive-date=16 April 2011}}</ref> The story was mentioned in a ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine article, although with meagre detail.<ref>{{cite news |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |title=Chile: Asking for Calm |date=4 July 1960 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,869529,00.html |access-date=8 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100317104741/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C869529%2C00.html |archive-date=17 March 2010 }}</ref>

==== Mexico ====

During the 1980s, a case of serial murders that involved human sacrifices rituals occurred in [[Tamaulipas]], Mexico. The drug dealer and cult leader [[Adolfo Constanzo]]  orchestrated several executions during rituals that included the victims' dismemberment.<ref>{{cite web |title=Adolfo Constanzo |date=2 April 2014 |website=Biography.com |publisher=A&E Television Network |url=https://www.biography.com/people/adolfo-constanzo-408870 |access-date=1 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002115520/https://www.biography.com/people/adolfo-constanzo-408870 |archive-date=2 October 2017}}</ref>

Between 2009 and 2010, in [[Sonora]], Mexico, a [[serial killer]] named [[Silvia Meraz]] committed three murders in sacrifice rituals. With the help of her family, she beheaded two boys (both relatives) and one woman in front of an altar dedicated to [[Santa Muerte]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Children 'sacrificed' to Mexico's cult of 'Saint Death' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/mexico/9177633/Children-sacrificed-to-Mexicos-cult-of-Saint-Death.html |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |location=London |date=31 March 2012 |access-date=1 October 2017 }}</ref>

==== Panama ====
The "New Light Of God" sect in the town of El Terrón, [[Ngäbe-Buglé Comarca]], [[Panama]], believed they had a mandate from God to sacrifice members of their community who failed to repent to their satisfaction. In 2020, 5&nbsp;children, their pregnant mother, and a neighbor were killed and decapitated at the sect's church building, with 14&nbsp;other wounded victims being rescued. Victims were hacked with machetes, beaten with Bibles and cudgels, and burned with embers. A goat was ritually sacrificed at the scene as well. The cult's beliefs were a [[syncretism|syncretic]] blend of Pentecostalism with indigenous beliefs and some [[New Age]] ideas including emphasis on the [[third eye]]. A leader of the Ngäbe-Buglé region labeled the sect "satanic" and demanded its eradication.<ref name="Panama">{{cite web |title=Panama man pulled 2&nbsp;children from clutches of killer cult |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2020-01-17/panama-man-pulled-2-children-from-clutches-of-killer-cult}}</ref>