In a Dec. 23 statement, Bishop Báez called what happened to channel 100% Noticias "reprehensible" and "unacceptable."
"I know Miguel, we're friends and brothers in the faith. I have talked with Miguel Mora many times and have also prayed with him many times, and I know that he is a man of peace, that he is a man who respects human rights and who deeply loves his people. He is a good person, I could say the same of Lucía Pineda. I consider her a close friend," he said.
"What they have gone through pains me, and I hope this situation can be rectified and that we don't have detained journalists. What's happened has been very painful and puts the country in a very bad light with the international community," he added.
The prelate said that "it is deplorable that in a society freedom of speech, freedom of the press, are trampled on. A society needs the truth to be communicated, accurate information, raising awareness through editorials. All of this contributes to a free and democratic society. Every trampling of the press is profoundly injurious to society," he warned.
The bishop reiterated that dialogue is the only way out of the crisis the country is facing.
"The only way out that I see, even when it's seems further off, is what the bishops have always proposed: some channels of communication have to be opened. By closing things off in a narrative that only seeks to criminalize and that doesn't build bridges, we're not going to succeed" in coming out of the crisis," he said.
Bishop Báez asked Ortega and the members of his government to "to open their hearts to the truth and to open their hearts to goodness. Criminalization and repression cannot be the foundation of the governability of a country."