Ortega and Murillo were never able to scare Rolando Alvarez into silence or get him to beg for forgiveness while in prison. Now, however…
By Circles Robinson
HAVANA TIMES – On May 3rd Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Alvarez was bestowed the 2024 Libertas Prize of the Principality of Asturias, an award that recognizes individuals or organizations that excel in actively defending freedom. The former political prisoner answered in the same way he has responded since being banished from his country and sent to the Vatican on January 14, 2024 – with complete and utter silence.
Rolando Alvarez became a symbol of resistance by taking a consistent stance from his Matagalpa pulpit criticizing the Ortega dictatorship’s repression and human rights abuses against its citizens, including priests and parishioners of the Catholic Church.
He continued speaking out as not only a spiritual guide but also a citizen in the years following the 2018 uprising. He did so despite the passive role of the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference and its leader Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes.
Alvarez was rep