Nicaraguan dictator puts bishop back in prison

Archbishop Rolando Alvarez (pictured), one of the most critical voices of the Catholic Church against the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, was returned to La Modelo prison on Wednesday (5) after the failure of negotiations between the Sandinista regime and an envoy from the Catholic Church. Vaticaninforms El País newspaper.

According to diplomatic and ecclesiastical sources heard by the Spanish newspaper, Alvarez refused the conditions imposed on him to leave the country and go into exile in Rome. Earlier, as we published, local newspapers reported that he could be released.

The bishop had already refused exile on March 9, when he decided not to board a plane carrying 222 political prisoners from Nicaragua to the United States. In retaliation for Ortega’s dictatorship, he confined Álvarez to solitary confinement in La Modelo. Since then, the Vatican, the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua and other entities have tried to negotiate his release.

Sources heard by El País say that the bishop sticks to his position: not to leave Nicaraguan territory because he has committed no crime. Alvarez also called for the unconditional release of all priests convicted and imprisoned by the regime, the opening of church bank accounts and an end to religious persecution. The dictator rejected all proposals.