ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 17, 2023 / 16:50 pm
The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Brian Nichols, has called for the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, in Nicaragua to unconditionally release Father Fernando Zamora Silva and Bishop Rolando Álvarez as well as all those unjustly imprisoned in the Central American country.
“We call for the unconditional release of Bishop Álvarez, Father Zamora, and all those who have been unjustly detained for exercising their constitutional and human rights, including freedom of religion or belief. We condemn the repression against religious communities by the Ortega-Murillo regime,” Nichols tweeted July 14.
Zamora, the chancellor of the Siuna Diocese, was arrested July 9 in the capital, Managua, where he was visiting.
Former presidential candidate Félix Maradiaga reported that the arrest took place near St. Louis Gonzaga Parish, when the priest was leaving “a Mass in which he had participated as a guest at a religious celebration presided over by Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes. So far, there are no known charges or specific accusations against the priest.”