for the father Rafael Bermudez, Nicaraguan priest in exile, the escalation of repression against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua reflects the desperation of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. He points out that the dictatorial couple “is wounded and the problem is that when a beast is wounded it is trying to tear apart, to destroy whatever it is.”
In an interview for the podcast NOW of Article 66the religious maintained that “all that bravado, a word that they themselves (Ortega and Murillo) have used will lead them to failure, because you have failed their intelligence.”
In addition, the priest Bermúdez revealed that the Ortega administration is not only imprisoning and banishing religious, but also that, through the General Directorate of Migration and Immigration, it has denied at least three religious to process their passport.
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«We are practically asking for a priest to come out and that they have doubts or that they know that he helped or is helping the community, a priest who comes out is not going to give him an exit, without mentioning that I already know that some religious who have gone to process his passport They have been denied,” he explained.
«I am not saying that it is generalized, but there have been some situations already, I do not know if there will be more, I am aware of three priests, who sent them to study, I say to study because they approved the request and then at the time of delivery, They told them that they were reviewing their situation,” stressed the exiled priest, who described this action as “a delaying attitude” of the Nicaraguan dictatorship.
He stressed that “we must be aware, it is reality. No one wants to go into exile because it is not easy. No, it is not easy to go like this, like someone who says here I come and you are not known or anything, here I come to serve, here I come to be welcomed into this diocese, it is not easy».
“We have the same time as lay people, when we arrive in a country you even need a migration work permit from the country where you are going and begin to comply with everything that country mandates, that is, not only the part of the Church, that is why I say that it is not easy for the brothers to take the path (of exile), but many times you have to do the will of God, which is to trust in God and set out on the path and there the gospel is fulfilled, “he added.
Ortega’s paranoia
The priest Rafael Bermúdez also pointed out that “the same people who are serving them (Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo) out of necessity, out of hunger, out of search for well-being, out of ambition, for whatever it is, we see that they are practicing the güeguense, It is not one or two who are leaving the ranks» of the dictatorship.
He stressed that factors such as “hunger, stomach, insecurity, fear, despair, unemployment” are making the servile and supporters of the Ortega Murillo regime react, some have dared to denounce the misdeeds of the dictatorship, however others have managed to flee the country and others remain imprisoned.
Likewise, he argued that “the situation is becoming very uncomfortable” for Daniel Ortega and his wife, “it is getting complicated and we are looking at the results, because strong people who have been at their service, magistrates, this same spokesman, and we do not know how many more people will be being watched in one way or another today”, due to the paranoia of the dictatorship that someone else will betray him.