Thousands of Nicaraguans marked Holy Week inside church compounds on Friday, confined by a government ban on public religious processions. The restriction, in place for four years under President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, extends to all public demonstrations. US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau condemned the policy on X, stating, "Once again this year, the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship is denying the people of Nicaragua the right to profess their faith… by banning such public processions." He added, "I look forward to the day when our Nicaraguan friends reclaim their religious freedom."
In response, the Nicaraguan government dismissed the remarks as "perverse and false accusations." In Managua, worshippers held the Stations of the Cross within the cathedral's walled gardens, under police observation. Pro-government outlets reported Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes estimating over 25,000 attendees at the cathedral plaza. Murillo said the strong turnout showed the Church was being misrepresented by critics.
The Ortega-Murillo administration has viewed the Catholic Church as aligned with anti-government protests since 2018, which it labeled a US-supported coup. A UN report documented more than 300 deaths during the crackdown, with hundreds of thousands fleeing the country, including clergy and journalists.
Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have turned religious practice into a controlled spectacle, allowing worship only within state-monitored boundaries. The ban on processions is less about public order and more about suppressing any gathering that could become a platform for dissent. For Nigerians, this serves as a quiet example of how authoritarianism often begins with the restriction of small freedoms. The US rebuke, while noted, changes nothing on the ground—diplomatic words rarely move entrenched regimes.
