The European Parliament will vote next Thursday, September 15, on a resolution proposal on Nicaragua, “in particular the arrest of Bishop Rolando Álvarez”, according to the agenda of the European Parliamentat its headquarters in Strasbourg, France.
MEP Leopoldo López Gil, of the European People’s Party, announced via Twitter that the European Parliament will debate this week “on the repression exerted by the Ortega-Murillo regime in Nicaragua.”
“We will denounce the persecution and violation of human rights in that country,” he added.
This week we will debate in the European Parliament the repression exerted by the Ortega-Murillo regime in #Nicaragua. We will denounce the persecution and the violation of the #HR in that country. pic.twitter.com/nibqDwtyid
– Leopoldo López Gil (@LeopoldoLopezG) September 12, 2022
In a video posted on Twitter, López Gil pointed out that “the human rights crisis in Nicaragua continues to worsen; Today, there are more than 205 imprisoned for political reasons, including unfortunately ecclesiastical authorities such as Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who today joins the persecution against the Catholic Church.
In recent months, the Ortega regime has carried out a series of repressive acts against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which until now has left Bishop Álvarez under house arrest; seven priests, two seminarians and a layman imprisoned, 18 religious taken out of the country and the closure of a dozen religious media. In addition, the National Police has entered by force and raided a parish, preventing parishioners from receiving the Eucharist inside the temple and besieging other priests in their churches.
Resolution of the Europarliament
Each political group in the European Parliament has the possibility of sending its proposal for a resolution, which are unified in a single text, which will be voted on next Thursday. Previously, on Wednesday, there will be a debate on the situation in Nicaragua in the plenary session of the European Parliament.
In the European Parliament there are seven political groups, each made up of at least 23 MEPs. The benches with the most members are the European People’s Party (178); the Socialists and Democrats (144); and Renew Europe (100).
Since 2018, MEPs have approved seven resolutions on the Nicaraguan situation. One in May 2018; another in March 2019 —after the visit of a delegation of MEPs to the country—; a third in December 2019; a fourth in October 2020; the fifth in July 2021; the sixth in December of the same year; and the last one in June.
At the beginning of last June, a large majority of the European Parliament demanded that the European Union (EU) sanction fourteen judges and three magistrates of Appeals. At the same time, he demanded to investigate —through the International Criminal Court— the Government and President Daniel Ortega, for crimes against humanity.
