Published on: 28 August 2024
In Nicaragua, President Daniel Ortega and his far-left Sandinista National Liberation Front continue to crackdown on all who dare to raise their voices criticizing the regime’s brutal human rights abuses on religious groups, journalists and activists.
Over the past year, six women, five Catholics and one Protestant, have been arrested.
María Asunción Salgado, along with two other women, was arrested on Oct. 7, 2023, while attending a service at Nuestra Señora de Asuncion parish. She was detained for “religious belief, activity and association.”
Evelyn Guillén was detained on Aug. 5, 2023, for her “religious activity and expression,” after showing a poster advocating for the release of Bishop Rolando Alvarez, an outspoken critic of the president. On January 14, 2024, he was released from prison and sent into exile with 18 other Roman Catholic leaders.
On Aug. 19, 2023, Adela Tercero and Gabriela Morales were arrested for allegedly spreading false information and “undermining national security.” These charges were dropped, and new charges of drug trafficking were applied, however it is clear that the women are in prison for their affiliation with various Jesuit educational institutions which are well-known for their role in anti-regime protests.
In addition to individual arrests, the Nicaraguan government has also canceled the legal registration of 695 religious nonprofit organizations connected to Catholic, Evangelical and Pentecostal denominations.
We are asking Christians to stand up for their persecuted brothers and sisters in Nicaragua.
Please take a moment to write to the USCIRF today and encourage their diplomatic efforts on behalf of these six women, and others like them, who have been imprisoned in Nicaragua for taking a stand in the fight for religious freedom.
Send your letter to: (view Sample Letters here)
Chair: Rabbi Abraham Cooper
Address: 732 N. Capitol Street, N.W., Suite A714,
Washington, D.C. 20401
