The president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, he defined the Catholic Church as “a perfect dictatorship, a perfect tyranny”. And this two weeks after the assurances of Pope Francis that “there is a dialogue” with Managua. “Who elects the priests? Who elects the cardinals? Who elects the pope? It is a perfect dictatorship, a perfect tyranny!” Ortega exclaimed in a speech on the occasion of the forty-third anniversary of the founding of the Nicaraguan police. Nicaragua, whose government is increasingly authoritarian, expelled the apostolic nuncio Waldemar Sommertag seven months ago.
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Pope Francis had insisted last September 15 on the need to “never interrupt the dialogue” with Nicaragua, where tensions are growing between the authorities and the Holy See. Last August, five months after the expulsion of the nuncio, Rolando Alvarez, a critical bishop of the regime, was placed under house arrest by the police, who cited his “destabilizing and provocative” activities.
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“I would say to His Holiness the Pope, with great respect, to the Catholic authorities – I am Catholic – as a Christian, I do not feel represented,” Ortega said, referring to the “terrible history” of the Church. “We hear them talking about democracy,” he joked, hoping that all clerics – from priests to popes to cardinals – are elected by the faithful.
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Ortega also attacked the US undersecretary of state, Brian A. Nichols, “who continually comes out with statements, which looks like a bulldog, barking at Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua”. The president of the Central American country did not mention in his speech Bettina Muscheidt, the ambassador of the European Union in Managua, who would be expelled, according to the opposition media. Brussels, like Washington, has imposed numerous sanctions on Managua and on regime figures. The EU also called for the release of over 200 jailed opponents.