Ortega gives money from the budget to the Evangelical Church that challenged the legality of the PRD
In Nicaragua Investiga Dec 22, 2021
Three evangelical pastors are those “blessed” with large amounts of money from the national budget. The person who challenged the PRD will receive 200,000 córdobas; Omar Duarte and Miguel Ángel Casco also appear on the list with their good “cut”.
The regime of Daniel Ortega awarded three evangelical pastors in the National Budget of the Republic of 2022 with amounts in the millions under the concept of “support.” The religious leaders who will be “blessed” with money from Nicaraguans are Sergio Francisco Martínez Tinoco, who forms part of the list of religious who challenged the legality of the Democratic Restoration Party (PRD), Omar Duarte and Miguel Ángel Casco.
Sergio Martínez Tinoco is president of the Association of Churches Establishing the Reign of Jesus Christ (ETRJ), which will receive 200,000 córdobas of public resources for supposed “support for the project of training and strengthening Christian churches on peace and reconciliation”, according to the document that is available in La Gaceta.
This church is better known as the International Ministry Establishing the Reign of Jesus Christ, which is located in the Mirna Ugarte neighborhood in Managua. The association of this organization was registered in April 2014.
Sergio Martínez impugns the PRD
Sergio Martínez was one of the evangelical pastors who signed the document presented to the Electoral Tribunal, controlled by the party in power, to challenge the legality of the PRD this past May.
The religious leaders arrived supposedly “in representation of more than 2,000 churches”, because they were “offended” and felt “betrayed “by the advances that the party had with social groupings within the National Coalition who were in contradiction with the Christian line of the PRD. Nevertheless, Julio González, the political coordinator of the PRD, said at that time that none of those challenging its legality were activists nor leaders of the party.
The Electoral Tribunal decided to cancel the legal status of the PRD in an expedited fashion. This party was the electoral vehicle through which the National Coalition was going to participate in the general elections on November 7th.
On that occasion, Nicaragua Investiga repeatedly called pastor Sergio Martínez to learn the reasons why he signed the resolution challenging its legality, but he did not respond to our phone calls and text messages. He even rejected a call which the journalist made to him through Whatsapp.
In December 2020 on a Facebook page that does publications exalting the Sandinista regime, pastor Sergio Martínez appeared in the installations of a SINAPRED warehouse “delivering” a donation for Nicaraguans on the Caribbean Coast. The publication is accompanied by phrases “never more with hate”, “in victorious hope”, which followers of the Sandinista Front used.
Rios de Agua Viva with a good “cut” of the budget
The Ministry of Rios de Agua Viva which pastor Omar Duarte leads appears on the list of those who will receive money from the budget. This religious organization will be given 100,000 córdobas in supposed “support for feeding children in the Blessed Hands project.”
Omar Duarte is a polemical evangelical pastor who has been on the public stage for his closeness to the Ortega regime. He has shown no discrepancies with the events of April 2018 where 355 people lost their lives, according to updated reports from the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
Omar Duarte made a public pronouncement on November 4th through a “Pastoral Letter” which the Federation of Nicaraguan Evangelical Churches (FIENIC) issued under his leadership. In the letter he called for the population to participate in the voting in a “peaceful manner” that month, while the international community was demanding free, fair, and transparent elections in the country.
Pastor Miguel Casco González is also “blessed”
Miguel Ángel Casco González, president of the Church and Society Evangelical Coordinator (CEPRES), will also be “blessed” with 100,000 córdobas from the taxes of Nicaraguans.
The money will be provided in supposed “support for carrying out formation and training processes on Christian principles and values for the strengthening of peace and family unity.” It is worth pointing out that, under this very same concept for which he will be given the money, Miguel Ángel Casco has appeared in official media, along with Absalón Pastora, offering “Christian messages” to the nation.
This past November 8th this organization issued a letter congratulating Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo for the additional five years that they will be in power. “Very beloved in Christ, receive my fraternal greetings and congratulations in the name of the Evangelical Coordinator and in my name in this time where through the sovereign will of the people you have been ratified for a new period of presidential governance,” as reads the letter that was published in official media.
“The will of God has been expressed through the votes deposited by the people in the elections of Sunday November 7th. The sovereign will of God is manifested in different ways and manners, such as symbols, signs, words and actions,” were part of Casco´s words.
The management of these resources is not revealed, which is why there are no detailed reports about how they are executed and whether they really go for the purposes which appear in the public budget.