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Daniel Ortega: a case of true repentance?

by Silvio Sirias

Repentance is not so much remorse for what we have done as the fear of the consequences.

Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Bad men are full of repentance.

Aristotle

Last October 13, during the final stages of the Nicaraguan presidential campaign, the candidates congregated on a former cow pasture on the outskirts of the town of Cuapa where Leopoldo Brenes, Archbishop of Nicaragua, celebrated a mass in commemoration of the twenty-sixth anniversary of the last appearance of the Virgin Mary to Bernardo Martínez, a local campesino. Every single candidate was in attendance with one exception: Daniel Ortega.

Both Stephen Kinzer, in The Blood of Brothers, a book that details life in Nicaragua during the Contra War, and Mario Vargas Llosa, in his New York Times Magazine essay, “In Nicaragua,” state that the Virgin’s apparition on that Cuapa pasture became the ideological battleground in the fierce rivalry between the Sandinista government and the Catholic Church. This clash represents one of the salient themes of my novel Bernardo and the Virgin.

At the time, former Comandante Daniel Ortega and Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo were bitter enemies. But during recent months, as widely reported in the world media, the Cardinal served as Daniel Ortega’s spiritual advisor while Nicaragua’s incoming president publicly repented of his sins and reconciled with the Church.

And although these men have been far apart --- if not downright cold toward each other --- for many years, they do have one thing in common: they love the trappings of power.

During the thirty-five years that Cardinal Miguel de Obando y Bravo presided over the Nicaraguan Catholic Church, he became one of country’s most powerful men. But in April of 2005, pressured by several conservative Catholic Nicaraguan leaders (members of Opus Dei) who believed that His Eminence had become far too chummy with convicted former president Arnoldo Alemán, the Vatican accepted his resignation as Archbishop.

Forced out of this sublime position of influence, what better way for the Cardinal to get back at those who had turned against him than to form a close alliance with their greatest nemesis: Daniel Ortega?

Throughout the presidential campaign, the former Comandante often visited the Cardinal; and he could be seen in the front pew at his Sunday masses --- and plenty of news photographers were always present to record the scene. What’s more, it was Obando y Bravo who heard Ortega’s long-overdue confession and later performed the ceremony in which the Sandinista leader wed Rosario Murillo, his longtime companion and soon to be First Lady of Nicaragua.

But is Daniel Ortega’s conversion sincere?

Although I make it a point never to try to peer into another person’s soul, I believe that if Ortega was truly at peace with the Church he would have been present at the commemoration at Cuapa, for it was around this issue that his government staged its most virulent attacks against the Church by trying to destroy Bernardo Martínez’s reputation in the Sandinista-controlled media.

The Nicaraguan people have spoken. Whether they believe in the authenticity of Daniel Ortega’s spiritual awakening is irrelevant. Their choice must be respected.

I, however, doubt that the man Nicaragua will have as its president for the next six years is truly repentant. His political and spiritual marriage to Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo is one of convenience, for both men. They are thrilled to be back in power

If Daniel Ortega were genuinely sorry for the sins he committed during the 1980s and beyond, he would have been in Cuapa last October 13 --- for that’s where he committed his greatest sin by trying to discredit an event that most Nicaraguans hold as sacred.

Silvio Sirias resides in Panama. His novel, Bernardo and the Virgin, much of which takes place during the years of the Sandinista Revolution, will be released in paperback in the Spring of 2007 (Northwestern University Press.) He teaches at Balboa Academy and is currently revising The Saint of Santa Fe, a novel about the life and times of Father Héctor Gallego. For more information, visit his website at http://www.silviosirias.com

Silié, The democratic expansion of the Panama Canal
N. Jackson, Unraveling the cloak of secrecy
E. Jackson, Two elections in two countries and their presidential implications
Sirias, A "new" Daniel Ortega?
Sánchez, Washington plays its Honduran card
Emeagwali, Ideas are more important than money in ending poverty
Avnery, A massacre by any ordinary usage
Wallis, An election about moral values

Human Rights Watch, Peru cracks down on NGOs

Ryan, Cuba finds itself with good energy prospects
Committee to Protect Journalists, Cuban journalist put under house arrest

Leis, The totally unacceptable US economic blockade against Cuba