Nicaraguan Delegate Fired for Pro-Family Views/Briefs Policy Makers

By Austin Ruse

     (NEW YORK – C-FAM) Max Padilla, a former Nicaraguan Cabinet officer, toured Washington DC this week telling policy makers his story of being fired from his job as head of the Ministry for the Family because of his conservative views on abortion and family matters.

     Padilla, who reported to the president of Nicaragua, came under criticism when he headed the Nicaraguan delegation to both the five-year review of the Cairo Conference on Population and Development (Cairo+5) and the five-year review of the Beijing Women^Òs Conference (Beijing+5). At both conferences Padilla and his colleague Elida Solorzano assertively supported positions unpopular with the Clinton Administration, the European Union and radical non-governmental organizations.

     It was at Cairo+5 and Beijing+5 that the western states attempted to expand access to abortion, redefine the family to include homosexual couples, and redefine gender from "male and female" to a "social construct" that could be changed at will. Nicaragua, led by Padilla and with instructions from his country's president, actively supported the resistance to these measures. For his work, Nicaragua was labeled by the prestige media as part of the "unholy alliance" between Catholic and Muslim states.

     Things heated up for Padilla prior to the final session on Beijing+5 last spring when he came under fire from the Scandinavian governments. At the time Nicaragua was negotiating to be named a "highly indebted country" and have its debts either eliminated or restructured. Nicaragua had been placed in an untenable financial position after the devastation of Hurricane Mitch. The "donor countries" of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and others ordered Padilla to change his government's definition of gender to say that it was only a social construct. They threatened withdrawal of many millions in much needed financial assistance if Padilla did not follow their directive. [It is reported that at the same time the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) also threatened Nicaragua with the loss of $11 million for its positions at UN conferences.]

     In a letter from seven Scandinavian Ambassadors in January, 2000, Padilla was taken to task for his refusal to change the definition of gender. The Ambassadors insisted the Beijing Platform mandated the change of definition. [Nicaragua signed the Beijing Platform for Action but with formal reservations.] The Ambassadors either lied or were misinformed because Annex 4 of the Beijing Platform for Action explicitly states that gender "was intended to be interpreted and understood as it was in ordinary, generally accepted usage."

     Padilla refused to make the ordered change and was fired by the Nicaraguan president last spring. Within weeks Solorzano was also fired. Padilla's story has circulated in international pro-family circles for months. This week, hosted by Focus on the Family, the Heritage Foundation, and Family Research Council, Padilla told his story to members of Congress, representatives of the Bush Administration and other policy-makers. "Padilla is a folk hero," said one observer. "His story deserves to be told all over the world."

 

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