The Facebook page of the Nicaraguan diocese of Matagalpa (north), headed by the imprisoned Bishop Rolando Álvarez, very critical of the Sandinista government Daniel Ortega, was eliminated, religious and Catholic groups in Nicaragua denounced this Thursday.
The page, which had more than 200,000 followers, 129,000 likes, and which broadcast the homilies of Bishop Álvarez —when he was released— and those of the priests of the Matagalpa dioceses, was blocked after the arrest of two Catholic journalists who ran it. , according to the complaint.
Related news: They close the Facebook site of the diocese of Matagalpa directed by Bishop Álvarez
“They have censored the official Facebook page of the Diocese of Matagalpa,” said the virtual group Católicos En Línea Matagalpa-Nicaragua through that same social network.
Mgr Silvio Baez, Auxiliary bishop of Managua, described this 2022 as “a very painful year for the entire country”, which left 12 priests kidnapped and others forced into exile.
In a brief conversation with Article 66the prelate affirmed that despite the difficult circumstances faced by Nicaraguans in these 365 days, “the future must be placed in the hands of God.”
From his exile in the United States, the hierarch affirmed that “at the beginning of the new year —2023— we must continue dreaming and fighting for a just and free society, without ever getting discouraged.”
Related news: Monsignor Báez: “We must continue dreaming and fighting for a just and free society”
The father Edward Roman, one of the most critical religious voices against the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, criticized the fact that for the second consecutive year the Catholic Church was prohibited from procession of Jesus Sacramentado, in Managua, the one that took place every January first and was known as the procession of Christ the King.
The decision of the Nicaraguan regime was announced by Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, on the morning of Thursday, December 29, at the end of the mass in the Metropolitan Cathedral.
After knowing the decision of Ortega and Murillo, the priest Román stated, through his Twitter account, that “the Nicaraguan dictatorship prohibits Catholics from one of our public manifestations of our faith, such as the procession to Christ the King, this 1st January 2023».
Nicaragua and China signed on Thursday, December 29, a memorandum of understanding in order to encourage investment, trade, and boost sectors with common interests such as tourism, culture, entrepreneurship, innovation, creative economy, among others.
Related news: Nicaragua and China sign an agreement to boost investment, tourism and culture
The memorandum was signed at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Managua, by the general coordinator of the National Commission for Creative Economy of Nicaragua, Camila Ortega Murillo, and the director of the Beijing China-Latin America Cultural Exchange Center (Cicclab), Wang Lichao.
The daughter of dictators Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo said at the ceremony, according to the Sandinista radio station La Primerísima, that after the signing of this understanding agreement, both parties will be defining areas of collaboration to develop joint programs that encourage investment, trade, and exchange.
The Nicaraguan external debt closed at 14,451.9 million dollars in the third quarter of 2022, which is equivalent to 103.1% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (14,013.7 million dollars in 2021), reported this Friday the Central Bank of Nicaragua.
The monetary authority indicated in a report that of the total indebtedness at the end of September, 7,879.5 million dollars correspond to the public sector (56.2% of GDP), and 6,572.8 million dollars to the private sector (46.9 % of GDP).
The total external debt of Nicaragua increased by 7.7 million dollars with respect to the second quarter of 2022, and 68.4 million dollars with respect to the balance of December 2021, according to the information.
