Nicaragua’s Ortega government arrests Catholic Bishop Rolando Álvarez
The government said in a statement that the bishop had “persisted in his destabilizing and provocative activities.” It did not elaborate or say what legal charges the Catholic leader was facing. Two weeks ago, police surrounded his residence, saying he was under investigation for allegedly sponsoring violent anti-government groups, a charge he denies. The government’s spokeswoman, Rosa Murillo — Ortega’s wife and vice president — did not respond to a message seeking comment.
In the past year, Ortega’s government has jailed nearly all his best-known opponents, including seven politicians who had been expected to seek the presidency last November. His government has also shut down hundreds of civil society groups, as well as universities and media organizations, in one of the most intense waves of repression in the hemisphere.
It has engaged in an increasingly bitter feud with religious leaders in the majority-Catholic country, closing eight Catholic radio stations and expelling the Vatican’s ambassador, the Rev. Waldemar Sommertag. Authorities also expelled 18 nuns from the Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa, who had been helping run shelters and orphanages.
Relations between Ortega and the church soured after the government cracked down on nationwide protests in 2018, prompting street battles that left more than 360 dead, according to human rights groups. When Catholic bishops called for justice, the Ortega government accused them of fomenting a coup. Several priests and a prominent bishop, Silvio Báez of Managua, have gone into exile.
Álvarez, 55, has recently been the most influential Catholic critic of the government, speaking out in radio and newspaper interviews about what he has condemned as Ortega’s authoritarian behavior. After his arrest, the archdiocese of Managua said his physical condition had deteriorated but “his courage and spirits are strong.”
U.N. Secretary General António Guterres is “very concerned by the severe closure of democratic and civic space in Nicaragua and recent actions against civil society organizations, including those of the Catholic Church,” a deputy spokesman told journalists on Friday after the bishop’s arrest. He called on the Nicaraguan government to guarantee “freedoms of association, thought, conscience, and religion, and to release all people arbitrarily detained.”
Nicaragua’s Ortega government arrests Catholic Bishop Rolando Álvarez