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RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 0951
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 0097
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN PRIORITY
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAGUA 000415 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/14/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PINR KDEM NU PREL
SUBJECT: ORTEGA GOVERNMENT TAGS CARDINAL OBANDO TO HEAD 
NATIONAL PEACE AND RECONCILIATION COUNCIL 
 
REF: A. MANAGUA 0350 
     ¶B. MANAGUA 0241 
     ¶C. 2006 MANAGUA 2725 
     ¶D. 2006 MANAGUA 2061 
     ¶E. 2006 MANAGUA 1370 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Paul A. Trivelli. Reasons 1.4 (B,D). 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary:  President Ortega's new National Peace and 
Reconciliation Council is the centerpiece of Ortega's 
September 15 accord with Nicaraguan Resistance Party leader 
Salvador Talavera.  Ignoring Archbishop Leopoldo Brenes' 
reference to an August 2006 pastoral letter issued by the 
Episcopal Council stating no priest should participate in 
political parties or take public office, Cardinal Obando y 
Bravo accepted Ortega's offer to head the new council, 
asserting that the decision is the Pope's to make.  In the 
Ambassador's recent meeting with Nuncio Jean Paul Gobel, the 
Nuncio was reserved in his assessment of Cardinal Obando's 
motives for accepting a position in the Ortega 
administration, while Archbishop Brenes did not hold back in 
his criticism of the Cardinal when he spoke with the 
Ambassador.  Certainly, Obando's dismissal of the 
Archbishop's statements has tested Brenes' authority and that 
of Nicaragua's Catholic Church hierarchy.   End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (C) President Ortega announced on January 30 the 
formation of the National Peace and Reconciliation Council 
(CONAREP), to be headed by Cardinal Obando y Bravo.  The 
Council is the centerpiece of Ortega's September 15 accord 
with Nicaraguan Resistance Party (PRN) Salvador Talavera 
(Refs. A, C).  Ignoring Archbishop Leopoldo Brenes' reference 
to the Episcopal Council's August 2006 pastoral letter 
reiterating Church doctrine that no priest should participate 
in political parties or assume public office, Obando accepted 
Ortega's offer and asserted that the decision is the Pope's 
to make, not the Council. 
 
¶3.  (C) According to the Ortega- Talavera agreement -- which 
Obando witnessed and whose stated purpose is to "consolidate 
peace and achieve economic development within the framework 
of equity and solidarity with our country's impoverished 
sectors" -- CONAREP will receive at least 1% of Nicaragua's 
annual national budget.  However, given the National 
Assembly's recent vote forbidding the GON's new national 
councils to incur any government expenses (Ref. B), CONAREP's 
budgetary future may be in question. 
 
Nuncio: Obando Puts Vatican in an Uncomfortable Spot 
- - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶4.  (C) On February 9, Nuncio Jean Paul Gobel shared with the 
Ambassador his concerns that Obando is putting the Vatican in 
an uncomfortable spot, noting he was disappointed that the 
Episcopal Council did not issue a formal statement regarding 
Obando's participation in CONAREP.  He explained that 
Episcopal Council members are divided over their views on 
President Ortega's motives for standing up CONAREP so soon 
after assuming the presidency and for appointing Obando to 
lead the new council.  While some bishops believe that Ortega 
is exploiting Obando to "divide" the Church in Nicaragua 
(Archbishop Brenes and the formal hierarchy Vs. Obando and 
Ortega), others think Ortega is convinced that the gesture 
will truly serve to unite Nicaraguans -- who Ortega 
mistakenly believes would rally around Obando.  Gobel 
asserted that Obando no longer enjoys support outside of 
Managua and his popularity has even waned in the capital. 
 
¶5.  (C) The Ambassador suggested that Ortega's sense of 
urgency in establishing the new council and his efforts to 
pass legislation to concentrate power in the Presidency 
likely stem from his fear that the two Liberal opposition 
parties may soon reunite and block Ortega's efforts in the 
future.  Gobel mentioned that he would lunch with Obando the 
same day and hoped to determine Obando's intentions, and he 
will travel to Rome on February 11 to raise the matter.  He 
speculated that Obando may be seeking the Vatican's opinion 
in the hopes that it will instruct him to decline the 
position.  Gobel added that, while Obando's acceptance of the 
position may not literally violate Church law, including 
Canon 285 (prohibits priests from accepting public positions 
 
MANAGUA 00000415  002 OF 002 
 
 
entailing the exercise of civil authority), doing so would 
certainly violate the spirit of the law.  He hoped that the 
Vatican's secretary of state, who like Obando is a Salesian, 
could dissuade Obando from assuming leadership of CONAREP. 
 
Brenes Predicts Pope Will Take Strict Interpretation 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶6.  (C) In Archbishop Leopoldo Brenes' February 13 meeting 
with the Ambassador, the Archbishop was unequivocal that 
priests should not assume public office.  He contrasted 
CONAREP with the reconciliation committees of the early 
1990s; while CONAREP is clearly an Ortega administration 
entity, the 1990s committees were sponsored by the OAS, not 
the Nicaraguan government.  Thus, it was acceptable for 
priests, himself included, to participate in the OAS 
committees, explained the Archbishop.  He opined that 
Obando's interest in accepting the CONAREP position is likely 
driven by his political ambitions, not/not an interest in 
reconciliation per se.  In this context, he recalled the 
counsel of one of his early mentors, who had warned him that 
"power is a drug."  Brenes explained that one of CONAREP's 
main functions will be to compensate former 1980s combatants 
and their families, a contentious process involving money and 
politics. 
 
¶7.  (C) Clarifying that the Episcopal Council is not 
authorized to discipline Obando for his acceptance of the 
CONAREP position because its duties are purely pastoral, the 
Archbishop explained that it is incumbent upon the Vatican to 
intervene.  Brenes, who predicted that the Pope will be 
"strict" in his interpretation of canon law, remarked that 
popular opinion does not favor Obando's involvement in 
politics.  Lamenting Obando's change in direction, the 
Archbishop likened the Cardinal's straying to that of a 
revered father figure who betrays his children. 
 
Comment 
- - -  - 
 
¶8.  (C) While the Nuncio was more reserved in his assessment 
of Cardinal Obando's motives for accepting a position in the 
Ortega administration, Archbishop Brenes did not hold back in 
his criticism of the Cardinal.  Clearly, Obando's dismissal 
of the Archbishop's statements has tested Brenes' authority 
and that of Nicaragua's Catholic Church.  According to 
Brenes, a bishop from the Holy See's Family Affairs office 
will visit Managua shortly to discuss the Vatican's position 
on abortion, in light of the continuing debate here over last 
fall's legal elimination of the therapeutic abortion 
exception in the country's criminal code.  Possibly, this 
representative will be tasked with delivering the Pope's 
decision to Obando. 
TRIVELLI