Three Episcopalians Arrested in Nicaragua
Episcopal News Service. January 28, 1982 [82019]
BLUEFIELDS, Nicaragua (DPS, Jan. 28) -- Three Episcopalians, ministering in this traditionally isolated region, have been arrested by national police, Episcopal Church Center officials in New York have been told.
The Rev. Atinaldo Carlos, a deacon, and his son Kenneth, 16, and Granville Garth, a lay reader have been taken into custody. Carlos is reportedly in Managua and it is not known where his son or Garth are being held.
Carlos was in charge of the missionary work at St. Mary's Church in Tasbapauni, a Mosquito village accessible only by small boats. He was ordained deacon six years ago in an effort on the part of the Episcopal Church to provide pastoral care to isolated areas. In the last few months, he had applied for ordination to the priesthood and his request has been granted by the standing committee of the diocese.
In October 1980, another deacon, the Rev. Willie Allen, was also arrested but was released several weeks later without a trial.
During the same period five Roman Catholic missionaries -- three priests and two nuns -- have been deported from Nicaragua. They were members of the Capuchin order and were working on the Atlantic coast, where Bluefields is located.
The Rev. Arthur Tripp and his wife Nilah, missionaries of the Episcopal Church, have been notified by the U.S. immigration authorities that their visa to stay in Nicaragua must be renewed every 30 days. The Tripps, originally from the Diocese of Oklahoma, have been in Nicaragua since 1976. He oversees work in the coastal area.
A delegation from the Diocese of Milwaukee, Nicaragua's companion diocese, is expected to visit Nicaragua on Feb. 8, but it has been advised to remain in the Managua area and not to travel to the Atlantic coast. The delegation is headed hy the Rt. Rev. Charles Gaskell, Bishop of Milwaukee.
The Sandinista government has repeatedly accused Bluefields of "separatist tendencies" and has criticised its political leadership in national meetings. Named after the Dutch pirate Blewfeldt, who used it as a base in the 17th century, it was the capital of the British Mosquito Coast protectorate until returned to Nicaragua in 1894. During the two occupations of Nicaragua by the United States (1912-25 and 1927-32), the Marines were stationed here.
Bluefields has a population of 21,000 people mostly of West Indian descent but the surrounding areas are populated by the Mosquito people, an ancient tribe ethnically related to the Chibchas of Colombia.
The Episcopal Church in Nicaragua is under the provisional pastoral care of the Rt. Rev. Cornelius Wilson, Bishop of Costa Rica.
Even before the arrests, the ministry in the area was severely hampered by economic woes and currency restrictions that have limited availability of spare parts and fuel. In addition to the coastal wetlands, Tripp's pastorate extends out to Corn Island, 40 miles off the coast.