The Daniel Ortega regime released 135 political prisoners from its jails on Thursday, September 5. They were immediately deported to Guatemala. This release came as part of a negotiation led by the United States, which sought the acquittal of 13 members of the Mountain Gateway evangelical church, based in Texas. These pastors were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 12 to 15 years by the Nicaraguan justice system after leading an evangelization mission in the country.
After receiving medical attention on the plane chartered by Joe Biden’s government, the 135 Nicaraguans, “some of whom were surely victims of torture”, “He got off the plane saying ‘God bless the United States’ and ‘God bless Guatemala'”explained Eric Jacobstein, assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, during a press conference.
“The US Congress almost certainly secured his release through threats of economic retaliation, given that the US continues to invest significantly in Nicaragua and the regime is increasingly isolated.”says Ana María Méndez, director of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a human rights organization.
Religious, journalists, artists, students…
Daniel Ortega – in power between 1979 and 1990 and again since 2007 – freed, in addition to the Mountain Gateway monks, 122 political prisoners, including 25 women, deacons of the Nicaraguan Catholic Church, journalists, artists and students. “Something similar happened in February 2023, when 222 political prisoners, including presidential candidates, were released and then sent to the United States, explains Delphine Lacombe, a CNRS researcher and specialist in Nicaragua. This decision was followed by the loss of nationality of these opponents who became stateless, and who also saw their properties confiscated in Nicaragua.
In January, the regime also released and sent to the Vatican 19 clerics, including Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who was sentenced to 26 years in prison. “As in any totalitarian regime, from time to time you have to put valves in and relieve the pressure.” comments opposition member Ana Margarita Vijil, a political prisoner released in 2022. “But we are under no illusions, there may be a wave of severe repression after this release, as happened after our arrival in the United States.”adds this leader of the Democratic Renewal Union party.
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