On Thursday 9 February, 222 political prisoners were expelled from Nicaragua to the United States by the dictatorial regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. Among those who boarded the chartered plane were top opposition leaders: six presidential pre-candidates, students, "campesinos" and business leaders, journalists and priests. But the most eminent prisoner, who Ortega and Murillo were eager to get rid of, Bishop Rolando Jose Álvarez Lagos, the Bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa, refused to leave the country and accept expulsion.