For Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa, Nicaragua, the new year marks 500 days since his arrest and imprisonment by President Daniel Ortega and his wife, and vice president, Rosario Murillo. For 500 days, the bishop has remained isolated from the world, deprived of regular contact with his family and estranged from the Catholics of Matagalpa who see her as his spiritual leader.
Bishop Álvarez was imprisoned for being a Christian leader who promotes human rights and democracy, ideals rooted in his Christian values. Álvarez is perhaps the most prominent victim of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo's systematic, flagrant and continuous attacks against the religious freedom of Nicaraguans. Although Álvarez remains isolated, he is not the only one who suffers the oppression of Ortega and Murillo. Approximately one in 10 Nicaraguan Catholic priests live in exile today. And last month, the Government unjustly detained Bishop Isidoro Mora of the diocese of Siuna and launched a series of arrests and harassment of priests.
Under Ortega and Murillo, the people of Nicaragua are subject to such extreme restrictions on the practice of their religious beliefs that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken designated Nicaragua as a country of special concern, a category reserved for those who commit violations. particularly serious against religious freedom. The heavy hand of the State extends beyond the Catholic Church.
Nicaragua's vibrant evangelical communities have faced anger in similar ways. Ortega's deeply restrictive laws, along with the widespread use of regulatory oversight as a weapon, have led to the expropriation and closure of universities and schools, charities and other institutions. Many organizations and churches – Catholic and evangelical – have quietly succumbed to the inevitable, accepting a forced “voluntary” dissolution in the face of constant government harassment.
The United States is committed to doing everything possible to support Nicaraguans as they seek to regain protection of, and respect for, their human rights and fundamental freedoms, and reaffirm their democracy. Nicaragua continues to be a society of active and committed faith communities. Nicaraguans deserve the full restoration of their freedoms and Bishop Álvarez deserves the opportunity to return to his ministry.
The relationship between religious freedom and democracy goes both ways. Democratic institutions flourish in pluralistic, diverse, tolerant societies with a fundamental respect for human rights. We know that democracy creates the political and social conditions so that people of diverse religions and beliefs can live together in peace.
As a step toward achieving their human rights obligations, Nicaraguan authorities should allow a credible and independent individual or organization to visit Bishop Álvarez, without the presence of his jailers, to make an assessment of his physical health and mental state. Nicaraguan authorities should subsequently plan his early release from Managua's La Modelo prison, without conditions.
We begin the new year with the hope that it will soon bring a new day of freedom for Bishop Álvarez, other political prisoners, and the Nicaraguan people. And we will not stop working with all those who support religious freedom until we realize the future they deserve.
#Bishop #Álvarez #people #Nicaragua #deserve #free
