AMERICA/NICARAGUA - Letter from the Bishops to the President: tell us in writing if you want us to continue mediation

Managua (Agenzia Fides) - The Bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua (CEN) have decided to ask, in writing, the President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, if he wishes the Bishops to still be mediators and witnesses of the National Dialogue: this was confirmed to a source of Fides by Mgr. Carlos Herrera, Bishop of Jinotega. "The decision was to send a letter in order to be correct, and to know if he really wants us to continue as mediators and witnesses", he said. The Bishops gathered on Monday, July 23 (see Fides 24/07/2018), to decide what actions to take after being publicly accused by President Ortega of being "coup leaders", during the celebrations of July 19 (see Fides 21/07/2018).
A second meeting of the Bishops took place yesterday, to analyze the terrible situation that the country has been experiencing 100 days after the beginning of this bloody phase that has caused over 350 dead. "During the meeting the decision was that the letter would be sent as soon as possible. Depending on the answer, it will be considered whether to continue or not and we will also evaluate the (re) convocation of dialogue", underlined Mgr. Herrera. The Bishop of Jinotega underlined: "what we have done is to be witnesses to dialogue, in these days we will know if we can continue", he concluded, recalling that next Monday, 30 July, CEN will meet in Managua.
Meanwhile, tension continues to grow, both internally and internationally. A self-proclaimed march took place on Monday 23rd, in the country, where for the first time since the crisis began, all the students who had hidden after being threatened and persecuted, took to the streets. There were many secondary and middle school students, many university students, many hugs and cries among the young people who, after the first meetings in front of the UNAM where it all began, had no longer met because they were hidden or detained in the barracks. This time, however, there were many more, to make their voices heard throughout the country and around the world. "We are students, not criminals": with this slogan they invaded the streets before being dispersed by the police with violent methods.
At an international level, there are two incidents to report. The first concerns the violent death of a young Brazilian woman, Raynéya Gabrielle Lima, a 31-year-old medical student in Nicaragua, apparently shot by paramilitaries. In Brasilia, Brazilian Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes summoned Nicaragua's ambassador, Luís Cláudio Villafañe, to inform him of his government's disappointment and to urge investigations into case. The second incident is the interview given by President Ortega himself to US FOX TV, where he states that "nothing happened in Nicaragua a week ago". The paramilitary army that repressed the unarmed population only responded "to the political forces" of the opposition, there is not "one priest who can say he was attacked by the government", and "no one" died in any church.
Yesterday, Thursday 26 July, the same Vice-President of the United States, Mike Pence, replied to these statements, who accused Ortega. "In Nicaragua the government of President Ortega is practically fighting a war against the Catholic Church", Pence said during a ceremony at the State Department, which hosted a summit on religious freedom with the participation of more than 80 representatives of Governments around the world. Then the Vice President of the United States made the same comment on his Twitter account. (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 27/07/2018)

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violence

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