The decision to remove the dean of the diplomatic corps in Nicaragua from the apostolic nuncio of the Holy See, taken by President Daniel Ortega on November 16, is an affront to the Nicaraguan Catholic Church that has criticized him for human rights violations. considered this Friday the former ambassador Edgar Parrales.
Ortega reformed the State protocol, through decree 21-2021 that recognized the representative of the pope as the dean of the diplomatic corps in article six and, in his absence, the most senior accredited ambassador. The new decision states that there should be no distinction between heads of mission and calls for “equal treatment among all.”
The current nuncio in Nicaragua is Waldemar Stalisnaw Sommertag, who participated as a witness and mediator in the failed second national dialogue, between February and June 2019 in which the Sandinista ruler failed to comply with the agreements signed to release all political prisoners and suspend the police state, while repression intensified.
“This decision is one of political revenge. As the Episcopal Conference has an attitude, not of confrontation with the Government, but of defense of ethical, moral and civic values that are in line with religion and practically the international community has been surrounding them (the Government), then they are annoying, ”said Parrales, a former priest who served as Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS) in the first Sandinista government.
Parrales explained that the tradition for this position to fall to the nuncio is Latin American and is not regulated by international law and remained so in the years of the Somoza dictatorship and even in the first Sandinista government between 1984-1990.
However, another former Nicaraguan diplomat commented that “it was rather unusual for the nuncio to be the dean of the diplomatic corps. Even in cases like Costa Rica where the Catholic religion is official, he is usually the oldest ambassador ”.
In other countries, the dean is awarded to the diplomat who has the longest service, as was the case in the United States with the ambassador of the Somoza dictatorship, Guillermo Sevilla Sacasa, who held the post of dean for many years because he was the oldest, which it reflected the longevity of the regime.
Ortega’s decree reforming the State protocol in Nicaragua is published at a time when the international community has rejected the votes that allowed the president to continue in power, while demanding the restitution of citizens’ rights in order to repression.
Parrales added that, although it seems contradictory, Ortega’s decision could be positive. “As the popular saying goes, there is no good that does not come from bad. Although the Government has tried to offend the Catholic Church, in the person of the nuncio, this has meant to some extent shaking off the possibility that the governments use the offices of the nuncios before the diplomatic corps, for which I am happy to me personally that he is no longer the dean, “he added.
For his part, the former diplomat explained that “the deanship only affects how often you see the head of state. It does not confer rights and therefore, by losing the decan, the nuncio loses nothing.
Another former ambassador: “It’s clumsiness and ignorance”
Another former Nicaraguan ambassador, consulted by CONFIDENTIAL, who agreed to offer his comments from anonymity, considers Ortega’s resolution as an “act of clumsiness, ignorance and political malice” that seeks to harm the nuncio and the entire Catholic Church, whose bishops and priests have stood out in the defense of human rights.
The former diplomat found several contradictions in the regulations reformed by Ortega and in this “equal treatment”, which he is trying to impose, which he also considers perfectly compatible with an order of precedence that is required everywhere by diplomatic protocol and ceremonial.
“Dean is, according to the RAE,” the oldest member of a community, body, board, etc. ” In this sense, it is impossible to “cancel” the figure, as the reform aims to do, since it is derived from antiquity, a physical fact that cannot be canceled. In any case, what can be amended or annulled is the precedence, established in Article 7, and which gives the nuncio the first place, an article that the reform leaves intact, that is, it continues in force, “he said.
According to the former diplomat, this cancellation of the figure of the dean does not prevent the diplomatic corps from continuing to recognize the nuncio or the oldest ambassador as “dean” and from the latter continuing to carry out the coordination tasks that he carries out in practice.
In the decree, Ortega also establishes that the ambassadors and heads of missions are served by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but the Ministry of the Interior will now be the institution in charge of granting diplomatic, official and courtesy visas and for the nationalization of merchandise. The regulations issued by the General Directorate of Customs Services (DGSA) must be observed.
“Passing diplomatic visas to the Interior is very common in totalitarian governments and offers us a window to the future. I think the police won that game over the military who are closer to the Foreign Ministry, “said a former Nicaraguan diplomat.
