With 46 votes in favor, zero against and five absent congressmen, the deputies of the Legislative Assembly approved this Thursday a motion presented by the faction of the New Republic Party (PNR) in which they ask the Government of Rodrigo Chaves to denounce the “serious situation” experienced by the Catholic Church in Nicaragua due to the persecution of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
The text of the motion states that there have been more than 250 “attacks” against this religious institution in the neighboring country in the last four years. The most recent was the kidnapping and arrest, this August, of Bishop Rolando Álvarez and seven collaborators, whom the regime accused of provocation to destabilize the country and of committing “crimes against spirituality.”
The motion approved by the Legislative Assembly is for the institution “to speak out against and express its repudiation of the violation of the rights of freedom of conscience, religion and association of Nicaraguans; particularly, the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, promoted by Mr. Ortega’s regime”.
Read: He is Rolando Álvarez, the bishop kidnapped by Ortega
It is also requested through the motion that the Costa Rican Government denounce “this serious situation” through the diplomatic actions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship. Likewise, the deputies add “our support for the actions carried out by the Government of Costa Rica on this matter” before the Organization of American States (OAS).
During the plenary discussion of the motion, the deputy of the National Liberation Party (PLN), Montserrat Ruiz, stated that “it is unfortunate that under these circumstances the Government of Costa Rica has supported the candidacy of the Ortega-Murillo regime for secretary general of the SICA [Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana]”.
On August 11, President Chaves voted in favor of the appointment of Werner Vargas to hold the position in SICA. Vargas was proposed by the Nicaraguan government and had the support of the other Central American leaders. Ruiz criticized that, after that vote, “this event is about to happen,” and assured that “the Legislative Assembly should not be silent in the face of this reality.”
Read: With President Chaves’ vote, Daniel Ortega’s candidate achieves unanimous support to lead SICA
The head of the PNR faction, Fabricio Alvarado, read article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which deals with religious freedom, and added: “We cannot remain silent in the face of the fierce persecution undertaken by the dictators Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua”.
The deputy of the Broad Front (FA), Priscilla Vindas, also denounced “the violation of religious freedom that is taking place” in Nicaragua, and noted that the Ortega and Murillo regime has also “attacked” “sexually diverse people, women, young people and dissidents, that all they have in common is that they have dared to speak out against tyranny.
For his part, Antonio Ortega, deputy for the FA, pointed out that “it is no coincidence, regarding authoritarianism, regarding State-Church alliances, regarding hate speech, that the people who most migrate or request political asylum from Nicaragua They are groups of feminist, sexually diverse women and young people.”
Deputies ask the Government to internationally denounce religious persecution in Nicaragua