Nicaraguan police detained critical bishop; tension with the Catholic Church increases

First modification: 08/05/2022 – 18:26

In Nicaragua, there was a new episode of disagreements between the government and the country’s religious entities, after the special forces of the National Police prevented Bishop Rolando Álvarez, one of the main opponents of the administration of Daniel Ortega.

Along with him, six priests and another half dozen laymen who were on their way to offer a Eucharist also suffered the same.

“I wanted to go out to the Cathedral to offer Holy Mass, but the higher authorities did not give me permission,” Álvarez denounced in a digital transmission from his diocese.

The prelate explained that a group of riot police had locked them up in the Episcopal Curia.

Álvarez pointed out that the Police do not allow free movement, freedom of movement, expression and religion. “We want them to leave us alone!” he demanded.

According to the priest, there is a persecution of the forces of order on the religious sphere that he leads. He detailed that there are “brothers dressed in civilian clothes recording homilies” or investigating whether they are “plotting or colluding.”

In addition, Álvarez confessed that this harassment makes him fear for his life.

“I am in the Curia, at night I only stay with my Vicar General. Whatever happens to me, you will know about it. I hope that nothing happens, that they respect my life, my integrity and the diocesan church”, he stated.

Attacks against freedom of expression proliferate in Nicaraguan territory. Bishop Álvarez’s chapter takes place in the same week in which the regime cut the transmission of six Catholic radio signals.

Last Monday, the Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Post Office (Telcor) ruled the closure of half a dozen religious stations that operated in the north of the countrynotified the Diocese of Matagalpa.

Meanwhile, they reported a police operation in the Niño Jesús de Praga chapel, in the municipality of Sébaco, where they entered by force to confiscate the equipment of one of the radio stations closed on Monday.

They describe the siege against the religious as a blow to freedom of expression

The Undersecretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs of the US Department of State, Brian Nichols, criticized the measures taken by Managua through his Twitter account.

Ortega-Murillo’s brutal assault on Catholic clergy, radio facilities and community members in Sébaco is another blow to freedom of religion and expression.

The Nicaraguan Independent Journalists and Communicators (PCIN) movement recorded that the current Executive exiled more than 120 press workers, including the writing of the newspaper ‘La Prensa’. In addition, there is a profound disappearance of the written media, television programs and radio stations opposed to Ortega.

The relationship between President Ortega and the Nicaraguan Catholic Church is broken and seems to have no return. The president’s persecution against his opponents does not exclude religious men, whom he called “terrorists” on occasion.

Although the Central American country has been submerged in a political and social crisis since April 2018, the issue deepened last November, when Ortega was re-elected for the fifth time with seven rival candidates in prison and two others in exile.

However, the link between the religious leadership and the Sandinistas has been broken for 43 years.

The sociopolitical outbreak also left at least 355 dead, according to figures provided by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. While around 1,200 non-governmental organizations had to leave the country and some high-level delegations, such as the Organization of American States, were expelled.

with EFE