Pope Francis traveled this week to Panama for the celebration of World Youth Day. Thousands of Nicaraguans traveled there as well, and this letter was delivered to the Pope asking his help in resolving the crisis , freeing political prisoners, and breaking what the letter calls “the cycle of impunity.”
NATIONAL UNITY
Managua, January 20, 2019
Your Holiness
Pope Francis
Vatican City
Holy Father:
From Nicaragua the People of God affectionately greet you in the midst of our pain and suffering, but with an unbreakable hope that your Holiness, as a Good Pastor, will echo our prayers. Your Holiness has been informed by the Papal Nuncio, our Cardinal and our Bishops about the terrible situation of our country.
Nine months ago the calvary of our people began with more than 500 murders, more than 700 political prisoners, thousands of tortured and wounded people, and more than 80,000 exiles. The situation is worsening and the response of the government has been more repression, with great cruelty and hardness of heart. Your Holiness, as Jesus, reminds us every day that our concern should be always for those who suffer, and in our country the poor, students, peasants, working women and men have been beaten, tortured and disappeared, and this continues.
In the Blue and White National Unity we believe in the precepts of justice and truth for which Jesus lived and died, and we fight for them. Your Holiness is a reference in today´s world, not just for Catholics but for all people of good will, because the truth speaks in you and you authentically represent the teachings of Jesus. For this reason, we turn to you with all humility.
- We ask for your mediation for the immediate liberty of the more than 740 political prisoners who are abducted in the jails of Nicaragua, as the Committee of Relatives for the Freedom of Political Prisoners requested of you in their communication to you on December 24, 2018.
- We implore you to raise the voice of the Church to end the repression, persecution and criminalization of innocent people, and so that the thousands of exiles can return to Nicaragua.
- We ask that your vigorously urge the government of Nicaragua to set the conditions for a true dialogue with the bishops as mediators. This dialogue is urgent and needed to get out of the crisis in our country that has experienced crimes against humanity, confirmed by the report of the GIEI of the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights.
- We ask you to cry out for justice in Nicaragua. That we might close the cycle of impunity, that has done so much damage for generations to Nicaraguan families, as the Association of the Mothers of April (AMA) are demanding within the framework of Truth, Justice, Reparation and No Repetition for the case of their murdered offspring.
Holy Father, we trust in your wisdom in these complex times that our people are experiencing, and we are grateful for the effort that Your Holiness can contribute to the search for peace for our country. We wish you all success in your trip to Panama, and we are grateful for your example of love and solidarity.
With expressions of our great regard and esteem,
Sincerely,
Blue and White National Unity