The Bishop of Matagalpa, a well-known defender of human rights and critic of Daniel Ortega’s regime, was forced to remain confined inside his house since the beginning of August 2022, along with some priests, seminarians and a layman.
Two weeks later, with almost no food supplies, the Nicaraguan police broke into the house and kidnapped Mons. Álvarez to Managua, the country’s capital, where he was placed under house arrest.
In the midst of a questioned process, the dictatorship sentenced the Bishop of Matagalpa on February 10, 2023 to more than 26 years in prison, accusing him of “traitor to the country.” Since then, he has been held in the prison known as “La Modelo”, to which the regime’s political prisoners are sent.