Marling Balmaceda is the head of press for Artículo 66, a Nicaraguan news outlet that has been highly critical of the country's President Daniel Ortega and his regime. Facing retaliation, Balmaceda fled the country, taking refuge abroad.
We were going to cover a march, a demonstration. And you knew that if you went, you didn't know if you were going to come back alive because there were sniper attacks....
Balmaceda has closely followed news of the country, like that of Bishop Rolando Alvarez, who went on a hunger strike to protest the religious persecution he and his family suffer.
MARLING BALMACEDA
Press Officer, Artículo 66
He has said that if the Church is silent, the only thing left is for the stones to be silent because in the country, any citizen who speaks out against President Ortega is prevented from doing so. They face jail, exile and even death.
According to Balmaceda, the Church became a refuge for those fleeing persecution.
MARLING BALMACEDA
Press Officer, Article 66
Since the social protests in 2018, President Ortega practically declared war on the Catholic Church because of the actions of the bishops, the priests and the faithful...A priest from the smallest town in the country opened the parishes' doors to shelter protesters being attacked by police, armed third party groups, or the paramilitary.
Many bishops, including Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, Archbishop of Managua, Nicaragua's capital, have spoken out against the persecution and called for the government to stop. The government, unfazed by the Church's calls for justice, recently shut down Canal 51, a TV station owned by the Bishops' Conference.
MARLING BALMACEDA
Press Officer, Article 66
The Church has been one of the government's biggest targets. This has led to the closure of universities linked to the Church or organizations linked to the Church that were in charge of serving the citizens and the most vulnerable.
As the crisis in Nicaragua continues, Balmaceda condemns the persecution and hopes to one day return to the country where she became a journalist.
RM
TRANS: OG/KG
