Americas press review

Headlines: Nicaragua breaks diplomatic ties with the Vatican

The Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Managua, Silvio Jose Baez (pictured in 2019), who has repeatedly condemned the government's crackdown on protests under leftist President Daniel Ortega and received death threats for allegedly aided by demonstrators, is transferred to Rome, on the orders of Pope Francis (Illustrative image).

© INTI OCON / AFP

Text by: Christophe Paget Follow

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The rupture of relations with the Vatican is on the front page of all the Nicaraguan press.

A decision taken, writes

Confidencial

, a few hours after the publication of an interview in which Pope Francis describes the government of Nicaragua as a “ 

Hitlerian dictatorship

 ”, and believes he sees an “ 

imbalance of the person in President Daniel Ortega

 ”.

Pope Francis also praises the imprisoned bishop Rolando José Alvarez: “ 

a very serious man, very capable.

He wanted to testify and did not accept exile

 ”.

La Prensa

states that, according to Vatican News, the information site of the Holy See, the government has asked the Vatican to close its diplomatic missions in the country, even if, according to the chancellery of Nicaragua, this closure stems from a decision common, specifies the daily.

La Prensa

recalls that the relationship had already deteriorated " 

following the repression of the regime against the Catholic Church in the country and Nicaraguans in general since the citizen demonstrations of 2018, violently repressed by the dictatorship

 ".

On February 21, writes

100% Noticias

, the president had already called the Church a “ 

mafia

 ” and accused it of being “ 

undemocratic

 ”.

Arturo McFields, the former Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States, who had resigned with a bang denouncing the regime of Daniel Ortega, speaks in 

100% Noticias

of “ stupid, vulgar and ordinary

 ”

 diplomacy  .

This break will cause an even greater international isolation of the regime

 ", believe the experts and diplomats interviewed by 

Confidencial 

: " 

Even Cuba or Venezuela have not done anything of this kind

 ", underlines a diplomatic source, who remarks that " 

by no longer recognizing the Vatican and the nunciature, Ortega can claim today to intervene in the appointment of bishops

 ”.

State of emergency in Peru

In Peru, the rainy season has killed at least 59 people since September, more than 12,000 people are affected.

It is on the front page of all the press, because the rains increased sharply on Friday evening.

On red alert

 ", headline - and in red letters - 

Correo

, letters printed on the photo of a street invaded by water and mud.

A state of emergency has been declared in 18 districts of Lima and four of nearby Callao, writes 

Peru 21

, and also in the rest of the country - 483 districts 

in all

 - " 

after the intense rains that fell due to the Cyclone Yaku

 ”.

According to the Prime Minister, very heavy rains should fall in the coming days in Lima: “ 

we have to prepare for it

 ”.

However, headlined

Peru 21

 on Sunday, " 

we were not ready

 ": " 

It is urgent that cities set up their own urban planning processes and that they take the climate into account

 ", especially since it is above all the most vulnerable who are affected.

And the newspaper hopes in its 

editorial

 that, following this cyclone, “ 

the word prevention will not only be used when tragedy reminds us of it 

”.

► To read also: Peru: deadly landslides in the south of the country

The convulsions of the American banking system  

The American banking system is fine

 ," tried to reassure US President Joe Biden on Monday - he is on the front page of the 

New York Times

website , after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. 

Politico

 recalls that “ 

three days before [its] collapse, lobbyists and industry officials were elated: They had convinced key lawmakers to publicly warn the head of the Federal Reserve against greater regulation of the industry.

 ”

A three-month campaign now in danger, writes the news site, due to " 

collapse

 ".

The conservative 

Wall Street Journal

 believes that " 

the unpleasant truth – which Washington will never admit – is that Silicon Valley Bank's failure is the expected bill after years of monetary and regulatory mistakes

 ”.

The 

New York Times

 is interested in “ 

the threat that the collapse of the SVB poses to companies that are developing solutions to the climate crisis

 ”.

This bank indeed worked with “more than 1,550 firms collaborated on projects relating to solar energy, hydrogen and batteries.

"

According to the bank's website

, the newspaper explains,

the SVB lent them billions of dollars

".   

 ► To read or listen: Why the fall of Silicon Valley Bank, the financial arm of tech, causes so much excitement

The Oscars honor Asian artists 

The film

Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

won seven Oscars, including Best Actress with

actress Michelle Yeoh

.

The 

Washington Post

 recalls that this Malaysian native, now 60, began her career in the Hong Kong film industry in the 1980s. Ke Huy Quan, who for his part won the statuette for best supporting actor male, recalled in his speech at the ceremony having begun his journey " 

on a boat

 ", when, still a child, he fled Vietnam, before passing through a refugee camp in Hong Kong and finally settling in the United States -United.

More broadly, writes The

Hollywood Reporter

, " 

creators of Chinese and Indian origin triumphed 

” during this 95th edition.

The Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

director's parents

 are of Hong Kong and Taiwanese descent.

Kartiki Gonsalves, the director of the short documentary 

The Elephant Whisperers,

 is Indian.

However, notes

The Hollywood Reporter

, the representation of diversity has its limits: only a Latino and an African-American have recovered a statuette.  

► To read or listen: 95th Oscars: a wild success for the unconventional film "Everything Everywhere All at Once"

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