Carlota, a 68-year-old retiree who attends mass every Sunday and actively participates in her parish activities, was shocked when she found out that the bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, was sentenced to 26 years and four months in jail.
“They say that the monsignor did not want to go with the other prisoners. I would have wanted him to leave, to be free, so that he would be free, offering his message every Sunday. It’s a crime what they’re doing with him. He is imprisoned for being a pastor, for being a messenger of God, he is not a criminal, ”he lamented.
On Thursday, February 9, President Daniel Ortega explained that he had included the religious man on the list of 222 exiled to the United States, but the Catholic leader rejected the offer, which the dictator described as an act of “arrogance.”
The judicial decision against Álvarez, who was also stripped of his nationality, is the conclusion of a process riddled with “criminal actions”, according to the criteria of lawyers consulted.
Judge Nadia Tardencilla Rodríguez sentenced him for the alleged crimes of “conspiracy” and “propagation of false news”, less than 24 hours after Ortega publicly attacked Álvarez in the context of the expulsion of political prisoners.
Doña Carlota resented each of the judge’s remarks and said that it is a martyrdom for the religious, who has received the support of different Episcopal Conferences around the world, in addition to the public expressions of “concern” by Pope Francis from the Vatican .
“I will always like to see him free, but I understand that he, as a priest, is ready to give his body to the cause of God, because he is sacrificing himself for all of us, for his message of love and freedom. He has not committed any crime, as the government says,” said the lady.
The viciousness against Álvarez also arouses indignation among public employees, even though they publicly participated in a colorful march on Saturday, February 11, to support Ortega.
A march that is self-deception for Ortega
In the images released by the official media, Sandinista sympathizers can be seen with balloons in the shape of an airplane, to represent the journey of the exiles, while with posters they said that “peace” was breathed in El Chipote.
State workers, consulted by CONFIDENTIALThey say that this is a self-deception of the presidential couple. Francisco, an employee with years working for the Government, affirmed that everyone is clear that it is a lie.
He was in his normal work, when he was surprised by the banishment. Unlike the state version that Ortega did it for “dignity”, he believes that it is a response to yielding to pressure from the United States that has sanctioned representatives of the regime, led by Vice President Rosario Murillo and her children.
“Not even the most toads expected it (the departure of these people). So in the activity on Saturday they were celebrating, but what victory? Rather it is a failure because they were more sunk with the bishop. What they did is outrageous and no one is fooled in that,” Francisco added.
“The members of the FSLN do not say much about the issue of the 94 (the list of alleged stateless persons disclosed by the Public Ministry on February 15, 2023). They limit themselves to saying that they are traitors to the country, supporting the decision of Ortega’s judges. But one knows that it is unfair that they apply these measures, just because they think differently, ”he stressed.
Avilés’ support for Ortega
Marianela, 34, works in one of the businesses linked to the Nicaraguan Army. She is aware that the senior military is aligned in favor of the Ortega regime, which was evident when she saw General Julio César Avilés on the main stage, accompanying Ortega.
In that appearance held at the end of the afternoon on February 9, Ortega was accompanied by his repressive apparatus, after which the exile was carried out and the judicial authorities declared the political prisoners “traitors of the homeland”, as well as the loss of their “nationality”.
“My colleagues and I were excited to see how the prisoners were happy, hugging each other because they were free. We all knew that they were being treated badly in prison, that they were tortured, that they were not allowed to see their children or their relatives,” Marianela reacted.
These relatives were the ones who documented the abuses: poor diet, sleep deprivation, constant interrogations in legal proceedings, devoid of guarantees such as the right to defense that have exposed the regime at the national and international level.
Marianela also affirms that the Ortega y Murillo regime “lost out”. “It is evident that those who are in favor of the government are beaten, but they want to become strong,” he added.
The mixed emotions of happiness and impotence of Marianela for the release and exile of the 222 political prisoners, turned into stupor, before the announcement of the Public Ministry to declare stateless 94 Nicaraguans and declare them “traitors to the homeland” by means of fact .
Marianela, who works on legal issues, is emphatic in pointing out the legal arbitrariness that is being done with these 94 Nicaraguans. “Anyone who knows Law knows that what they are doing has no head or tail, legally. It seems incredible to me to see judges and magistrates lending themselves to that. What I think is that they are doing it to encourage their bases, to show strength, because they were really hit with the release of the political prisoners, ”she opined.
Roberto: “accusations are false and everything is political”
Roberto, 35, is a computer engineer in the private sector and is also a Catholic. He witnessed that the priest of his church, a foreigner, decided to leave the country after the repressive escalation of the regime against the Catholic faith, which has the most notable example in Álvarez.
As a Catholic and professional, Roberto anticipates seeing the future of the adverse situation against Monsignor Alvarez.
“What the Government does not know is that in the end the Church will prevail, despite all its actions against it. Monsignor Álvarez is a pastor and decided to sacrifice himself for Christian causes. Everyone here in Nicaragua knows that the crimes of which the monsignor is accused are false, and that everything is political. No one believes what the president says about the accusations against the priests anymore,” he said.
International jurist Jared Genser, a specialist in human rights, described Álvarez’s case as a “deviation of justice in Nicaragua” and a “violation of international law”, while hours before it was known from Catholic Church sources that the bishop had He is in a maximum security cell in the La Modelo prison, located in Tipitapa, north of Managua.
According to a study by lawyer Martha Patricia Molina, between April 2018 and October 2022, the Catholic Church was the object of 396 attacks with a considerable increase last year with 127 up to that timewhile the imprisonment of priests was reported, the exile of others and the surveillance to which they were subjected in their parishes.
The list of grievances is long: closed radio stations, expulsions of religious such as the apostolic nuncio Waldemar Stanislaw in March 2022, also in July of 18 nuns from the order of Mother Teresa of Calcutta and the prohibition of religious celebrations.
The Police have prevented even the same religious activitiesreturning to the parishioners when they had already taken to the streets, or at the doors of the parishes when they were about to do so.
Ortega has promoted a hate speech against the religious. He has accused them of participating in a coup in 2018, because the priests came out in defense of the citizenry, massacred by the State.
Álvarez has stood out for his preaching of the Gospel, his defense of fundamental rights and his denunciation of abuses of power. The Police began to harass him in Managua when he was mobilizing at the end of May 2022 and finally on August 4 they set up a fence of officers in the Matagalpa Curia to prevent his mobilization.
He remained surrounded for 15 days. He remained in prayer, surrounded by priests, seminarians, deacons and lay people who were violently transferred to El Chipote when police troops stormed the curia on August 19, 2022. Those same religious appeared on the list of exiles on Thursday, February 9. .
“It was sad to see those photos of Monsignor Álvarez in court. Later, when he found out that he was sentenced to 26 years in jail, he couldn’t believe it. It seemed like a lie. But he’s going to get out of all this soon. His sacrifice is an example of faith for everyone, that in the end, light will defeat darkness, ”Roberto reflected.
