Nicaragua: The United States has called for the Nicaraguan government to free Bishop Rolando Alvarez of Matagalpa, who was imprisoned and stripped of his citizenship after his refusal to join a group of 222 political prisoners who were released and sent to the US.

Mr. Brian Nichols, US Assistant Secretary of State, put pressure on Nicaragua to release the bishop, who was sentenced to 26 years in prison recently over charges of “conspiracy” and “fake news.”

“We condemn the Nicaraguan government’s sentencing of Bishop Rolando Alvarez to 26 years in prison, as well as the decision to strip him and all released political prisoners of Nicaraguan citizenship,” Mr. Nichols posted on Twitter.

“We condemn this action by the government of Nicaragua and urge Bishop Alvarez’s immediate release,” US State Department spokesperson Ned Price shared recently, adding that “the prisoner release was a welcome step but not a panacea for the many concerns we have with the Nicaraguan regime.”

Pope Francis, a critic of Nicaraguan President Mr. Daniel Ortega, also condemned the bishop’s detention.

Mr. Ortega’s government has been accused of silencing dissent and jailing critics like Bishop Alvarez. The bishop had been under house arrest since August 2022, when police raided his church residence in a pre-dawn raid.

Bishop Alvarez has chastised the Ortega regime for the violence that erupted in the aftermath of anti-government protests in April 2018. Furthermore, the bishop has condemned what he considers police harassment against himself and others in the Catholic Church, calling what he endured “persecution.”

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