The president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortegaaffirmed this Thursday that the bishop Rolando Alvarezdetained since August for conspiracy, refused to leave for USA with the group of more than 200 opponents released from prison and expelled from the country.
The bishop "he was in line (to board the plane) and he begins to say that he is not leaving”, for which he was sent back to jail in Managuaindicated Ortega in a message on radio and television.
LOOK HERE: Nicaragua: Five Catholic priests were released from prison and expelled from the country
“Álvarez did not want to abide by what the law mandates, what the State of Nicaragua mandates”, added the governor about the bishop's decision to reject the order of expulsion from the country.
The president indicated that a dozen priests, deacons and seminarians voluntarily boarded the flight that took 222 opponents released from prison and that now there are only three religious prisoners in Nicaragua: two priests "for common crimes” and the bishop for “terrorism”.
The freed opponents were deprived of their political rights, stripped of their nationality and “deported” to the United States at a time when Ortega faces pressure due to the growing authoritarianism of his government.
Ortega denied that the massive release was the result of a "negotiation” with the United States, which has imposed sanctions on Managua for the repression following the 2018 anti-government protests.
“It was not about negotiation, nothing, this should be clear”, assured Ortega surrounded by fifteen military chiefs, Army generals and senior officials, including his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillowhom he mentioned as the “co-chair" from Nicaragua.
MORE INFORMATION: Nicaragua frees more than 200 political prisoners and sends them to the United States
“Everything we do is to ensure peace", he claimed.
Bishop Álvarez, 56, was arrested on August 19 and accused in December by the prosecution of conspiracy crimes "to undermine national integrity and spread false news" through the media and social networks. .
Álvarez heads the diocese of the northern department of Matagalpa.
