AMERICA/NICARAGUA - The Bishops: "We are doing everything possible for the love of Jesus Christ and for the love of our country"

Tuesday, 22 May 2018 democracy dialogue students youth bishops peace

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Managua (Agenzia Fides) - "The peace we are looking for is not the peace of cemeteries, nor that of subjugated slaves, it is peace that is born from reconciled people. We have accepted to be mediators of the National Dialogue so as not to invite foreign or international delegations. We, as Bishops, have had the possibility of meeting the different groups, in order to present our concern and our lack of trust on the agreements made previously without transparency and in secret": these are the words of Mgr. José Silvio Baez , Auxiliary of Managua, delegated by the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua to inform the press about the ongoing dialogue process at the Seminary in Managua.
In yesterday's press conference, the Bishop wanted to underline, through a video sent to Agenzia Fides, that "the dirty game in Nicaragua is over! We, as Bishops, do not accept it in this dialogue!" At the end he said: "We must trust the Bishops, we do not want to disappoint anyone! We are doing everything possible for the love of Jesus Christ and for the love of our country, Nicaragua!"
The National Dialogue with president Ortega, entrepreneurs, students and representatives of society are at the same table, to solve the situation of social and political crisis in the country, and that has caused more than 70 dead (see Fides 17/05/2018). On the third day of work, Monday 21 May, the students presented their request to President Ortega to leave office. The student representative, Lesther Aleman, said the crisis will continue in Nicaragua until President Daniel Ortega continues to stay in power: "We are few (at the table of dialogue) but there are thousands who support us outside, indeed millions", he said.
Chancellor Denis Moncada, on behalf of the government, denounced that, along with the protest of university students, there is also criminal activity in the demonstrations, and added that the barricades made by students violate the rights to mobilization and cause losses to economy.
In his speech Medardo Mairena, representative of farmers, argued that the demonstrators cannot be asked to remove the barricades, because there is no guarantee of their own security once the streets and entrances to the inhabited centers have been freed. At the end of the day the participants agreed to implement the recommendations of the International Commission on Human Rights, which, among other things, establish: to end the repression, guarantee the right to protest, "to create an international investigative mechanism on the acts of violence that have occurred, with guarantees of autonomy and independence to guarantee the right to truth and adequately identify those responsible". (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 22/05/2018)