Communist Nicaragua Detains Catholic Priests for Praying for Political Prisoner Bishop

Nicaraguan police on Thursday detained two senior Catholic priests for the “crime” of praying in public for Bishop Rolando Alvarez, a critic of socialist dictator Daniel Ortega, who in February was sentenced to 26 years in prison for “treason.”

Local media identified the detained priests as Monsignor Carlos Aviles, vicar general of the Diocese of Managua, and Father Hector Treminio, treasurer for the diocese. Their identities were confirmed in a report by Vatican News, which said they were the fifth and sixth priests to be arrested by the Ortega regime in the past week.

The Nicaraguan government did not respond to foreign media requests for comment on the arrests.

The Ortega regime detained Bishop Alvarez in August 2022 after he criticized the government for shutting down Catholic radio stations and perpetrating human rights abuses against protesters. The regime said the stations were shuttered because Catholic leaders were trying to destabilize the country.

Alvarez was kept under house arrest for six months on charges of “conspiracy,” “spreading false news,” and “damaging the Nicaraguan government and society.”

In February 2023, Alvarez refused an offer of exile in a prisoner transfer to the United States. A Nicaraguan court rushed an extremely dubious trial and sentenced him to 26 years in prison, in addition to stripping his Nicaraguan citizenship. He was reportedly released and immediately rearrested in July, possibly in another effort to get him out of the country.

Some Catholics have been dismayed by the Vatican’s muted response to the arrest of Alvarez and other clergy, and Ortega’s general persecution of Catholic congregations. Bishops around the world have strongly condemned the Ortega regime.

One of those bishops was Isidro Mora of the Triangulo Minero diocese in Nicaragua. On December 20, the regime arrested him for the “crime” of praying for Alvarez. A string of clerical detentions followed, culminating in the detention of Aviles and Treminio on Thursday.

Exiled Nicaraguan Bishop Silvio Baez, who has lived in Florida since 2019, said on Thursday he was “outraged by the unjust kidnapping of three beloved priests of Managua by the criminal Sandinista dictatorship.”

In addition to Aviles and Treminio, Baez mentioned Father Pablo Villafranca, who was reportedly arrested on Wednesday. Baez called for the immediate release of all three priests.