Displaying items by tag: Daniel Ortega

Daniel Ortega’s government has forced Bishop Carlos Enrique Herrera Gutiérrez, president of Nicaragua’s bishops’ conference, to go into exile in Guatemala. He had complained about government officials placing loudspeakers outside a church during Sunday Mass, and also called the actions of the local mayor sacrilegious. CSW sources report that the authorities frequently play loud music outside churches to disturb religious activities, particularly on Sundays and holy days. After the bishop was arrested, his diocese’s Facebook page was deleted. Religious leaders in Nicaragua face growing hostility, with priests under surveillance and Protestant pastors receiving threats: the government has also seized a prominent Jesuit-run university in Managua. CSW has strongly criticised Ortega’s continued repression of religious freedom, calling for the international community to hold him and his regime to account for their ‘ongoing and systematic violation of human rights’.

Brazilian president Lula wants his Nicaraguan counterpart, Daniel Ortega, to free Bishop Rolando Alvarez, who was sent to prison for over 26 years for refusing to leave Nicaragua after Ortega expelled him with 222 other political prisoners to America. He had been locked up for sermons unflattering to the government. Because he refused to leave, he was sent to a maximum-security cell. President Lula said, ‘There is no reason for the bishop to be prevented from exercising his function in the Church. The only thing the Church wants is for Nicaragua to free him.’ While Brazil and Nicaragua have good relations, ties between the Vatican and the Central American state have been severely strained following a crackdown on anti-government protests in 2018, when the Church acted as a mediator between them. Lula said that Ortega should recognise that a mistake had been made.

Four Catholic priests were charged with treason and given ten-year prison terms in a growing clampdown on critics of President Daniel Ortega. Two Catholic seminarians were also given the same sentence on the same charges. All six belong to Matagalpa diocese, led by Bishop Rolando Alvarez, who is under house arrest awaiting trial. A cameraman for Catholic television was also jailed for ten years. ‘We condemn these perverse actions of the regime, which violate human rights,’ the Nicaraguan Centre for Human Rights wrote on Twitter. They called for the men's immediate release. Ortega is targeting critical Catholic Church leaders following nationwide protests in 2018. He accused them of attempting to overthrow him when they served as mediators with protesters in the unrest that claimed 300+ lives. Since then, his government has expelled Catholic nuns and missionaries, closed Catholic radio and television stations, and arrested more than a dozen priests.

76-year-old President Daniel Ortega describes priests as ‘killers’ and ‘coup plotters’. He accuses the clergy of working on behalf of ‘American imperialism’. He said, ‘In the church everything is imposed. It’s a perfect dictatorship. If they are to be democratic, let Catholics vote for the pope, for cardinals, for bishops.’ The church has been under increasing government pressure since Ortega accused it of backing the protests against his government in 2018. A crackdown against demonstrators killed hundreds. Pope Francis recently insisted on the importance of ‘never stopping dialogue’ with Nicaragua. God has brought many people to Himself amidst the nation’s suffering. Numbershave increased through saturation evangelism, and local church outreaches. Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and hurricanes have led many to question life and eternity. War, conflict, and political struggles have turned many towards compassionate Christians and hope in Christ. Evangelicals have grown from 2% in 1960 to 30% today, and growth continues.

A court in Nicaragua has found seven critics of the government of Daniel Ortega guilty of conspiracy in what human rights groups have denounced as a ‘political trial’. Among those convicted are three opposition leaders who had planned to run in the 2021 election. Dozens of government critics were detained in the run-up to the poll, in which Mr Ortega won a fifth term. In a trial held at El Chipote prison behind closed doors, the judges found the seven guilty of ‘conspiracy to undermine national integrity’. The prosecution has asked for sentences ranging between eight and 13 years. This is the latest in a wave of trials against opponents of Ortega. Earlier in February, two of his most outspoken critics - Dora Téllez and Lesther Alemán - were also found guilty of conspiracy in trials dismissed by rights groups as a ‘sham’. Recently, another jailed opposition leader, Hugo Torres, died while awaiting trial.

President Daniel Ortega has gripped Nicaragua’s election on 7 November by arresting all competition, controlling electoral authorities, and reinventing himself as a business-friendly devout Catholic. The US is working with international partners to prepare new sanctions to be levied if he wins the election that Washington denounces as a sham. It has also begun a review of Nicaragua’s participation in a Central American free trade agreement and has halted support for any ‘trade capacity building’ activities seen as benefiting Ortega’s government. Nearly half of Nicaraguans live below the poverty line, and an additional 90,000 individuals fell into poverty as a result of the pandemic. Nicaragua is one of the most corrupt countries globally - a costly, painful legacy of misrule by Ortega’s dictatorship. He stole, wasted and misused state resources, which were destined to combat poverty and used for national development, resulting in immense economic costs. See