Letters on Nicaragua

Dr. Gustavo Parajon, president of the Evangelical Committee for Aid and Development (CEPAD), has been appointed as the citizen delegate to Nicaragua's National Reconciliation Commission, which is part of the Central American peace process. The appointment has occasioned a new round of allegations against Parajon by the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD). Previous IRD attacks against this medical doctor, Baptist pastor, and Nicaraguan evangelical leader have been covered and responded to in Sojourners (see articles in the November 1984 and March 1987 issues).

Included in the IRD press statements this time is the following open letter to Gustavo Parajon. Following that is an open letter to the IRD from me.

The IRD letter to Gustavo Parajon:

Dear Dr. Parajon,

The recent opening toward a possible Central American peace settlement is encouraging to us, as we are sure it is to you. Your appointment to Nicaragua's National Reconciliation Commission places you in a crucial position within the peace process.

We admit to some misgivings about your role on the commission. CEPAD has a clear record of close cooperation with and support for the Sandinista government. (See attached analysis.) Unless you are able to achieve greater independence from the Sandinistas, your ability to contribute to genuine reconciliation will be limited.

We hope that your call for the early reopening of La Prensa and Radio Catolica, as well as an end to the state of emergency, signifies a new independence on your part. We fully support you in this call for liberalization. As you undertake your responsibilities on the commission, we urge you to move forward from this opening statement into a new boldness on behalf of human rights, religious liberty, and democratic elections. For truly there can be no peace in Nicaragua without these freedoms. Moreover, we ask you to recognize that, as the Catholic bishops have said, reconciliation requires a dialogue in which "all Nicaraguans inside and outside the country must participate..., regardless of ideology, class, or partisan belief."

Dr. Parajon, we realize that if you were to take this new stance of independence, it would not be without risk. Frank criticism of basic Sandinista Front policies, which a truly impartial role might well require of you, could expose you and CEPAD to the sort of government retribution that Catholic Church agencies have suffered. Nevertheless, as Mordecai told Esther: "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of the people of God will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for God's people will arise from another place...."

God be with you in your important mission of reconciliation. We join with Cardinal Obando and all the people of Nicaragua in praying for a "peace based on truth, love, justice, and freedom."

Sincerely,

Kent R. Hill
Executive Director

A letter to the IRD:

Dear Mr. Hill,

The recent opening toward a possible Central American peace settlement is encouraging to us, as we hope it is to you. Your very close relationship to the Reagan administration gives you an important opportunity to support the Central American Peace Plan process.

We admit to some misgivings about your special relationship and role with the U.S. government. The IRD has a clear record of close cooperation with and support for the Reagan administration and its policy in Nicaragua. Unless you are able to achieve greater independence from the Reagan policy, your ability to contribute to genuine reconciliation will be limited.

We hope that you will begin to call for an early end to military repression, press suppression, and political violence in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, along with your stated concern for democracy in Nicaragua, which would signify a new independence on your part. We would fully support you in this call for consistency.

As you undertake your responsibilities as a religious and political organization working closely with the U.S. government, we urge you to move forward from your present posture of selective concern for political and religious freedom into a new boldness on behalf of human rights, religious liberty, and democratic elections, even and especially when such a stance would conflict with the political ideology and self-interest of the Reagan administration. For truly there can be no peace anywhere without these freedoms. Indeed, for the sake of such democratic freedoms, I would challenge you and the IRD to demonstrate as much political independence in relation to your own U.S. government as Gustavo Parajon and CEPAD have demonstrated in relation to their own Nicaraguan government. So far, their record stands up far better than yours in that regard.

Moreover, we ask you to recognize that, as the Central American presidents and religious leaders have agreed, reconciliation requires internal dialogue among the conflicting parties in each Central American country and an end to outside support for armed groups, including the U.S.-sponsored contras.

Mr. Hill, we realize that if you were to take this new stance of independence it would not be without risk. Frank criticism of basic Reagan administration policies, which a truly impartial role might well require of you, could expose you and the IRD to the sort of government surveillance, intimidation, and threats that other church people and groups in the United States have suffered from the government simply for dissenting from official policy. You might even become subject to the kind of personal attack that Gustavo Parajon and CEPAD have endured at the hands of the IRD and the U.S. government. Nevertheless, as Mordecai told Esther: "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of the people of God will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for God's people will arise from another place...."

God be with you in the important mission of reconciliation. We join with Gustavo Parajon, Cardinal Obando, and all the people of Nicaragua in praying for a "peace based on truth, love, justice, and freedom."

Sincerely,

Jim Wallis
Editor, Sojourners

P.S. I found quite ironic and disconcerting an incident which occurred before a preaching tour I undertook in Britain last summer. In an attempt to hear all sides in its coverage of the tour, the BBC asked the U.S. State Department for an on-the-record interview about me and Sojourners. The State Department agreed but at the last moment changed its position and, offering your phone number, told the BBC to call the IRD instead.