Silvio José Báez, auxiliary bishop of Managua, is one of the great faces left by the days of social revolt in Nicaragua.
Critic before the government of Daniel Ortega and the repression practiced against university students in the most critical days of protests, Báez is seen as an ‘ambassador’ of the prevailing discontent against the Presidency of the Republic.
In a demonstration called on Saturday by different sectors, Baez was cheered by thousands of attendees who showed their disapproval of the actions of the Daniel Ortega government.
According to the priest’s words, the country must opt for social justice and freedom for the country’s growth, but not with violence or oppression.
¡Viva Nicaragua! De ahora en adelante ya no será igual que antes. Nicaragua es de todos los nicaragüenses. pic.twitter.com/Jyk09WJahM
— Silvio José Báez (@silviojbaez) April 29, 2018
The president of the Episcopal Conference, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, reiterated on Saturday the willingness of the bishops to mediate in a dialogue, but they gave the government a term of one month to reach agreements.
Ortega, who governed for the first time from 1979 to 1990 after the overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship, returned to power in 2007 and was re-elected in 2011 and 2016 in the midst of electoral processes widely questioned by the opposition.
However, the violence that Ortega and his government exerted against the protesters who came out on April 18 to protest against the social security reform irritated Nicaraguans despite the fact that the government reversed its measure.
Though the violence has subsided from the first days of the protests, when university students clashed with police and forces in support of the government that left more than 40 dead and more than hundred injured, the calls for the resignation of Daniel Ortega and his wife and vice-president, Rosario Murillo, continue.
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