A State Department spokesman condemned the withdrawal of Nicaraguan citizenship from Bishop Rolando José Álvarez Lagos and the 222 political prisoners who did agree to be transferred to the United States in exchange for their release.
WASHINGTON – The United States demanded Saturday that Nicaragua release Bishop Rolando José Álvarez Lagos, who was sentenced to 26 years in prison after refusing to be banished by the government of Daniel Ortega to U.S. territory.
A State Department spokesman also condemned, in statements to EFE, the withdrawal of Nicaraguan citizenship from the bishop and the 222 political prisoners who did agree to be transferred to the United States in exchange for their release.
“Bishop Rolando Alvarez is unjustly imprisoned and we will continue to press for his release,” said the same source.
The government of Joe Biden “condemns the stripping of the citizenship of Bishop Alvarez and the political prisoners,” added the U.S. diplomatic spokesman.
“Such a measure violates the fundamental rights of these people,” he reproached.
Last Thursday, Nicaragua released and expelled from the country 222 political prisoners who were transferred to Washington in a plane chartered by the U.S. government.
Two prisoners refused to leave the country, among them the bishop, who as a consequence was sentenced to 26 years in prison, stripped of his citizenship and transferred from house arrest to the Modelo prison.
The 222 Nicaraguans who arrived in the United States, among whom are prominent Nicaraguan opposition figures, have received a humanitarian permit to remain in U.S. territory for two years, although several are analyzing the offer of the Government of Spain to receive Spanish nationality.