At least 38 political prisoners remain in Nicaragua, according to the Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners (MRPP), after releasing an updated figure this Thursday, after the massive release and deportation carried out by the government of Daniel Ortega, in a unprecedented event in which the United States is involved.
Among the prisoners is the bishop Rolando Jose Alvarezone of the most important figures of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, however, Ortega in a national speech on Thursday argued that the religious refused to be expelled from the country and called him a “terrorist” and “deranged”, by not accept the decision.
“When he is lining up and he already reaches the plane stands, at the entrance for him to pass, then he begins to say that he is not going (to the US), that he would first have to speak with the bishops, meet with the bishops and demands a meeting with the bishops, something absurd if what there is is a decision of the Nicaraguan State, which he cannot question as a Nicaraguan,” said Ortega.
The president added that given the bishop’s refusal to be expelled from the country, he was sent to the prison known as “La Modelo” in Managua, withdrawing the measure of house arrest that was maintained against him, while he awaited trial on February 15. , for the alleged crimes of “conspiracy” and propagation of false news, which have been charged.
“I don’t know what this gentleman (bishop) thinks, who, faced with a decision by the Nicaraguan State, says that he does not abide by, a resolution of a court of justice of the Nicaraguan State that is ordering him to leave the country…and totally, We could not send him (to Washington), if the US authorities did not allow it in the agreement, to forcibly mount anyone who did not want to go to the United States,” added Ortega.
Most of the inmates remaining in Nicaragua are in various prison systems around the country, none in the maximum security prison, known as El Chipote, which is where most of the political prisoners released on Thursday were.
Nicaragua has been experiencing a political crisis since 2018 when protests against Ortega arose, which left more than 300 dead and dozens of people arrested.
Ortega, through pressure from the international community, has been releasing the political prisoners, some of them recaptured, after the 2021 presidential elections, where the president obtained a new term in power, although under accusations of violations. to human rights.
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