Prelate Robbed by Sandinistas, Exiles Claim

MIAMI —  Robberies are hardly uncommon here, but when the visiting leader of the Nicaraguan Roman Catholic Church was robbed Saturday, there was immediate speculation that the motives were more political than criminal.

On Monday, Nicaraguan exile groups issued statements blaming the long arm of the Sandinista government for a weekend “home invasion” in which three Latino males tied up Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo and stole his watch, wallet and some personal papers.

“This new aggression on foreign soil represents the culmination of a series of threats, attempts, insults and harassments suffered by Obando during . . . his unfailing stance in defense of democratic principles,” read a statement issued by the Miami office of the United Nicaraguan Opposition, a coalition of contra groups fighting the Sandinista government.

Strident Critic

Arturo Cruz, one of UNO’s directors, later admitted that no one could be sure about such a thing in crime-vexed Miami, but he asked: “Isn’t it odd that out of so many houses in a middle-class section, the assailants would choose the house Obando was at?”

Obando, 60, Nicaragua’s first cardinal and a strident critic of the nation’s Marxist government, was attacked Saturday while visiting the home of a friend, Roberto Rivas, in a neighborhood west of here known as Kendall.

Six others were there when the armed men forced their way in. The robbers took money and jewelry but left behind several valuable appliances.

“It seemed they more interested in the cardinal’s things than anything else,” Rivas said.

Police said they have no leads. “We’re just handling this as another routine robbery,” said Bert Reyes, the Metro-Dade Police detective assigned to the case.

Tied Up but Not Hurt

And Marjorie Donohue, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Miami, cautioned against spreading rumors about political intrigue.

“The cardinal certainly did not say it was a politically motivated attack,” she said. “He has left the country. He is fine. His arms are a little sore because they tied him up.”

But in Miami, where most everything but bad weather is occasionally blamed on communists, many saw the assault as terrorism.

“The attack was mobilized by those who continue to violate human rights in Nicaragua,” Danilo Lacayo, a spokesman for the exile group Bloque Opositor del Sur, said on Radio Mambi, a station owned by Cuban exiles.

For its part, the Sandinista government also was indignant. It gave instructions to its ambassador in Washington to request “an immediate investigation, capture and punishment of the criminals.”