Nicaragua sends 222 opposition prisoners to US

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Nicaragua released 222 political prisoners early Thursday from different prisons and sent them to the US capital, according to media reports and family members.

Judge Octavio Rothschuh, head of the First Chamber of the Court of Appeals of Managua, said the government decided to "deport" the prisoners because they “violated the legal and constitutional order, threatening the state of Nicaragua and Nicaraguan society, harming the supreme interest of the nation.”

Berta Valle, wife of prisoner Felix Madariaga, an academic and political activist, confirmed the news earlier in the day.

“They have been sent on a private flight to Washington," said Valle, who confirmed the State Department said it will make whatever needs available to relatives of the opponents. The prisoners will be allowed to stay in the US for two years.

According to family members, the prisoners have endured harsh conditions during imprisonment. Many were denied medical treatment and were given little to eat.

The list of prisoners who were released is not known.

Since anti-government protests erupted in Nicaragua in 2018, President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, who have been in power since 2007, unleashed violent repression and have thrown political opponents, journalists and religious figures in prison, which led hundreds of opponents to flee the country.

The US imposed sanctions on officials and Ortega´s family members in response to the crackdown on opponents.

The relationship between Ortega´s government and the US administration of Joe Biden has been strained since the US president slammed elections in Nicaragua in 2021 as a "sham," saying it was “neither free nor fair.”

Ortega has called opponents "criminals" who want to "overthrow the government."