Pope Francis expressed “concern” for the bishop of the city of Matagalpa, Rolando Álvarez, sentenced in Nicaragua to 26 years in prison. AND He demanded a “patient exercise of dialogue” in the Central American country to achieve peace. In the last few hours, Álvarez was indicted on charges of conspiracy, propagation of false news, aggravated obstruction of functions, and contempt of the authorities. The bishop refused to get on the plane that would take him along with 222 released Nicaraguan political prisoners to the USwhich provoked the fury of President Daniel Ortega who called him “arrogant”, “insane” and “energúmeno”.
“The news coming from Nicaragua has saddened me not a little. And I cannot help but remember here with concern the Bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, whom I love so much, sentenced to 26 years in prison,” Francis said on Sunday, after delivering the Sunday Angelus prayer in the Vatican. In his message to the faithful gathered in Plaza San Pedro, the Pope remembered the 222 citizens sent by the Nicaraguan government to the United States.
“I pray for them and for all those who suffer in that beloved nation,” said the pope, who added: “I ask you for prayer, and let us ask the Lord for the intercession of the immaculate Virgin Mary to open the hearts of those responsible politicians and all citizens to the sincere search for peace that is born of truth, justice, freedom and love, which is achieved through the patient exercise of dialogue”.
What happened to Bishop Álvarez?
Monsignor Rolando Álvarez had been under house arrest since August 19, 2022 and since February 9 in the La Modelo prison in Tipitapa. In 2018, Álvarez had been part of the dialogue commission of the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference, which sought to mediate between the government and the opposition.
In 2022, the Nicaraguan government expelled the Apostolic Nuncio and 18 nuns from the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, from the country. He also closed Catholic media and on February 8 removed citizenship and exiled six priests.
Last Thursday, President Daniel Ortega confirmed that the 56-year-old bishop of the city of Matagalpa had refused to go to the US. also have to attend to it”, shot Ortega on a national chain.
Álvarez is the first bishop arrested, accused and sentenced since Ortega returned to power in Nicaragua in 2007. The president also indicated that a dozen priests, deacons and seminarians voluntarily boarded the flight that took the 222 released and that now only three remain. religious imprisoned in Nicaragua: two priests “for common crimes” and the bishop for “terrorism”.
The case of the ex-guerrilla Dora Téllez
Among the 222 Nicaraguan opponents released from prison are the former presidential candidate Christian Chamorro and his brother and former minister Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, as well as other politicians who wanted to challenge Ortega in the last elections. Two other members of the Chamorro family linked to the newspaper were also released and deported to the United States. The Presswhich is now published on the internet in exile, and the former guerrilla commander Dora Maria Tellez.
Téllez, a former Sandinista comrade of President Ortega, recalled in a recent interview with the daily The country his “605 days in hell” from El Chipote jail. “We slept on a flat mat, with nothing on, on the cold floor. They didn’t give us towels, we dried ourselves by putting our clothes on top. They were constant psychological torture. I was never physically tortured, the treatment of the prison workers was friendly and efficient; it is the treatment of the Ortega-Murillo regime that is inhumane,” said Téllez, a recent arrival in the United States.
On September 24, Téllez declared himself in “hunger strike demanding the cessation of isolation and the possibility of having access to reading material”, as reported by the political organization Unión Democrática Renovadora – UNAMOS. This party, formerly known as the Sandinista Renewal Movement (MRS), is a split from the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) and was founded in 1995 by the writer and former Nicaraguan vice president, Sergio Ramírez Mercado.
On September 17, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) issued an alert for Téllez after verifying, through images released by the official media, “his physical deterioration, the mark of torture on his visibly pale body , weak and thin.
Téllez was Commander Two who participated on August 22, 1978 in the Sandinista command of Commander Zero, Eden Pastora (1936-2020) with Hugo Torres (Commander One) as sub-leader: they assaulted the National Palace taking hostage the legislators of the dictator Anastasio Somozaoverthrown in 1979. The release of the ex-militant was celebrated by the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petrowho highlighted on his Twitter account: “I publicly requested the freedom of Dora María Téllez and all the political prisoners in Nicaragua. She has regained her freedom. Latin America must be a space without political prisoners, without social prisoners“.
Marches in favor and praise of the US
The head of US diplomacy, Antony Blink, praised the release and deportation of the 222 opponents and said that it could open the way for dialogue with President Ortega. In addition, several thousand people marched in Nicaragua on Saturday to show their support for the president. In the official march in Managua there were flags of Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba and the Sandinista National Liberation Front and slogans were chanted in favor of the government and against the opponents. Some carried airplane-shaped balloons, referring to the means used to transport opponents to Washington.
“We are marching in celebration of the deportation of all criminals who were detainedcoup people, that what they were doing here was rather damaging the Nicaraguan image,” said Walter Martinez, one of those present in the streets of the country’s capital, who added that Ortega is “a democratic president.” Another protester, rose arauzexpressed: “We are celebrating peace, because in Nicaragua we want to live in peace. That is why the commander (Ortega) took the strategy of sending these thieves to their homeland, the United States, because we do not want them here.”