The deputies of the European Parliament (EP) debated this Wednesday, September 14, six resolution proposals on the situation in Nicaragua, “in particular the arrest of Bishop Rolando Alvarez”, in which —among other things— they demand the immediate release of the religious leader and all the political prisoners of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
MEP Željana Zovko, from the Group of the European People’s Party, explained that Monsignor Álvarez is “a person who speaks clearly asking for freedom and democracy in his country”, for which he is persecuted by the ruling regime in Nicaragua. In this sense, the final resolution of the European Parliament —which will be approved this Thursday, September 15— will also be “a message of support for the citizens of Nicaragua and the Catholic Church that is at their side.”
For MEP Isabel Santos, from the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, the Ortega-Murillo regime’s attacks on the Catholic Church are “the reflection of the disturbing attack on social freedoms and the state of terror that Nicaraguans”.
The arrest of Monsignor Álvarez “It is one more case” in the list of violations of the fundamental rights of Nicaraguans, MEP Santos warned. It is for this reason that she demanded the release of the bishop and all political prisoners “quickly” and “without any conditions,” she emphasized.
Along the same lines, MEP José Ramón Bauzá, from the Renovar Europa Group, warned that we are “facing the blackest summer for the Church in Nicaragua.” The arrest of Monsignor Álvarez and eight other priests is “a vile act that only dictators like Ortega can carry out,” he commented.
The resolution of the European Parliament “cannot remain exclusively a denunciation of the repression against the Church. Bishop Álvarez represents many more”, emphasized Bauzá.
The only opposition left to Daniel Ortega is the Catholic Church, the rest are in prison, exiled or assassinated. Through this initiative that I have had the honor of negotiating, all those whose voices Ortega has suppressed will speak today through this resolution. ?? pic.twitter.com/hB54NmRYJT
– José Ramón Bauzá (@JRBauza) September 14, 2022
By imprisoning Monsignor Álvarez, the Ortega regime is silencing “one of the few critical voices remaining within” the national territory, because the majority of the opposition is in jail or in exile, said Jordi Solé, a member of the Grupo of the Greens. When the regime has eliminated everything, “perhaps it will have the pleasure of believing that they have everything under control,” however, by then Nicaragua will be “a country with too many wounds, with fear,” he added.
They demand sanctions against the regime
The MEPs also demanded that —in the face of the constant abuses of the Ortega-Murillo regime— more sanctions be applied to the Nicaraguan regime. Some even mentioned the activation of the democratic clause of the Association Agreement (ADA) between the European Union (EU) and Central America, which would provoke the expulsion of Nicaragua from this free trade agreement.
“Each time we ask for the same thing, to activate the democratic clause of our agreement with Nicaragua. What are we waiting for? How much more suffering? How many more human rights violations? How many more political prisoners locked up in subhuman conditions do we have to witness for you Eurorepresentatives to agree to implement what Parliament has been asking you for years? Now is the time to activate the democratic clause”, questioned MEP Dita Charanzová, from the Renew Europe Group.
For MEP Gabriel Mato, from the Group of the European People’s Party, the arrest of Monsignor Álvarez shows that “this despotic regime has no qualms about delving even deeper the fracture with the international community“. For this reason, he urged all parliamentary groups to “act with all possible tools and increase sanctions against the accomplices of the regime.” In addition, he reiterated “the need to activate the democratic clause of the Association Agreement and to suspend any trade agreement with Nicaragua.”
Second resolution of 2022
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.
MEPs also condemned cancellations of NGOs by the National Assemblydominated by the official Sandinista Front.
This Wednesday the European parliamentary benches took up the issue of NGO cancellations. “Rejects the arbitrary closures and confiscations of assets belonging to civil society organizations, political parties, religious organizations, media associations and universities,” indicates the text of the Renew Europe group.
“It calls on the Nicaraguan authorities to stop these actions and restore their legal personality, as well as to return all the goods, documents and equipment improperly seized,” he continues.
