No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeTopicsLatin AmericaNicaragua Escalates Repression Against Catholic Clergy

Nicaragua Escalates Repression Against Catholic Clergy

At least 12 priests have been arrested in recent days in a new wave of detentions targeting Catholic Church clergy in Nicaragua, according to a human rights NGO operating from exile in Costa Rica.

“In the last 48 hours, there has been a repressive escalation against priests of the Catholic Church” in the Matagalpa department, in the northern part of the country, stated the Colectivo Nicaragua Nunca Más in a communiqué.

“Several parishes have been besieged, and at least 12 priests have been arbitrarily detained, some of whom are now missing and in a state of enforced disappearance,” the organization specified.

On Thursday and Friday, Nicaraguan police carried out operations in parishes of the dioceses of Matagalpa and Estelí (north), reported Martha Patricia Molina, a lawyer and researcher on church-related issues, currently exiled in the United States, via social media platform X.

Nicaraguan human rights activist Haydee Castillo, also exiled in the United States, stated on X that “last night Matagalpa was besieged by police and paramilitary forces.” The Nicaraguan government has not commented on these reports.

President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, claim that the Church supported the 2018 protests against the government, which resulted in over 300 deaths according to the UN, and which Managua considers an attempted coup sponsored by Washington.

Murillo has described the clergy as “children of the devil” or “agents of evil” who engage in “spiritual terrorism.” “This is the largest crackdown since December 2023,” when another dozen priests were detained, the collective stated. In January, about thirty religious figures were released and sent to the Vatican.

A week ago, a group of United Nations experts denounced that the Nicaraguan government has maintained “systematic” attacks against the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations since the 2018 protests.

From April 2018 to March 2024, the group documented “73 cases of arbitrary detentions of members of the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations,” although they noted that “the total number could be higher.”

Trending Now

Costa Rica Bill Targets Pretrial Detention for Organized Crime Cases

Costa Rica's Legislative Assembly is moving forward with a bill that aims to strengthen the rules around pretrial detention in response to growing threats...

Costa Rica 2026 Elections Kick Off: 20 Candidates Vie for Presidency

Costa Rica's electoral season began yesterday with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal's official call for the 2026 national elections. Eugenia Zamora, the TSE president, described...

US Marines Head to Panama Jungle for Joint Drills

US Marines plan to join forces with Panamanian security teams for a joint exercise in the country's thick jungle next month. The move comes...

Bank of America Predicts Stable Exchange Rate for Costa Rica

Bank of America has released a fresh analysis of Costa Rica's economy, pointing to steady conditions ahead. The report predicts the dollar exchange rate...

Tragic Blaze at Hotel Oriente Kills Five in Costa Rica Capital

A tragic fire ripped through the Hotel Oriente in central San Jose early this morning, leaving five people dead and sparking questions about building...

5 Top Costa Rican Restaurants on TripAdvisor’s Best List

Costa Rica's restaurants have landed spots on TripAdvisor's global list of top dining spots this year. Five local places made the cut in the...
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica