The Joe Biden administration agrees to pressure the government of Daniel Ortega to release Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, who received a 26-year prison sentence and was stripped of his nationality
The United States demanded from the government of Daniel Ortega, president of Nicaragua, the release of Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, sentenced to 26 years in prison after refusing to be exiled from his country by decision of the Sandinistas.
A State Department spokesman stressed to EFE that Álvarez was “unjustly imprisoned” and insisted on the commitment that the United States maintains to press for his release.
For Washington, the decision of the Ortega government to strip 224 political prisoners of their nationality after receiving a measure of release that was accompanied by an order of exile from the country, after reaching an agreement with the United States so that the Joe Biden administration welcome this group.
“The Biden administration condemns the stripping of the citizenship of Monsignor Álvarez and the hitherto political prisoners. This measure violates the fundamental rights of these people,” said the spokesman for the US government.
* Also read: The exiles speak: “We are and will always be Nicaraguans, wherever we are”
According to Daniel Ortega reported on a national channel, Álvarez was among the group of 222 released and exiled political prisoners, but before boarding the plane, he resisted and refused to board. Ortega’s service officials could not force him because the deal with the United States implied that all those involved agreed to be taken to North America voluntarily.
In addition to Álvarez, Fanor Alejandro Ramos, sentenced by the Sandinista government on charges of treason, drug storage and illegal possession of weapons, also rejected the banishment.
The 222 political prisoners who did travel to the United States were released early on Thursday, February 9, and sent to the United States a few hours later. While this was happening, the National Assembly of Nicaragua was preparing a reform of article 21 of the Political Constitution that empowered the national courts to strip the “traitors of the homeland” of their Nicaraguan nationality, a measure that was applied to the 224 involved.
Those released were in different prisons in the country, including people who were detained in the Directorate of Judicial Assistance (DAJ), known as “the new Chipote.” Among the group are the presidential candidates Cristiana and Juan Sebastián Chamorro, the businessman Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, the peasant leader Medardo Mairena, the human rights defender Ana María Vijil or the former guerrilla commander Dora María Téllez.
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