Opposition leader Felix Maradiaga confirmed that the bishop is “no longer in the detention center”, noting the release: “He was arbitrarily detained on false charges.. In addition, he was sentenced to 26 years in prison, deprived of citizenship and transferred from house arrest to a pre-trial detention center, ”he criticized.

“Unofficially, it has been reported from credible and well-informed sources that Monsignor Rolando Alvarez could be dispatched from Nicaragua in the next few hours, probably tomorrow,” Maradiaga said.

Ecclesiastical and diplomatic sources confirmed to the Nicaraguan edition of Confidential that the bishop is under the protection of the Bishops’ Conference. “We know that there are contacts between the government, the episcopal conference and the Vatican with the aim of releasing him and sending him into exile,” the sources told the aforementioned newspaper.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) demanded the release of the bishop last week, asking the Nicaraguan authorities to guarantee the prelate “treatment with dignity” “through immediate access to medical services, medicines and adequate food”, as well as contact with “relatives and lawyers”, as the detainee is in a situation of “extreme vulnerability”.

In recent months, Daniel Ortega’s government has stripped dissidents of their citizenship, expelled ambassadors from the country, and shut down thousands of national and international NGOs, as well as media and religious organizations.

Ortega has repeatedly criticized the Catholic Church, which he described as a “perfect dictatorship” and “using” its bishops to “start a coup” in the Central American country, claiming that some priests called for bloodshed during a wave of protests against the government in 2018, as a result which killed more than 300 people. (Europe Press).