Nicaraguan-born Bianca Jagger, former wife of Rolling Stones frontman Sir Mick Jagger, has warned that the country’s last ray of hope is the church (including evangelicals) – and that it has become the target of the country’s totalitarian government.
She also claimed that Nicaragua’s independent media and educational institutions are being trampled by President Daniel Ortega in order to dismantle the country’s democratic society.
Speaking at the launch of ‘Silencing Democracy in Nicaragua’, an ad hoc report by UK Parliamentarians, Bianca Jagger said: ‘This report includes voices of those targeted by the dictatorial Ortega regime. It investigates extrajudicial executions; arbitrary detentions; torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; arbitrary deprivation of nationality; and violation of the right to remain in one’s country’.
A spokesperson for Open Doors said: ‘Evangelical pastors who disagree with the government are forced to keep a low profile to avoid reprisals. The fear of government surveillance and persecution constantly hangs over them. The government’s strategies to control religious organisations, such as imposing excessive bureaucratic requirements or limiting the autonomy of churches, further complicate the situation.
‘Many churches have chosen to meet in homes or other less public places after their legal status was cancelled. This measure aims to protect congregation members from surveillance and persecution as they try to keep the flame of faith alive.
More than 200 clergy have been persecuted, exiled, or imprisoned by the regime since 2018, when much of the church supported protests against government social security reforms. The most prominent example was the Bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando Álvarez, a vocal defender of civic freedoms. He was stripped of his Nicaraguan citizenship and, after refusing exile to the US, was sentenced in 2023 to more than 26 years in prison. He has since found sanctuary in Europe.
Henrietta Blyth, CEO of Open Doors UK and Ireland, said: ‘Since repressing popular protests in 2018 that called for his resignation, Ortega has systematically silenced opposing voices and zeroed in on the church, because it voices opposition to the government’s dictatorial measures. The church is one of the last independent voices in the country and is recognised as a legitimate institution by society, so it is a threat to those in power. Nicaragua is 95% Christian, but it leapt 30 places up Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of nations that persecute Christians.’
Bianca Jagger said: ‘We must now engage the UK government, and states globally, to act against these human-rights violations in Nicaragua, particularly those perpetrated so aggressively against the church, educational institutions, and the independent media.’
