Albio Sires, from the Democratic Party, and Mark Green, from the Republican Party, members of the United States House of Representatives, condemned the harassment of religious leaders in Nicaragua, as well as the arbitrary arrest of Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, Bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa.
They also rejected the prosecution of priests and laity who accompanied the prelate for 16 days in the Episcopal Curia of Matagalpa, besieged by the Police at the service of the Ortega dictatorship.
Related news: Monsignor Rolando Álvarez is serving a week under house arrest
We condemn Daniel Ortega’s latest attack on freedom of association, religion and conscience in the strongest possible terms. There is no excuse for the arbitrary and illegal imprisonment of Catholic clerics. We demand that the regime immediately release Bishop Rolando Álvarez and his colleagues, as well as the almost 200 political prisoners who are being held in horrible and inhumane conditions,” the deputies said.
They stressed that Bishop Álvarez became a target of the Ortega regime only for speaking out in favor of “electoral transparency and democratic reforms, recognizing that the first responsibility of a government is with its people.”
Ortega has crushed voices of dissent
On the other hand, they pointed out that over the years, the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship together “with its accomplices have conspired to systematically crush the voices of dissent at all costs.”
They also stressed that the Sandinista deputies’ steamroller has shut down more than a thousand non-governmental organizations, “including the Mother Teresa charity, which prevents humanitarian workers from providing critical services for the 30% of Nicaraguans living in the poverty”.
Regarding the political, social and economic crisis that Nicaragua is experiencing, Sires and Green emphasized that it has caused the displacement of countless Nicaraguans, as well as the imprisonment or forced exile of countless political opponents of the regime, human rights defenders, educators and aid workers. .
Related news: Catholic Church of Nicaragua suffers the onslaught of a “Christian” dictatorship
Given the violations of human rights by the Ortega regime, the two representatives of the House called on the administration of President Joe Biden to use all the tools at its disposal, “including the rapid and forceful application of the RENACER Law, to ensure the release of all political prisoners and protect human rights in Nicaragua.
The condemnation of the repression against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua has been generalized nationally and internationally. Social organizations and the international community have demanded that Daniel Ortega stop persecuting him against religious leaders, however his regime continues to ignore the questions, rather it has intensified the repression.
