MANAGUA.- The regime of Daniel Ortega persecution against the Church intensified Nicaragua, with the arrest of six Catholic priests, including a bishop and the vicar general of the Archdiocese of Managua. This act sparked strong complaints from religious authorities and representatives of the opposition.
The auxiliary bishop of Managua, Monsignor Silvio Báez, expressed his indignation at what he described as the “unjust kidnapping” of three priests by the Sandinista dictatorship. Among those detained are Father Pablo Villafranca and Priest Héctor Treminio, whose pastoral work has been fundamental in their respective parishes.
Furthermore, the arrest of the vicar general of the Archdiocese, Monsignor Carlos Avilés, generated deep concern, as this archdiocese is the most important in the country. Other detained religious are the parish priest Fernando Calero and Monsignor Marcos Díaz Prado.
So far, the Nicaraguan police have neither confirmed nor denied the arrests.
The tension between the Ortega regime and the Church has been marked by the ban on Catholic processions and the closure of the diplomatic mission in the Vatican. The release of Nicaraguan priests last October was followed by the expulsion of other religious in the last year, accused by the regime of supporting the social rebellion of 2018.
Condemnation of the Ortega regime
Human rights organizations, such as the Blue and White Monitoring, warned about these arbitrary arrests, cataloging them as part of an “intensification of persecution and attacks on members of the Catholic Church” by the Ortega regime.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the forced disappearance of Bishop Isidoro Mora and the wave of arrests of religious in Nicaragua. This organization highlights that these acts not only violate personal freedom, but also violate the right to religious freedom, a fundamental pillar in any democratic State.
Source: With information from AP
