Latin America are persecuted both from rightwing and leftwing regimes. However, it is a shame that you find sometimes so little concern, even for Christians involved in political rights, with regard to Nicaragua. In relation to Nicaragua, judgments seem to be made giving the benefit of the doubt to the government. And we do not find the same zeal that we find regarding violations of human rights in other countries. Oftentimes, you don't find the same concern regarding the violations of human rights of the Nicaraguan people and of the Nicaraguan church. Indeed, the Sandinistas have made a strong effort to disguise their true nature and present themselves as a new kind of government where Marxist and Communist ideas can work together. They present four priests in the government holding high positions, something that has led many people into believing that this is not a truly Marxist government but a kind of a new and very promising experiment. I want to contend that these assertions are a very grave misrepresentation of the true nature of affairs in Nicaragua. The Sandinista government is a Marxist-Leninist regime which is aware of the importance of the Catholic practice in Nicaragua, and of the surrounding environment, that has been consciously disguising its true nature, portraying itself as a friend of Christians. Sometimes, when people are surprised by these priests in government, it is because they do not realize a phenomena which is about 10 years old in Latin America. That is the phenomena of one sector of the church being radicalized and being won over by Marxist-Leninist philosophy in the name of Christianity. So you may find priests involved in high politics but sometimes these priests are not, in fact Christian priests, as much as they are Marxist-Leninist priests. I am not saying this out of a narrow partisan view. I am quoting Ernesto Cardenal, one of the priests who is now part of the Government of Nicaragua. In an interview with a Spanish magazine, he said: "Marxism is the only solution for the world ***. The solution is Marxism, and it is the only possible way of liberation. Outside of Marxism I don't see any other way. Christians should embrace Marxism to be with God and with men." Something interesting to note is that these priests do not say that it is important for Marxists to embrace Christ in order to embrace people and to embrace God. Theirs is a one-sided kind of preaching. After the revolution, Nicaragua became an experimental center for this group of Marxist theologians who tried to present to the continent the Nicaraguan revolution as a true promise of MarxistChristian alliance. They began to publicize in five well-equipped and well-financed centers, a lot of propaganda, and publications of this kind. To some extent you can see from these pictures I am showing what is going on. The image of Christ Jesus is overshadowed by the Marxist fighter. At first the government abstained from attacking Christian churches. It used these Marxist-Christian groups to oppose the Catholic Church. The government gave these groups full access to A the state media, which represented about 90 percent of all the means of communication, and at the same time it gradually strangled the means of communication of the established churches. The people in such groups started to preach that the first duty of a Christian was to side with the revolution; that in order to be a true Christian you had to be with the Sandinistas. I heard Reverend Dekker complaining about how partisan politics is being sponsored by some rightist religious groups in Latin 12 America, and that is, in effect, what is sometimes done in Nicaragua. This pamphlet comes from one of the centers that promotes 3 such views. It states that the Sandinistas are the only ones capable of bringing about the new society in Nicaragua, so that first duty of the Christian is to side with the "Frente Sandinista." When © Christian leaders started opposing these views, they came under attack, being portrayed as reactionaries, as conservative forces afraid of change, contradicting all historical evidence whereby bishops in Nicaragua and the Catholic Church had played a heroic role against the dictatorship. We could see how the Christian people who formerly had been praised by the Sandinistas now became overnight reactionaries and were increasingly attacked. The Archbishop was deprived of access to the TV while the government started to persecute Protestant groups, especially on the Atlantic coast, an isolated part of the country where nothing could be publicized. At one time they expelled two priests and three nuns. Some of them returned to Nicaragua and some didn't. One of those expelled I was Morris Cerullo, a Protestant preacher, upon arriving in Nicaragua. After some months, with the repression gradually increasing, they were now using mobs to terrorize priests. The Bishop of Juigalpa was stoned and beaten after the state of emergency was issued in March, the government escalated its attacks against most churches. There is a striking similarity between the reasons argued by the Sandinista government, when it wants to justify its actions and some of the reasons used by rightwing regimes when they say they are not repressing religious people because of their religious beliefs but because of their political stands. The Sandinistas justify what they are doing against Christians because they are "allied with the CIA and with the reactionary forces." All those who do not sponsor their policies are thus referred to as agents of the Dark Ages in alliance with the Reagan administration. Thank you very much for your time. [Mr. Belli's prepared statement follows:] PREPARED STATEMENT OF HUMBERTO BELLI, FORMER EDITOR OF THE EDITORIAL PAGE, "LA PRENSA," Nicaragua, and MEMBER, Committee for PatrIOTIC REFLECTION INTRODUCTION The purpose of this paper is to subject to criticism some widespread contentions regarding the problems facing the Church in Nicaragua and the solutions. Today many people make the following assertions about Nicaragua. It is claimed that the Sandinista government is not a Marxist-Leninist government but a unique blend of Marxism and Christianity--a revolution with a "human face." It is further claimed that the current difficulties between the state and the Church stem not from government hostility to the Church but from a conservative class bias on the part of some members of the hierarchy, especially the Archbishop, Obando y Bravo, who allow themselves to be used by right-wing forces--a deliberate manipulation of religion for political ends. The solution, it is claimed, is that the Church should not foster conflict with the government but should disengage itself from reactionary forces and seek dialogue with the government, which is quite willing to cooperate with the Church. This paper contends that these assertions gravely misrepresent the Nicaraguan situation and would lead to an approach that would greatly weaken the Church there. A stronger strategy is needed--a strategy to unite the Church in Nicaragua to enable it to deal successfully with increasing government pressures. I. Regarding the first claim, that "the Sandinista government is not a Marxist-Leninist government but a unique blend of Marxism and Christianity--a revolution with a 'human face.' "' What is the true nature of the government that confronts the Nicaraguan Church? A. B. The government's nature has been difficult for --its claim to be a new kind of revolution But, in fact, the Sandinista government is 1. This is evident from the Sandinistas' own statements, who explicitly stated it before and after the revolution (appendix 1) 2. It is evident from their actions, which arxist-Leninist pattern- a. Full identification of the state and b. The creation of a temporary facade of mixed government, giving way in time to one-party rule C. The foreclosure of free elections as a "bourgeois mechanism" The formation of partisan local revolutionary for example, the power to issue ration Movement toward the collectivization of --no land distribution for two years The brutal handling of recalcitrant ethnic --the treatment of the Miskito people The alignment of foreign policy with that --the statement to that effect, April 1950 USSR invasion of Afghanistan --the banning of criticism of the USSR in the Nicaraguan press k. Policies inimical to the private business sector, including snall businesses 1. The formation of government policies and m. n. --the ministry of information The constant preaching of class hatred Hostility to the churches (see II, below) |