Nicaragua
“We could have a better country”
On September 26, the 10 Catholic bishops
who make up the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua
published a message about the upcoming elections.
As is customary, they dedicated it “to the priests,
consecrated men and women and pastoral care workers,
to all Catholics and to all Nicaraguans, men and women of good will.”
We’re publishing it in its entirety because of its importance
in the current national context.
Mindful of having been called upon to be “co-workers in God’s service” (1 Corinthians 3:9) and “servants of Christ” (1 Corinthians 4:1) in proclaiming the Gospel, the bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua invoke on our country “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:7).
At the same time, as the Church’s spiritual guides, we wish to offer you certain reflections about the national reality, in the light of faith, arising from contact with the faithful in our communities and matured through our prayers and spiritual insight.
The exercise of power
according to Jesus of NazarethThe proximity of this year’s municipal elections, to be held on November 4, makes it a propitious occasion to reflect on the way power is being exercised and politics practiced in our country today. The political situation transcends the issue of municipal elections and we must address it. In doing so, we look to Jesus Christ, who makes an observation in the Gospel that may seem rather harsh but is very enlightening: “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors” (Luke 22:25).
Jesus condemns this way of conceptualizing and exercising authority in society because it generates a permanent atmosphere of confrontation through the pursuit or retention of power at any cost, giving rise to authoritarianism, party-bossism, manipulation of consciences, corruption, injustice, lawlessness and violence. Jesus proposes a new approach to authority through a basic evangelical principle: “The greatest among you should be like the youngest and the one who rules like the one who serves” (Luke 22:26). The only legitimate authority, according to Jesus, is one that serves others; that sacrifices its own interests for those of others; that doesn’t seek greatness or accumulation of wealth for itself but rather for the wellbeing of others. Whenever someone uses others to achieve his own ends—whatever right this may be based on—he becomes “lord” over others, dehumanizing the one he dominates and at the same time dehumanizing himself.
How government and the opposition
currently conceptualize powerNicaragua’s political life is currently dominated by an autocratic and abusive exercise of authority that manifests itself in the concentration of power and the excessive desire to hold onto it, perpetuating itself in power; the manipulation of law and institutions and the destruction of the fundamental principles that are the basis for a rule of law: power subordinated to law, the supremacy of the Consti¬tution, the hierarchy of legal process and the independence and separation of branches of government, among others.
Likewise, the infighting, reciprocal disqualifications and arguing among the opposition political parties that aspire to power aren’t really democratically motivated but rather come from the pursuit of greater arenas of power and personal ambitions. These parties have failed to interpret public feeling; they don’t change their leaders and do not offer clear, alternative, political strategies leading to the development of a national project concerned with education, social policy and the economy, among other relevant issues. As a consequence, both the exercise of power and the fight to obtain it reveal a tremendous inability to conceptualize and practice politics for the greater good of society.
We believe that, given the country’s situation, the political system’s overall functioning urgently needs rethinking. Power is still seen as personal patrimony and not the delegated will of the people as expressed in the Constitution and in the law. This inevitably leads to polarization, arrogance, ambition, disrespect for the law, corruption, intolerance and fruitless societal struggles. This way of conceptualizing and exercising politics not only contradicts the evangelical ideal of service and sacrifice for others, in the image of Jesus, who as Lord and Master went among his disciples “as one who serves” (Luke 22:27), but even “with time, distortions of political conduct create distrust and apathy, with a subsequent decline in the political participation and civic spirit of the general population, which feels abused and disillusioned” (Centesimus Annus 47, an Encyclical Letter from Pope John Paul II sent in 1991).
To vote or not to vote:
A matter of conscienceWe recognize it as a positive civic right to periodically hold municipal elections as established in the Constitution, to elect mayors, deputy mayors and councilors in the country’s different municipalities. It is always worth acknowledging all social practices that “ensure the participation of citizens in making political choices and guarantees the governed the possibility to both elect and hold accountable those who govern them” (Centesimus Annus, 46).
Nonetheless, after the experience of the last municipal elections in 2008 and the national ones in 2011, where there were serious allegations of fraud and grave irregularities, a large sector of the population feels deep distrust for the Supreme Electoral Council’s authorities, the same ones who administered the 2008 and 2011 elections, and for an electoral law that has not been properly renovated to serve democracy.
This has caused considerable apathy towards the coming elections, which many consider to be decided in advance and consider it not only pointless to participate in them but that to do so will legitimate a fraudulent electoral body and make them accomplices in another serious offense against democracy and the will of the people. On the other hand, there are citizens and opposition parties that have chosen to participate in the municipal elections so as to strengthen the voters’ democratic structure, not leave all the political arenas to the ruling party and, above all, to respond to the strong demands for electoral turnout from some areas of the country where the opposition has always been a majority. Both those people and parties who have decided to participate and those who won’t base their decision on valid arguments in the country’s current political dynamic.
As the Church’s spiritual guides we urge each Nicaraguan to prudently decide from their conscience what is just and right in the country’s current situation, according to the prescriptions of divine law (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC, 1777-1782). To do so, each person must strive to personally interpret the data of experience and also seek “the advice of competent people” (CCC, 1788) in all matters relating to the present political situation, the way power is being exercised and politics practiced, in both the country and the municipality itself. Similarly, each citizen must objectively and critically assess the reliability and legality of the Supreme Electoral Council.
Secondly, each person must pray to ask God to enlighten them in their decision, which must be aimed at seeking the best for the present and the future of the country and municipality. Finally, each person must freely and with no outside coercion use reason to decide, according to their conscience, what they are going to do, internally convinced of what is right and good to benefit society at this historical moment (CCC, 1787).
Those who decide to vote should mature their decision by seriously reflecting on the candidates’ different proposals, choose who they deem best and most suited for the common good of their municipality and finally deposit their vote in the ballot box in secret without coercion by any individual or institution.
Fraud is incompatible with justiceUsing the same words as on previous occasions—although our appeal has never been echoed—we insist that during these elections the Supreme Electoral Council’s authorities “exercise their duties responsibly and honestly, checking the votes with so much transparency that no doubt whatsoever is left about the will of the people” (Messages from the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference on October 7, 2011, and November 16, 2011). It is important to look to the future, be aware of the huge problems facing the country and engage in the construction of a more just and democratic society. For this reason we firstly exhort the nation’s authorities to respect the Constitution and, as a matter of urgency, restore the rule of law through concrete actions that strengthen authentically democratic governance. “It is incumbent on those who exercise authority to reaffirm the values that inspire confidence in the members of the group and encourage them to put themselves at the service of others.” (CCC, 1917).
We equally invite the government, the political parties, the business sectors, the media and the civil society organizations to commit themselves to reconstruct the country’s fragmented and polarized social fabric, which has ethically weak values and is devoid of common goals, so that each from its own field can promote open, critical and constructive dialogues to help develop and advance a new national project based on the rule of law, institutional legality and strength and, at the same time, serve to establish a strategic and sustainable socioeconomic development plan that all citizens can enjoy (Message from the Episcopal Conference, November 16, 2011).
Every citizen should bear in mind that, independently of what they have decided about the municipal elections, they have the right and obligation to be active subjects in the construction of society, not only through upright and responsible conduct in the family, work and social relationships (CCC, 1914) but also by taking concrete measures of active commitment in public life (CCC, 1915), fighting in defense of democracy, peace, justice and respect for human rights and denouncing whatever opposes this. “Fraud and other subterfuges by which some evade the constraints of the law and the prescriptions of societal obligation must be firmly condemned because they are incompatible with the requirements of justice” (CCC, 1916).
Let’s not lose hopeWe firmly believe in the goodness and ability of the Nicaraguan people to construct a more dignified present and brighter future for everyone. As spiritual guides, we invite you to free us all from resignation, indifference and conformity and to never get carried away by hatred and violence. We can have a better country. Let’s not lose hope. Living with hope is above all to believe that it is God who works in you to will and act in order to fulfill his good purpose (Philippians 2:12-13). Living with hope means trusting in God and persevering, “believing against all hope” (Romans 4:18). Living with hope is opening ourselves to the strength of the Risen Christ, whose spirit makes everything new, and responsibly committing ourselves so this renewal reaches history and society (Revelations 21:5).
We invite all the faithful to pray for our country and that the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Mercy, join our people on their historical path and help us to always live with hope, open to the new Kingdom of God.
Subtitles added by envío.
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a monthly magazine of analysis on Central America