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### Viewing cable 09MANAGUA37, NICARAGUA: SAINTS AND SYMBOLS IN MUNICIPAL

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
09MANAGUA37 | 2009-01-13 18:36 | 2011-06-01 08:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Managua

Appears in these articles:
http://www.nacion.com/2011-05-30/Mundo/NotasSecundarias/Mundo2758456.aspx
http://www.nacion.com/2011-05-30/Mundo/NotasSecundarias/Mundo2758467.aspx
http://www.nacion.com/2011-05-30/Mundo/NotasSecundarias/Mundo2758468.aspx
http://www.nacion.com/2011-05-30/Mundo/NotasSecundarias/Mundo2758464.aspx
http://www.confidencial.com.ni/articulo/4103/la-embusa-y-el-gabinete-de-ortega
http://www.confidencial.com.ni/articulo/4104/d-rsquo-escoto-en-onu-ldquo-un-desafio-de-ortega-a-ee-uu-rdquo
http://www.confidencial.com.ni/articulo/4102/estrada-y-la-ldquo-doble-cara-rdquo-ante-ee-uu
http://www.confidencial.com.ni/articulo/3966/la-ldquo-injerencia-rdquo-de-ee-uu-en-el-2006
http://www.nacion.com/2011-05-23/Mundo/Relacionados/Mundo2758764.aspx
http://www.nacion.com/2011-05-23/Mundo/NotaPrincipal/Mundo2758753.aspx
http://www.confidencial.com.ni/articulo/4041/millones-de-dolares-sin-control-y-a-discrecion
http://www.confidencial.com.ni/articulo/4040/la-ldquo-injerencia-rdquo-de-venezuela-en-2006
http://www.confidencial.com.ni/articulo/4047/rodrigo-barreto-enviado-de-ldquo-vacaciones-rdquo
http://www.nacion.com/2011-05-16/Mundo/NotasSecundarias/Mundo2757239.aspx
http://www.nacion.com/2011-05-16/Mundo/NotaPrincipal/Mundo2746658.aspx
http://www.nacion.com/2011-05-16/Mundo/Relacionados/Mundo2757244.aspx
http://www.nacion.com/2011-05-16/Mundo/Relacionados/Mundo2746673.aspx
http://www.confidencial.com.ni/articulo/3991/dra-yadira-centeno-desmiente-cable-diplomatico-eeuu
http://www.confidencial.com.ni/articulo/3968/pellas-pronostico-a-eeuu-victoria-de-ortega-en-2006
http://www.confidencial.com.ni/articulo/3967/barreto-era-ldquo-fuente-confiable-rdquo-para-eeuu

`

    VZCZCXRO5953
    PP RUEHLMC RUEHROV
    DE RUEHMU #0037/01 0131836
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    P 131836Z JAN 09
    FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3619
    INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
    RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 0153
    RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN PRIORITY
    RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
    RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
    RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
    RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP WASHDC PRIORITY
    RUMIAAA/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL//J2/J3/J5// PRIORITY
    RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MANAGUA 000037

    SIPDIS

    DEPT FOR KRAAIMORE
    DEPT FOR USOAS
    DEPT FOR DRL AND IRF
    DEPT FOR WHA/CEN AND INR/IAA
    STATE FOR USAID-LAC

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/12/2019
    TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL NU
    SUBJECT: NICARAGUA: SAINTS AND SYMBOLS IN MUNICIPAL
    ELECTIONS

    REF: A. MANAGUA 1393 AND PREVIOUS
         ¶B. MANAGUA 1343

    Classified By: Amb. Robert J. Callahan for reasons 1.4 (b & d)

    ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: President Daniel Ortega appears to be trying
    to use religious symbolism for political purposes, as part of
    his effort to consolidate control in Nicaragua.  After
    following a strategy of co-opting Evangelical symbols in the
    Citizen Power Councils (CPCs) "prayer against hatred"
    campaign (see REF B), the CPCs appropriated sacred symbols
    from the Catholic faith in an attempt to attract wider
    Catholic support for the Sandinista National Liberation Front
    party (FSLN) in the weeks after the November 7 municipal
    elections.  However, the government plan may have back-fired;
    the Catholic Church's Conference of Bishops has spoken out
    vehemently against the unauthorized use and manipulation of
    its sacred symbols by political forces as well as the lack of
    transparency by the government in the recent election.  These
    strong statements by the Catholic Church may have brought the
    Church into the crosshairs of chief propagandist and First
    Lady Rosario Murillo.  This may make the Catholic Church the
    next target in Ortega's continuing program of intimidation
    against Nicaraguan civil society.    END SUMMARY

    Campaign of Prayer for Evangelicals
    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    ¶2. (C) As reported previously (see REF B), the campaign of
    "prayer against hatred" has been a faux-religious protest,
    instigated and financed through the CPCs controlled by First
    Lady Rosario Murillo.  Borrowing primarily from Evangelical
    traditions of public prayer circles, protestors join hands to
    "pray against hatred" several times during the day.  In its
    original concept, the prayer campaign may have been aimed at
    attracting participation from the growing and politically
    active Evangelical community in Nicaragua.  It has since
    become principally a measure to keep Sandinista control of
    Managua,s traffic circles, strategic points for suffocating
    protests in the city.  Yet, even in the months leading up to
    the November 9 municipal elections, President Ortega,s
    relationship with religious leaders, especially Evangelical
    Christians, appeared cozier than ever before.  Media reported
    that Ortega handed out land titles to church leaders, quoted
    Bible passages for visiting Evangelical leaders, inaugurated
    a Bible Plaza in downtown Managua and may have made Nicaragua
    the first country in the world to declare a "National Day to
    Honor the Bible."  Even Murillo courted the Evangelicals by
    proclaiming during a meeting with Evangelicals that
    "Nicaragua is moving towards the establishment of God,s
    Earthly kingdom."  (COMMENT: Weeks after the elections, the
    bright pink and yellow political billboards in Managua were
    changed to proclaim: "To fulfill the will of the people is
    fulfilling the will of God."  The "will of the people" that
    is also the "will of God" implied by these billboards is, of
    course, the dubious election results.  END COMMENT)

    Cozying Up To Catholics
    - - - - - - - - - - - -

    ¶3. (C) The prayer against hatred campaign lacked overt
    Catholic symbols and support, in a country that is
    predominately Catholic.   This changed on November 13, four
    days after the municipal elections, when images of the Virgin
    Mary were suddenly installed in all of the major rotundas in
    Managua overnight by youth wearing the president's "Program
    Amor" tee-shirts.  (NOTE: The images or statues of the Virgin
    Mary are approximately three-feet tall and are mounted on a
    three-foot tall, white cinder-block, square pedestals that
    were quickly cemented in-place.  The images of the Virgin
    Mary in a blue robe with two cherub angels at her feet are
    traditionally displayed during the Purisima celebration in
    December.  END NOTE)   The statues were installed without
    permission from the Managua mayor's office and against the
    will of the Catholic Church.  Managua Vice Mayor Felipe Neri
    Leiva reported to the press that no one asked for permission
    to install the statues and those responsible "are promoting

    MANAGUA 00000037  002 OF 003

    total anarchy... because they are not complying with the laws
    and decrees that regulate the city."  We believe that the
    images were installed by the CPCs who wanted to create the
    impression of wider Catholic support for the prayer campaign
    and the FSLN party.

    Sacred Symbols Vandalized and Manipulated
    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    ¶4. (C) During the post-election violence (see REF A), the
    images of the Virgin Mary were attacked and manipulated for
    political purposes.  On November 18, an image of the Virgin
    Mary in the Central American rotunda was vandalized with red
    paint poured over the face and hands of the statue that
    looked like blood.  Other images of the Virgin Mary had FSLN
    red and black flags placed on them, or had red and black
    bandanas placed over the head of the statue during FSLN
    victory rallies.  On November 25, an image of the Virgin Mary
    was severely vandalized - the head and face of the Virgin
    Mary were completely broken off and the statue body was
    knocked off its white cinder block pedestal.  Witnesses
    claimed that Sandinista party supporters were responsible for
    the vandalism, however, the Sandinista controlled Channel
    Four television station claimed that the opposition
    supporters desecrated the images.  On November 26,
    unidentified workers installed new statues of the Virgin Mary
    to replace the vandalized ones, reportedly under presidential
    orders.  (COMMENT: Ironically, the "prayer against hatred"
    participants who are in the Managua rotundas 24/7 claim that
    they never saw the perpetrators of any of the acts of
    vandalism against the statues. END COMMENT)

    Catholic Conference Condemns; Calls for Calm
    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    ¶5. (C)  Until recently, the Catholic Church - once the
    Sandinista government,s strongest political opponent in the
    1980s - seemed willing to go along with Ortega,s use of
    religious icons and language in exchange for other
    concessions: a ban on therapeutic abortions, public
    recognition of the church,s leadership in communities, and
    even financial help for patron saint festivals and the
    Catholic university.  However, the Catholic Church has grown
    increasingly concerned with the government,s use of
    religious symbols for political purposes.  Nicaragua's
    Conference of bishops ("Conference") has started to take a
    more active role in addressing the current political turmoil,
    following the blatant electoral fraud of the November 9
    municipal elections.  On November 11 the bishops expressed
    their support for an election recount.  When the images of
    the Virgin Mary appeared in the rotundas, the Catholic Church
    immediately voiced its strong disapproval and called for the
    government to remove them.  On November 13 the Conference
    stated that it could not passively allow Catholic symbols and
    language manipulated for political purposes, referring to the
    images of the Virgin Mary installed in all of the Managua
    rotundas as part of the ongoing "prayer against hate"
    campaign.  The Conference called for an end to political
    violence that threatened to open old wounds, healed over
    during the past 16 years of democracy.  In the place of
    violence, the Conference called for political leaders to
    exhaust all constitutional, legal and democratic recourses to
    find a solution.  After the incidences of severe vandalism
    against the images of the Virgin Mary, the spokesperson for
    the Archbishop of Nicaragua, Rolando Alvarez, called again on
    the mayor of Managua to immediately remove the statues.

    Orteguistas Cry Foul
    - - - - - - - - - -

    ¶6. (C) Following the Conference's press statements,
    Orteguistas accused the Church of instigating the violence.
    National Assembly Deputy and FSLN party member Gustavo Porras
    announced his disagreement with the Catholic Church
    participating in politics, stating instead that the church
    "should be only devoted to spiritual affairs."  Porras also
    publicly criticized Bishop Silvio Montenegro for

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    participating in opposition rally on November 18.  Emmet
    Lang, the Vice President of the Supreme Electoral Council
    (CSE) and a Sandinista leader, accused the church of
    committing a "mortal sin" and "instigating violence" for
    pointing out election irregularities and demanding a clear
    and transparent result.  Even the FSLN weekly publication "El
    19" criticized the Conference's press release in an editorial
    that claimed that the Catholic Church is "responding to
    foreign interests and the opposition...and this is financed
    by foreign governments to destabilize the Ortega government."

    COMMENT
    - - - -
    ¶7. (C) The Catholic Church is clearly under growing criticism
    and pressure in FSLN-controlled media.  With a fractured
    opposition and a civil society in retreat because of
    organized government-sponsored witch-hunt against NGOs that
    support democracy, the Catholic Church may be the only
    institution that could mount an effective national campaign
    against the Ortega government's authoritarian tendencies.  It
    seems likely that the manipulation and desecration of
    Catholic religious symbols is designed to provoke a wider
    confrontation between the FSLN-controlled government and the
    Catholic Church, which were arch enemies in the 1980's, and
    to stop the Church from mounting a more effective challenge
    to Ortega.

    CALLAHAN

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