Father Edwing Román, ex-parish priest of the San Miguel Arcángel church, in Masaya, He called it “absurd” that the Daniel Ortega regime included him in the list of 94 citizens who on February 15 stripped them of their Nicaraguan nationality, accusing them of “enemies of the homeland.”
In interview with Article 66 The priest stated that “neither cold nor heat” gives him this new onslaught by the Ortega administration, “because this is absurd, since a passport or ID does not make me Nicaraguan, because what makes me really unique is my blood, my culture and traditions and no one can take that away from me».
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I realized after an hour that I was on the list of 94 citizens who had their nationality stripped, but it didn’t affect me, although I didn’t think I was going to be included,” said the father, a critic of the Ortega administration.
He also asserted that no decree or law imposed by the Nicaraguan government can remove identity, “but it is logical that you cannot travel to Nicaragua because of the danger to which you are exposed by these criminals —the Ortega dictatorship.”
Grateful to Spain
Regarding the nationality option that Spain is giving to the 317 Nicaraguans declared stateless, the priest thanked the Spanish government. “This gesture from Spain is admirable, other Latin American countries should copy it.”
Faced with the possibility of taking Spanish nationality, Román recalled that he is currently in the process of political asylum in the United States and that he still does not know if he will make the decision.
“I am going to return to Nicaragua one day, but right now I have to analyze what the process is like and everything that it implies, for the moment I will continue with my procedures in this country. I am not depreciating it but I must think carefully because in Spain I do not have a family that receives me, “she added.
“Monsignor Álvarez is a stone in the shoe for the dictatorship”
Regarding the sentence to 26 years in prison and the stripping of nationality from Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa, the religious said that it is one more retaliation of the Ortega dictatorship against the Catholic hierarch.
«We all know that Monsignor Álvarez represents for them – the Sandinista regime – a stone in the shoe. I value Monsignor Álvarez’s decision and it is something that must be respected.”
“Long live Cristo Rey!”, Father Edwing Román’s response to Ortega’s prohibitions
He also expressed that just as the miracle of the freedom of the 222 political prisoners occurred, this is how Monsignor Álvarez can be released from prison. “Thank God, the families of political prisoners are calm even though they are in the United States.”
However, he said that those who are not happy are the fans of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo “who walk in roundabouts, who are used and cannot leave the country.”
After his forced exile, like other priests like Monsignor Silvio Báez —also declared stateless—, Father Román thanked the support that has existed among the religious. “The closeness of all the parents has been very great, in the same way of the Nicaraguan community.”
The former parish priest of San Miguel called on Nicaraguans to continue in prayer “which is the weapon that identifies us Christians. We must also pray for those who persecute us and slander us so that God touches their hearts,” he concluded.
