The blue and white flag of Nicaragua waved freely in the Los Chiles canton, in Costa Rica, during the Via Crucis celebration this Good Friday, when 300 exiled peasants professed their faith and asked in this border town for the freedom of their country that suffers under the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
The demonstration was loaded with symbolism, with posters calling for the release of 36 political prisoners in Nicaragua, including Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, Bishop of Matagalpa, whose image on the banners recalled the tenacious persecution of the Catholic Church that went so far as to prohibit processions. nuns at Easter.
Upon entering the sixth station, dedicated to Nicaragua, a peasant carrying a cross stood in front of the crowd and the peasants were heard proclaiming “unity” and saying: “We are Nicaraguans wherever we are.”
It was a clear challenge to Ortega, whose dictatorship denationalized 94 critical citizens, including writers, journalists, social leaders, and peasants, after accusing them of “traitors to the homeland” and ordering the confiscation of their assets.
The procession left at 8:30 am from the San Lorenzo chapel. They traveled two kilometers without the participation of any priest, accompanied by two historical leaders of the Peasant Movement: Francisca “Chica” Ramírez and Víctor Manuel Díaz González.
The peasant leader warned the government leadership that Nicaragua will be free and that they cannot continue to marginalize the population, referring to the intensification of repression, which in recent days, in addition to the ban on Catholic processions, has meant persecution and an increase in the siege of the population.
“This Stations of the Cross represents solidarity with the Catholic Church; with Bishop Rolando Álvarez, his family and that we peasants who do not give up and who know well that… it is good fighting against evil are present here! We are asking God to help us. We know that Nicaragua is kidnapped,” Ramírez said.
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Díaz González reported that the repression has continued. On Saturday, April 1, a second-degree cousin of his, Rafael Torres, was arrested, and he understands that the police were looking for another man named Rafael Torres Díaz.
10 peasants kidnapped in Río San Juan
Although his relatives know that he was transferred to District III of Managua, the authorities do not provide information about him. However, they raided his property at dawn.
“A total of ten peasants were arrested. A university student in Managua, Jason, was also captured. Our complaint is to ask for the freedom of all of them. All those from Río San Juan were transferred to Managua,” said Díaz González, without specifying the names of the other hostages.
For Luis Manuel Sánchez, another of the exiles who participated in the Stations of the Cross, religious activity also meant the possibility of meeting acquaintances in Costa Rica, something that cannot be done in Nicaragua. “It’s exciting to meet my people,” he celebrated.
Sánchez rejected the prohibition of the presidential couple to religious demonstrations and the actions of the police authorities.
Ángela Doris Sequeira, another member of the Peasant Movement, explained that the Stations of the Cross is very important for all the Catholic people of Nicaragua.
In the activity, Sequeira said that they took the opportunity to request the release of Bishop Álvarez, sentenced to 26 years and four months by the dictatorship since last February, after the religious refused to accept the exile that the regime imposed on 222 political prisoners, released surprisingly on February 9.
“They (the regime) are afraid, they are completely finished. They know that the people are united more than ever. We are a Catholic people. Most of us profess the Catholic faith,” Sequeira said.