Nicaragua’s government on Sunday confirmed it released two Catholic bishops and 17 other imprisoned clergy members after negotiations with Vatican authorities, The Associated Press reported.
Bishop Rolando Álvarez and the other clergy were imprisoned more than a year ago as part of President Daniel Ortega’s crackdown on and opposition to the Catholic Church. Ortega accused the group of backing 2018 civic protests that he claimed were part of a plot to overthrow his leadership.
The government announced the release of Álvarez and the other clergy Sunday, stating the negotiations with the Vatican were focused on “making possible their trip to the Vatican,” the news wire reported.
Álvarez was among several priests who were arrested in 2022 after he spoke out against the government’s closure of several Catholic radio stations and called out the government’s human rights record.
After refusing to be exiled to the U.S. last year, Álvarez was sentenced to 26 years in prison for undermining the government, spreading false information and obstruction of functions and disobedience, The Associated Press reported. He was also stripped of his Nicaraguan citizenship.
The group included Bishop Isidoro Mora, who was arrested last month for saying at mass he was praying for Alvarez, per Reuters, along with 15 priests and two seminarians, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The U.S. has called out Nicaraguan officials for their participation in restricting Nicaraguans’ human rights. Last August, the U.S. placed visa restrictions on 100 Nicaraguan municipal officials to “promote accountability” for the Ortega regime. In the U.S. State Department’s announcement last year, Secretary Antony Blinken called on the regime to immediately release Álvarez and others who were unjustly detained.