Angela Buitragomember of the Group of Experts on Human Rights on Nicaragua (Ghren, for its acronym in English), said in an interview with Article 66 that the recently presented report details the persecution suffered by the Catholic Church by the Daniel Ortega regime.
“In the report we see that there is a circle of persecution of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua that leads to the arrest, imprisonment and systematic violation of the rights of priests and members of the Church,” said the expert.
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He also highlighted that it was observed that there is persecution against the Church press, as well as religious and parishioners, “even restricting rights of free worship, which also leads one to think that here —in Nicaragua— there is no one who is Save from persecution,” he said.
He also stated that the issue in particular was not only exposed by Pope Francis as the highest leader of the Catholic Church, but also reflected in the sentence to 26 years in prison for alleged crimes of conspiracy against the homeland against Monsignor Rolando Alvarez, Bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa.
“We believe that the issue of persecution is an issue that is consolidated in all its intention (…) since there is also discrimination against these alleged crimes – against priests political prisoners -“.
Regarding the breaking of diplomatic relations between the Ortega regime and the Catholic Church, Buitrago said that Pope Francis “had all the patience to achieve dialogue with Daniel Ortega in front of his priests, but it was impossible to generate it.”
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The former Colombian prosecutor also stressed that there is a “very serious” situation, where “they don’t even want to recognize an institution that was so strong in Nicaragua and that is part of that country’s history.”
“We believe that this makes it clear that anyone suspected of being an opponent will enter into the persecution system of the Nicaraguan regime,” he insisted.
Regarding the non-existence of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, Buitrago assures that this “will have short and long-term consequences, even due to the issue of Holy Week, where actions that are part of a cohesion are already being limited.” and this could generate very complex actions within Nicaraguan soil.”
In a recent press conference in San José, Costa Rica, UN experts indicated that the international community “can exercise what is called the principle of protection, to prevent crimes against humanity from continuing to be committed, as verified in the investigation and how it was demonstrated.
On the other hand, the experts asserted that the consequences of the repressive actions of the regime can be perceived by the decisions that the State has taken in an arbitrary manner, “not only depriving people of their nationality, but rendering them stateless (… ) situation that is very dramatic for the people affected, because they are left in limbo and have no chance to move in any condition,” said Angela Buitrago.
