In San Jose, Nicaraguan police have arrested two additional Catholic priests, bringing the total number of clergymen detained to at least eight this week. The arrests were reported by two sources close to the church and opposition groups in exile who chose not to be identified for fear of arrest.
According to the sources, the two priests were taken into custody for publicly praying for Bishop Rolando Alvarez, a prominent critic of President Daniel Ortega. One of the sources mentioned Marco Diaz and Bayardo Aguilar as the latest clerical detainees, stating that all were arrested for refusing to stop mentioning Bishop Alvarez in their sermons.
Later on Friday, the source indicated that Aguilar had been released.
The reason for the priests’ alleged crimes has not been provided by the government.
Alvarez, the bishop of Matagalpa, previously criticized the government’s lethal response to mass protests in 2018 and was subsequently convicted of treason, receiving a 26-year prison sentence earlier this year.
Throughout recent years, Ortega’s government has targeted leaders of the Catholic church, with officials previously justifying the crackdown as necessary to punish treasonous behavior or other alleged crimes.
On Thursday, two more high-ranking priests with close ties to Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, the archbishop of Managua, were arrested. Brenes has not publicly addressed the arrests and declined to comment when approached by Reuters on Friday.
Last week, Bishop Isidro Mora of the Siuna diocese was arrested, becoming the second detained bishop following Alvarez’s detention in 2022.
Suppression of Nicaragua’s Catholic church, including the broad surveillance of priests, was reported to have intensified earlier this year after Pope Francis denounced Ortega’s government as a “gross dictatorship,” prompting the president to sever ties with the Vatican.
(Reporting by Ismael Lopez; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Leslie Adler)
