Anastasio Somoza Debayle
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Feb 29, 2024 · MEXICO CITY (AP) — A panel of U.N.-backed human rights experts on Thursday accused Nicaragua ’s government of systematic human rights abuses “tantamount to crimes against humanity,” implicating a range of high-ranking officials in the government of President Daniel Ortega. The allegations, fiercely rejected by Nicaragua’s government ...
Oct 31, 2021 · Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has had his political opponents beaten and thrown in jail and passed legislation making criticism of the government a form of treason. Sharyn Alfonsi reports on ...
- 60 Minutes Correspondent
- Sharyn Alfonsi
- 13 min
Nov 9, 2021 · Item 1 of 2 A man watches Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega casting his vote on a TV screen during the country's presidential election in Managua, Nicaragua November 7, 2021. ... the news and ...
- 2 min
- Daina Beth Solomon
Oct 25, 2022 · Oct. 25, 2022, 5:22 AM PDT / Source: The Associated Press. By Associated Press. The Biden administration is ratcheting up pressure on President Daniel Ortega’s authoritarian rule in Nicaragua ...
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- Overview
- Religion a part of Ortega's rise
While Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega makes much of his own relationship with Christianity, the former leftist revolutionary's government has precipitated an unprecedented crackdown on the country's Catholic leadership.
On national television last month, Vice President Rosario Murillo, who is Ortega's wife, touted her love for and faith in God during celebrations of the 43rd anniversary of the Sandinista revolution. “Our Christian faith will stand,” she said.
At the same time, Nicaragua’s repression of the Catholic Church has intensified.
This year alone, the Ortega-Murillo government has arrested several priests, expelled missionaries, shut down Catholic radio stations, closed down a Catholic university and banned a Catholic procession and pilgrimage in a cathedral where the priest prayed for the nation.
The government's actions are the latest in a yearslong effort to stanch any critics or government opposition, including the arrest of opposition candidates before the country's elections last year.
On Aug. 21, Pope Francis called for a dialogue with the government as he expressed worries about the attacks against the church in Nicaragua. In Latin America, there's been a widespread outcry from Roman Catholic bishops in several countries including Mexico, Brazil, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Paraguay.
Religion has long been part of Ortega’s discourse. The 76-year-old president first took power in 1985 following the 1979 Sandinista revolution, which overthrew the Somoza dictatorship.
According to Martín Iñiguez, a professor at the Iberoamerican University in Mexico City who has done extensive research on religion in Central America, religion played an important role in Ortega’s rise to power during the Sandinista revolution, creating a divide inside the Nicaraguan church between those who believed in revolution through the use of armed conflict, and those who didn’t.
Ortega benefited from the support of the Nicaraguan church in the 1980s. “What we are witnessing is an impressive setback for Nicaragua,” Iñiguez said. “Those who were once Daniel Ortega’s allies are now his enemies."
Bermúdez, the exiled priest, considers Ortega’s religious discourse as a political strategy. “They have used the name of God because they know they’ve fallen before a Christian population,” he said.
A 2021 Latinobarómetro poll found that the Catholic Church in Nicaragua was the most trusted institution for 65% of those polled, followed by the government at 38%. Catholicism, however, has lost ground in the country; with evangelicals accounting for about a third of the population in 2020, according to Statista.
Iñiguez believes that Nicaragua’s war on the Catholic Church is a strategy to weaken those who were once his allies, while Ortega seeks to create new alliances, including religious ones, in the region.
- Isabel Bonnet
Nov 8, 2021 · Daniel Ortega has won the Nicaragua presidency in an election many say was a sham ... Yanuary Alvarez said she was in and out in under 10 minutes. NPR, as well as many foreign news outlets, was ...
Nov 8, 2021 · From CNN's DJ Judd. In a statement Sunday, President Biden blasted what he called “Nicaragua’s sham elections,” calling Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s reelection “a pantomime ...
