Irony: Communist Daniel Ortega calls Catholic Church a 'perfect dictatorship'

Daniel Ortega called the Catholic Church a “perfect dictatorship” because it does not allow its members to elect the pope.

“Everything is imposed. It’s a perfect dictatorship. It’s a perfect tyranny,” Ortega said about the church during a televised speech on Wednesday marking the 43rd anniversary of the National Police.

“If they are going to be democratic, let them start with Catholics voting for the pope, for cardinals, for bishops.”

The Catholic Church in Nicaragua has been persecuted by the Ortega regime after he accused the church of backing up the protests against Ortega’s regime in 2018.

During his speech, Ortega called the Catholic Church’s bishops and priests “killers” and “coup plotters,” and accused them of working on behalf of “American imperialism.”

“I would say to his holiness the pope, respectfully, to the Catholic authorities, I am Catholic. As a Christian, I don’t feel represented,” he said.

In August, the Nicaraguan regime ordered the closure of seven radio stations run by the Roman Catholic Church. The church has called the measure “an injustice.”

Along with the Catholic Church, Daniel Ortega’s regime has been relentlessly cracking down on NGOs and groups, viewing them as opposed to the regime. The Ortega regime claims the groups receive funding from abroad to conspire to remove him from office.

Ortega has been widely criticized for the November 2021 presidential elections, when he was elected as president for the fourth consecutive term after a crackdown against the opposition. Ahead of the elections, the regime arrested more than 46 opposition leaders and six presidential candidates.