Various Nicaraguan opposition organizations have launched a campaign on social networks to continue demanding the release of Monsignor Rolando Álvarez and that of the more than 60 political prisoners who remain in the torture cells of the Daniel Ortega regime.
Through a video posted on her Twitter account, the released politician Ana Margarita Vijil called on the Nicaraguan population and the international community so that “we all join in demanding the release of the more than 60 political prisoners in Nicaragua who suffer cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in the prisons of the Ortega Murillo dictatorship”.
«They have not committed any crime, they are being prosecuted for fighting for democracy, freedom. They did not harm anyone, their only crime has been to think differently,” added Vijil.
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The Nicaraguan Assembly for Democracy (AND), in collaboration with opposition blocs in exile, has also joined the call for the release of political prisoners.
Dolly Mora, vice president of the Nicaraguan University Alliance (AUN), expressed her support for the initiative, describing it as “pertinent” and stressing the importance of continuing to raise and add voices in favor of the cause.
«In AUN we join this campaign convened by AND, which is a space in which we have been participating in recent years, (…) in different activities and calls that they make. It seems to us that it is a very representative, very inclusive space and in that same spirit they called for this campaign that is for the release of Monsignor Rolando Álvarez and all political prisoners. It is necessary to continue raising our voice for the release of the monsignor and all political prisoners,” explained the opponent of Article 66.
For his part, the peasant leader Medardo Mairena praised the sacrifice and courage of the Bishop of Matagalpa. «Rolando Álvarez is the hope of an entire people who yearn for freedom. The dignity of a human being and above all of a disciple of Jesus Christ will not be subjected to the threat of dictatorship, much less to fear. Thank you Monsignor for the sacrifice and example you are giving,” Mairena said.
Likewise, the released politician Félix Maradiaga pointed out that “everyone from Matagalp remembers as if it were yesterday the arrival of Monsignor Rolando Álvarez to our Diocese in Matagalpa, as our pastor, as our bishop. It was encouraging to see him raising the faith of a people, so that Matagalpa will receive him when he is released, we will not lose hope or conviction that God will perform that miracle at any time.
The University Coordinator for Democracy and Justice (CUDJ) also joined this virtual campaign. “We sent a message for the release of Jason Salazar, Anielka García, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, who joins a heartbreaking list of more than 60 people deprived of their liberty, by the Ortega and Murillo dictatorship,” stressed one of its members.
“We urgently call on the international community, the diaspora, youth networks, civil society organizations around the world, asking them to come together and raise our voices together on behalf of the people who are being deprived of their freedom,” he added.
Other organizations such as Acción Universitaria, the Unidad Nacional Azul Blanco (UNAB), opposition leaders such as Max Jerez, Suyen Barahona, and José Antonio Peraza have endorsed and supported this initiative.
