Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's five-year campaign against the Catholic church has intensified since February, according to interviews with five priests inside and outside the country.
This week's brief release of Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Alvarez raised hopes for a turning point.
The priests describe heavy surveillance of church services by police or civilian members of government-sponsored community councils, especially since Easter.
His latest restrictions seem aimed at silencing priests, Erick Diaz, 33, a Nicaraguan priest in exile in Chicago, said.
Nine church leaders inside and outside Nicaragua did not respond to interview requests for this story.
Persons:
Daniel Ortega's, Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Alvarez, Mexican Bishop Ramon Castro, Pope Francis, Nicaragua's, Ortega, Rosario Murillo, Bishop Alvarez, Alvarez, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, Brenes, Martha Patricia Molina, Molina, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Erick Diaz, David Alire Garcia, Philip Pullella, Ismael Lopez, Suzanne Goldenberg
Organizations:
MEXICO CITY, Sunday, Nicaraguan, Catholic, Vatican, Reuters, Organization of American, Thomson
Locations:
MEXICO, Nicaraguan, Managua, Nicaragua, Mexican, Eastern Europe, Matagalpa, Texas, Leon, Vatican, Chicago, Rome, San Jose