Mennonites are a close-knit Christian group that emerged in Europe after the Reformation, taking their name from Menno Simons, a Dutch priest who advocated separation from a wicked world. They have roamed in search of hands-off governments and land to farm ever since. In the 20th century they spread across the Americas. Perhaps half a million live there now, speaking Low German, many in remote "colonies".
Mennonite colonies vary in theology and strictness, but share common elements. Each has a church and a school. The colony owns the land but sells slices to its members. Life revolves around mixed farming; individuals are taxed according to acres farmed and litres of milk sold. There is an administrative leadership, elected by landowning men, but it answers to the bishop, whom pastors elect from their own ranks, either by vote or drawing lots. According to Yann le Polain of McGill University in Montreal, well over 200 colonies are spread across nine Latin American countries covering at least 3.9m hectares, an area greater than the Netherlands.
"Progressive" colonies, such as the giant ones in Paraguay, are plugged into the wider world: their inhabitants go into politics and do consulting for foreign investors. Conservative colonies, concentrated in Bolivia, are more austere. Transport is limited to horse-drawn carts. Technology—including mobile phones—is mostly shunned. People leave school at 13. Some homes have no book apart from the Bible.
Bolivia is the heartland for conservative Mennonites. Mennonites are less than 1% of Paraguay's population but own some 8% of the land there. Their colonies are poles of agribusiness, with cheese factories and meat-processing plants. Visitors to Bolivian colonies describe a pale, blond population travelling in from remote farming communities to Santa Cruz, Bolivia's largest city, to buy seeds, fertiliser and tractor parts.
Die Mennonitische Post is a newspaper written by Mennonites, for Mennonites. It is produced in German in Canada and distributed across the Americas. It is published twice monthly and sold in almost every colony. For conservative Mennonites it is often one of their only links to the wider world. It is written in simple language; some use it to learn to read.
The paper was set up in 1977 to connect scattered Mennonite communities. Kennert Giesbrecht edited it for almost 22 years. About half of each edition is given over to letters, some handwritten, which can take months to arrive. An August 2025 issue included a letter from a colony in the Peruvian Amazon that is a 20-hour boat ride from the nearest city, and another from Angola, where a first African colony was recently established.
In 2002 the Post sold 5,000 copies of each issue; by 2025 it sells 10,000. Demography bodes well: a conservative Mennonite couple may have eight children.
Having a wonderful wine, wish you were beer.