Nicaragua’s government shutters 6 church radio stations

By GABRIELA SELSER
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nicaraguan authorities have ordered the closures of six radio stations belonging to the Roman Catholic Church and surrounded one with riot police. The bishop of the northern province of Matagalpa said during Mass on Monday that he had received a letter from the state telecommunications agency Telcor informing him of the closures. Bishop Rolando Álvarez called the move “an injustice” and urged Telcor’s director to show the legality. The bishop has been one of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s most outspoken critics in the church. He has called for the release of prisoners, including a number of political opposition leaders, and earlier this year went on a hunger strike to protest what he called “police persecution” against him.