The Government of Daniel Ortega harassed and persecuted the Bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando José Álvarez, for more than three months. In May, he raided the home of one of his relatives, forcing the prelate to take refuge in the church of Las Colinas in Managua, where he was for five days surrounded by a police cordon that prevented the access of laity and priests. . And he was “released” after a private interception between a priest and the regime, sources confided to CONFIDENTIAL.
Two months later, on August 1, Ortega ordered the closure of the network of Catholic radio stations that carried the gospel to rural areas of Matagalpa. four days to one of its priests and parishioners; and again imposed a police siege on the bishop in the Episcopal Curia of Matagalpa, where he lives, to later accuse him of “organizing violent groups” that seek to “create anxiety and disorder”, “alter the peace” and “destabilize the State of Nicaragua and attack the constitutional authorities.”
The response of the bishop, who is also apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Estelí, was fasting, prayer, religious songs and the prophetic voice that has characterized him.
“It is a sin against spirituality,” attacked Rosario Murillo, vice president, first lady and state spokeswoman, weaving the official narrative to justify the persecution against the bishop and the threat of jail against him and four priests, two seminarians and four more lay people who remain kidnapped under “police investigation” in the curia of Matagalpa.
Rosario Murillo’s attacks
the spokeswoman Rosario Murillo installed the official narrative of the operation against Monsignor Álvarez at noon on Thursday, August 04, 2022. Hours before doing so, the bishop wanted to leave the curia to officiate mass in the cathedral of San Pedro, in Matagalpa, and the officers did not They left.
The prelate went out into the street with the Blessed Sacrament in his hands, questioned the officers why they did not let the parishioners pass and asked for a dialogue. “Why are the officers at the door of my house not letting people in? That they don’t come later with another story”, he alerted and then he added, “if they want to talk to me, I have the doors open, to dialogue and talk”, he said.
That noon, in his daily radio and television monologue, Murillo pointed out —without mentioning names— of a manipulation “of the sacred symbols” of “malevolent spirits” that serve the “invading Yankee”.
“There are still some characters who are buffoonish, who make a fool of themselves… Without any moral stature. Characters who believe that time has not elapsed, characters who believe that they can occupy positions of authority, that perhaps they do not deserve, that perhaps they are not for it, “said Murillo.
The next day, in the middle of a double speech in which he spoke of Christ, love and peace, he again pointed to “buffoonery” and threatened those who commit it with a penalty. “We are not for that. There are laws”, he sentenced and reiterated “generating discredit towards those Institutions that deserve respect, is also a crime, it is a sin against spirituality”.
The jail threats
Murillo’s words were the prelude to be repeated by the Sandinista digital mob and by deputies Wilfredo Navarro and Carlos Emilio López. They accused him in the official media of wanting to “revive the scenes of 2018” and threatened with jail.
“This Mr. Álvarez must make it clear that he is not above the law and with his attitudes he has caused him to lose respect and be treated like any other politician,” Navarro told La Primerísima radio.
Hours later, the accusation against Monsignor Álvarez was already a fact. As announced by the National Police, the repressive arm of the Ortega regime, “as the competent authority to guarantee peace and citizen security, it has established protection measures for the population, so that these events do not happen again.”
The prelate and “other people involved”, who do not list, were accused before the Judicial Power and since then they remain under house arrest.
The official version that points to the bishop, without proof, was repeated by the Sandinista mobs on social networks. They started a smear campaign against the religious, in which they celebrate his arrest. This is fed by the most faithful servants of him.
The Liberal-Orteguista deputy, Wilfredo Navarro, said Monday that the bishop owned eight radio stations and two television channels “without the necessary requirements.” Another Ortega deputy, Moisés Absalón Pastora, declared that the bishop is only under investigation and has not been investigated because “it is not going to be that the pope calls him as “advisor” like he did with Silvio Báez”, he said on Channel 6, suggesting the bishop’s exile.
In the last four years, the Daniel Ortega regime has launched a smear campaign against the bishops of Nicaragua. He points to these as being allies of the United States in his alleged “coup d’état” attempt. As a result of this, there are more than four exiled religious, two arrested, in addition to the group of religious from Calcutta expelled in July.
