Salazar Demands the Satanic Ortega/Murillo Regime Free Bishop Rolando Álvarez, End Their Diabolical Persecution

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chair María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) joined Human Rights Subcommittee Chair Chris Smith (R-NJ) in a hearing denouncing the reprehensible persecution of Catholic religious leaders in Nicaragua under the Ortega/Murillo regime.

“It is inconceivable that the Ortega regime dares to mess with Bishop Álvarez and the Catholic Church,” said Chairwoman Salazar. “This is a message directly to Murillo and Ortega: Don't think that you are going to get away with this. This man must be free.”

Global Human Rights Subcommittee Chair Chris Smith (R-NJ) held a hearing on the unjust persecution of the Catholic Bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, and the Catholic community in Nicaragua.

Monsignor Álvarez was jailed by the Ortega regime in August 2022 for false crimes of "undermining national integrity and propagation of false news through information and communication technologies to the detriment of the State and Nicaraguan society." He has since become a symbol of Catholic resistance to Ortega's tyranny.

Among the witnesses at the hearing were two Catholic clergymen in Nicaragua, along with a parent of another clergyman. In order to protect their identity from the brutality of the Ortega regime, the witnesses were forced to speak with their identities concealed to the American people. The other public witness was Deborah Ullmer, Regional Director for Latin America and Caribbean Programs at the National Democratic Institute.

Salazar strongly rebuked the Ortega regime as agents for evil in their war against the Catholic Church and urged the dictators Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo to free Monsignor Álvarez without forcing him into exile.

BACKGROUND:

Earlier this year, the Catholic Church published a report on the state of religious freedom in the world through their organization, Aid to the Church in Need. The report shows that among the socialist tyrants of Latin America, the Ortega regime stands out in its willingness to persecute their countrymen who profess the Christian faith.

Currently, Nicaragua is included in the State Department’s Countries of Particular Concern. This list includes countries guilty of severe violations of religious freedom under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1990. Though guilty of the same crimes, the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) or Sandinistas are not included in the list of Entities of Particular Concern, a similar list designed to identify organizations that suppress religious freedom. Salazar has called for the Sandinistas to be included in this list in a recent letter.

You can view the full hearing here. To read more details about the hearing, click here.

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