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The Nicaraguan government reported through its Foreign Ministry that the possibility of suspending diplomatic relations between Managua and Vatican City has been considered. Pope Francis has been one of the harshest critics of the authoritarian regime of Daniel Ortega.
The Government of Nicaragua continues its campaign against opponents, but this time, in the diplomatic field.
One day after the Justice of that country sentenced Bishop Rolando Álvarez to 26 years and four months in prison, Pope Francis described the Executive of Daniel Ortega as a “rude dictatorship.” After that, the authorities of the Central American nation indicated that they are considering the “suspension of diplomatic relations” with the Vatican State.
“Given the information that has been disclosed by sources apparently linked to the Catholic Church, the Government of Reconciliation and National Unity of our Nicaragua, blessed and always free, states that between the Vatican State and the Republic of Nicaragua a suspension of diplomatic relations,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
The text was published after last Friday, March 10, the Argentine portal Infobae published an interview with the pontiff on the occasion of the ten years of his papacy in which Francisco assures that he had “no other choice than to think” that ” in an imbalance of the person who leads (Nicaragua)”, in relation to Ortega. And he added “there we have a bishop in prison, a very serious man, very capable. He wanted to give his testimony and did not accept exile.”
In the interview, Francisco also assured that “it is something outside of what we are experiencing, as if it were a communist dictatorship in 1917 or a Hitlerian one in 1935.”
Possible closure of diplomatic representations in both States
Sources from the Vatican, who spoke on condition of anonymity with the Associated Press news agency, indicated that Nicaragua submitted a request to the authorities of the Holy See to close the diplomatic missions of each party.
However, Nicaragua has not had an ambassador to the Holy See since September 2021, after Ortega canceled the appointment of Elliette Ortega Sotomayor. Currently, it only has a counselor minister for negotiations.
Therefore, the new measures could entail both the closure of the nunciature and the Vatican representation in the Central American country. Likewise, the Nicaraguan embassy before the Vatican, which would mean the official rupture of diplomatic relations between both States.
Persecution against members of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua
According to the NGO Nicaragua Nunca Mas, more than 50 religious leaders have fled since 2018, the year of the social revolt triggered by a social security reform. The repression by the Police and paramilitary groups of these mobilizations left some 355 dead, more than 2,000 injured and 1,600 detained, according to figures from human rights organizations.
In 2022, the Ortega Executive expelled the apostolic nuncio Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, a staunch defender of the release of opponents who had been imprisoned since 2018. In addition, last August, the Police imposed a siege of more than two weeks on the Episcopal Curia of Matagalpa, where he held Bishop Álvarez captive, three priests and four other people, who were later arrested and convicted of “conspiracy”.
In addition, several priests, seminarians, and members of the lay staff were among the 222 Nicaraguans who were exiled on February 9.
With EFE and AP
