Nicaragua - January 2024

Bishop Rolando Alvarez, a political prisoner, was expelled from Nicaragua along with Bishop Isidoro Mora and 17 other priests and seminarians who had been imprisoned in December. Bishop Alvarez was convicted a year ago for treason, dissemination of fake news and undermining national integrity, and sentenced to 26 years imprisonment. He had refused to leave Nicaragua a year ago along with over two hundred political prisoners who were released, expelled to the United States and stripped of their nationality by the judiciary. Last year, Congress also passed a reform by which those declared traitors would be stripped of their nationalities.  

After the release, the Ortega government issued a statement revealing the coordination and agreement with the Holy See, and Vatican News subsequently confirmed the arrival of the members of the Catholic Church to Vatican City.  

Sources: Vatican News,  Associated Press, El Pais , International IDEA