The Nicaraguan Police entered this Friday the residence of the bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando Álvarez, critic of the government, who during the last two weeks was prevented from leaving the place to be investigated for trying to "destabilize" the country.
"SOS. Urgent. At this time the National Police has entered the Episcopal Curia of our Diocese of Matagalpa" where Álvarez is located, the Diocese itself published on its Facebook account early this Friday, without providing further details.
Álvarez, bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa, in the north of the country, he was held in his curia along with a dozen people since last August 4.
The bishop’s imprisonment occurred days after he denounced the closure by the authorities of five Catholic radio stations and demanded respect for "freedom" religious to the government of Daniel Ortega.
The police announced that the Diocese of Matagalpa is being investigated for trying "organize violent groups" and incite to "hatred" for "destabilize the State of Nicaragua".
"We are in the hands of God", the prelate said this Thursday.
The retention of the bishop occurred in the midst of the friction that the Church has with the government of Ortega, a 76-year-old former guerrilla who has been in power since 2007, protected by three successive re-elections.
The last one was in November 2021, with their imprisoned or exiled opponents and in the midst of international questions.
President accuses the bishops of "putschists" for supporting the opposition protests that called for his resignation in 2018.
In the midst of the crisis, the Church tried in 2018 and 2019 to mediate a dialogue between the government and the opposition.
The president reproached the bishops for having accepted an opposition proposal that sought to resolve the crisis by advancing the 2021 elections to shorten his presidential term.
Since then, relations have deteriorated. This year there was a closure of Catholic media, among them the channel of the Episcopal Conference, and the recent arrest of the priest Oscar Benavídez, for unknown reasons.
The Missionaries of Charity Association, of the order of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who left the country in July, was also outlawed. In March, the apostolic nuncio, Waldemar Sommertag, who participated in 2019 in the negotiations between the government and the opposition, had already been expelled.