Nicaraguan government breaks diplomatic relations with Vatican

Since the beginning of March 2023, diplomatic relations between Nicaragua and the Holy See have been officially suspended. Pope Francis, with his statements, openly expressed his "sadness" for the recent 26-year prison sentence of Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Álvarez, calling Ortega's regime "grotesque, communist, Hitlerian". The Central American country breaks relations in this way after 160 years of peaceful coexistence. After years of attacking the local church, in April 2018 church members began denouncing the massacre of young students perpetrated by the Managua government and its paramilitaries. The Episcopal Conference presented Ortega with a document detailing a series of changes it considered necessary to restore democracy and the rule of law, to which the President of Nicaragua responded by accusing his bishops of being coup plotters. The socialism of the XXI century, ruled by the Ortega-Murillo couple, in 2022 expels the apostolic nuncio of the Vatican in Managua, Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, forcing him to leave the country immediately. Relations already suspended for years and have now been formalized. "The Government of Reconciliation and National Unity of our Nicaragua, blessed and always free - we learn from a government communiqué - proposes a suspension of diplomatic relations between the Vatican State and the Republic of Nicaragua".

The Central American country joins those who are not "friends" of the Vatican, falling into a group of very selective countries such as North Korea, Laos, and the Taliban etc. Some claim that breaking or suspension is almost akin to a declaration of war. What will be the implications of this unexpected suspension of relations?

Courtesy Martha Patricia Molina

Martha Patricia Molina

We met Avv. Human rights defender and author of the book "Nicaragua: a persecuted Church?", Martha Patricia Molina.

Recently, the United States published an investigation into human rights abuses and violations in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela denouncing executions, torture and the disappearance of opponents of the regime. What do you think?

I believe that all the condemnations that the Sandinista dictatorship receives in this context contribute more to completely eradicating this evil that we have had since the 80s, because Daniel Ortega never really left power. In the 80s we benefited from a period of peace with President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, but during her mandate she continued to govern from below. I think that all these studies, analyses and condemnations are a contribution from the international community and certainly serve. Now, the international community, in the political spheres, constantly condemns the dictatorship, but at the same time finances it through multilateral financial organizations. So these funds that the dictatorship receives keep it in power.

Give me an example...

Money is not used for public policy, but for populism and repression. And here's an example: this year the Nicaraguan Army and the National Police received a good increase in the general budget of the Republic. In other words, there is this double discourse that on the one hand condemns them, on the other finances them.

The Latin American continent is tinged with red with harsh consequences for the population. Is there a real change in the socialist countries of the region?

I believe that anything that smacks of socialism, at least in the experience we had in Nicaragua, is harmful. Harmful because it does not teach the workforce to work, but lets them believe that everything falls from the sky and everything is due in exchange for the servility shown by the population. So I think that in all the countries where socialism is being established they do not know what they are up against, at least in those countries like ours. In Latin America, unfortunately, we have never witnessed a history that put democracy at the center. And this is harmful, that is, in practice, it puts at the center a political party or a group of people who claim to be socialists, but who at the same time live as capitalists, that is, expect the people to live as socialists, but live themselves, first, as exclusive holders of capital.

With which countries does Nicaragua have relations?

Nicaragua has excellent, indeed excellent, diplomatic relations with its peers, that is, with dictatorships and authoritarian regimes like ours. In other words, we are talking about Venezuela, Cuba, Russia and some Asian countries. With them we love and get along. The Corruption Perceptions Index has generated more corruption in all countries that are very prone to corruption, and Nicaragua is one of the three most corrupt countries in Latin America. So, in addition to corruption, there is also impunity.

Diplomatic relations between Nicaragua and the Holy See have recently been suspended. Pope Francis in an interview declared that Ortega's government is "communist, Hitlerian and grotesque." What is the climate of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua?

The Pope only described what Nicaraguans and the international community already knew. The Vatican, by its own religious and doctrinal formation, aims to decentralize also in respect of what the internal Episcopal Conference, or the Episcopal Conference of each country, says. The Pope has sent numerous messages in this regard, but he has never exposed himself as on this last occasion, in which he correctly defined what this Sandinista dictatorship is. The Catholic Church, through the Vatican, has always sought dialogue in Nicaragua, bishops and priests have always spoken only of dialogue. But Daniel Ortega and his wife have no intention of dialogue, much less with the Catholic Church. Above all, they feel that the Catholic Church attacks them, denounces them and does not bless human rights violations. So Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo want a Church submissive to them, a Church that constantly flatter them, because priests and bishops do not agree to do so.

Do you think that the situation of the persecuted Church in Nicaragua will worsen even more?

These statements by the Pope have had a very strong impact on the Nicaraguan Catholic Church. In the study "Nicaragua, a persecuted Church", until October 2022, 396 attacks of all kinds against the Church were recorded. I am currently working on the third edition, which I will probably publish after Holy Week, which means that these attacks and hostilities against the Catholic Church have not ceased. In fact, the most disastrous year for the Catholic Church was 2022, but in these few months the numbers have increased, and by a lot, compared to the same period last year. This gives me the certainty that this year will be perhaps three times worse than the previous year.

... Are you telling me that Ortega's socialist dictatorship is in full swing?

There is more surveillance over priests, bishops, not only those of Managua, but also from the interior of the country. There has been more harassment, more defamation, more theft in Catholic churches, also because of the rupture or suspension of relations with the Vatican. Let us remember that the Catholic Church survives thanks to the support that we lay people give, but also thanks to the international aid that other countries send, donations, etc. And then this happened eventually through the nunciature. This is no longer the case. Moreover, with the closure of Catholic universities, the whole scaffolding of the Catholic Church is even more complicated. The dictatorship has touched all fronts of the Church, because it is the only institution left in the country that announces and denounces, as the Gospel says, this type of arbitrariness. The dictatorship is absolutely eradicating all democratic spaces.

What is the current situation of Monsignor Rolando José Álvarez Lagos?

The dictatorship ordered him to be transferred to prison. After that, for a long time, the family did not know what was happening to them, but two days ago the dictatorship made a staging. They presented him and allowed him to eat with his two brothers, made a spectacular set-up, put up tents. They created a sumptuous environment, he dressed as if he were celebrating mass. The dictatorship is good with these things, at making these montages because it has done the same thing with the previous political prisoners who have been exiled, to be exact 222, whose nationality has also been taken away. We know that in those prisons, where Rolando José Álvarez is also located, more than 38 methods of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment are practised; and it is true that recently, when Monsignor Rolando José Álvarez was introduced, it did not seem that they had beaten him, but looking at him he seems increasingly debilitated. I mean, I know the bishop personally, and I know he's not like that.