Catholic religious leaders and Nicaraguan activists celebrated, on their social networks, Pope Francis’ harsh criticism of Daniel Ortega, who was pointed out by a person who has “an imbalance”. Likewise, the Holy Father described the regime —which Ortega leads together with his wife Rosario Murillo— as a “communist and Hitlerian dictatorship.”
The auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Managua, Silvio José Báez Ortega, was satisfied that the Supreme Pontiff has also qualified as a “rude dictatorship” to the Ortega and Murillo regime.
“Today he (dad) He has told them what they are: a dictatorship of unbalanced, vulgar and anachronistic, in the Hitlerian and communist style”affirmed on Twitter the influential bishop, who has been out of Nicaragua for four years by decision of Pope Francis for security reasons.
The dictatorship of #Nicaragua he prides himself on quoting, greeting and congratulating Pope Francis. Today he has told them what they are: a dictatorship of unbalanced, vulgar and anachronistic, in the Hitlerian and communist style. I think it’s not the first time he’s seen them like this and it’s not too late to say so.
— Silvio José Báez (@silviojbaez) March 10, 2023
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“I think it is not the first time that (the Pope) sees them (the Ortega regime) like this and it is not too late to say so.”added the hierarch, who on February 15 became the second member of the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference to have his nationality revoked by the judicial authorities of his country and now resides in the United States.
The first was Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa and apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Estelí, both in northern Nicaragua, who a month ago was sentenced to more than 26 years in prison for alleged crimes considered “treason” and one day after refusing to be exiled by the Ortega government to US territory.
Bishop Baez said that so far “The Nicaraguan dictatorship prides itself on quoting, greeting and congratulating Pope Francis”.
This is how it should be… pic.twitter.com/KAYpVikAx9
— Edwing Roman (@EdwingRoman14) March 10, 2023
“Today Nero and Agrippina burn” In Nicaragua
“Today Nero and Agrippina burn with these words of the Holy Father, with which we have to call the regime (of Nicaragua): unbalanced, communist and Hitler of the 30s”, said the Nicaraguan priest, also denationalized, Uriel Vallejos, alluding to President Ortega and Vice President Murillo.
“This is how the guaranga must be”Edwing Román, another of the declared Nicaraguan priests, wrote on Twitter. “stateless”, “traitors of the homeland” and “fugitives from justice” in Nicaragua, who illustrated his comment with a blonde doll with her eyes and mouth wide open in surprise.
In an interview with the Argentine media InfobaePope Francis described as a “rude dictatorship” the Ortega regime, one month after the sentence of Bishop Álvarez to 26 years and four months in prison.
“With great respect, I have no choice but to think about an imbalance in the person who leads (Ortega). There we have a bishop in prison, a very serious man, very capable. He wanted to give his testimony and did not accept exile”Francis asserted in the interview from his residence in Santa Marta, in Vatican City, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his papacy.
Monsignor Álvarez was sentenced to more than 26 years in prison and transferred from house arrest to La Modelo prison, after refusing to get on the plane that would take him, along with 222 other released Nicaraguan political prisoners, to the United States, which provoked Ortega’s fury , who called it “superb”, “deranged” and “madman”.
“It is something that is outside of what we are experiencing, it is as if it were bringing the communist dictatorship of 1917 or the Hitlerite dictatorship of 1935, bringing the same here… They are a type of rude dictatorships. Or, to use a cute distinction from Argentina, guarangas”affirmed the highest authority of the Catholic Church.
Pope’s pronouncement in a “prudent time”
After the Ortega regime’s persecution against the Catholic Church worsened, human rights defenders and parishioners have demanded a forceful response from the Supreme Pontiff, who in September 2022 assured that there was a dialogue with Ortega. However, the answer came this Friday.
Researcher Martha Patricia Molina, who confirmed 396 attacks by the Ortega regime against the Catholic Church in the last four years, explained that the pope “has never been silent”who has remained praying for the situation in Nicaragua, and who “His current public statements have been made in a prudent time, when he observes that there are no ways out or means”.
The Police have prohibited Holy Week processions throughout the country, while maintaining intimidation against priests and parishioners, who have preferred to remain silent for fear of more reprisals. The religious celebrations that remember the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus are confined inside the temples without the right to replicas.
For Molina, the pope “He has made an excellent description of what the dictator (Ortega) is, when comparing him with one of the most disastrous characters in history such as Adolf Hitler.”. Other The priest, under anonymity, described as “shocking” the statements of the pope, who exhausted all evangelical advice in the face of the sociopolitical crisis in Nicaragua, which reached the Catholic Church.
“We felt like a silence that promoted a lot of criticism against the Church and against him – the Pope – but I have always stated that the Church has its ways, its methods… The Pope has his time, time belongs to God,” he said. .
The Supreme Pontiff made a critical-historical analysis when comparing the Ortega regime with bloody dictatorships, noting that in the 21st century, with the existence of democratic paths, it is not possible for the peoples to suffer, said the priest. He added that Pope Francis’ statements show that he was always aware of Nicaragua and that he exhausted all means.
Researcher Molina does not rule out that the regime reacts with “a bloodier response” towards the Catholic Church.
On February 21, Ortega described as “mafia” to the Church and accused it of being undemocratic for not allowing Catholics to elect the pope, cardinals, bishops and priests by direct vote.
Impact on international denunciation
The pronouncement of the holy father is given a week after the Group of Experts on Human Rights on Nicaragua (GHREN)will denounce in his final report that the Ortega regime has committed crimes against humanity in the last four years.
German jurist Jan-Michael Simonpresident of the GHREN, pointed out that the tactics of Ortega and Murillo, to stay in power since 2018, were like those that were analyzed during the Nuremberg trials —between 1945 and 1946—, in which officials and collaborators of the genocidal Adolf Hitler.
In this regard, Carlos Guadamuz, a member of the Nicaragua Nunca Más Human Rights Collective, said that the pope reaffirms “in your own accurate words” what is contemplated in the report, which also has a great impact at the level of the international community.
*With information from EFE.
