The President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, has strongly attacked the bishops of the country. In his speech yesterday, on the occasion of the national day marking the 39th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution, the President said before the authorities – including the Apostolic Nuncio Mgr. Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag – and the population that the Nicaraguan Bishops “have facilitated coup attempts against the Government”. Referring to a recent letter sent by the Bishops to the President, Mr Ortega added: “I thought they were mediators, but they were actually siding with the coup leaders, they were involved in their plot”. The Bishops in their letter suggested giving a boost to the democratic life of the country by calling early elections.
Mr Ortega mocked the Day of Prayer and Fasting called by the Church, saying: “Cast out the demons in your own house”. He then explained that many churches had been occupied because they were storing weapons, and concluded: “I regret very much to say this, because I appreciate the Bishops, I appreciate and respect them, I am a Catholic”, but “unfortunately, there are always some who wish to impose the line of confrontation instead of mediation”.
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The Auxiliary Bishop of Managua, Mgr. Silvio José Báez, replied in a tweet: “The Church does not suffer for being slandered, attacked or persecuted. She suffers for those who have been assassinated, for those families that are crying, for those unjustly detained and for those who flee repression. We pray and we will always be at their side in the name of Jesus”. After the president’s remarks, it is increasingly unlikely that national dialogue will resume. It was Mr Ortega himself who had asked the Bishops to participate as mediators and witnesses in the negotiations.
Some sources told SIR news agency that the anniversary on 19 July was also celebrated in the city of Masaya, which has been at the centre of anti-government protests and was recaptured by government forces on Tuesday. Mr Ortega’s forces celebrated “with chants, gunshots and firecrackers”, shouting the slogan “Daniel se queda” (Daniel stays). The same sources claim that pro-government paramilitaries “were joined by people from other neighbouring countries”. It is difficult to establish where they come from, but in recent days, there have been reports of Venezuelan and Cuban mercenaries.