The U.S. government announced Thursday that it secured the release of 135 Nicaraguan political prisoners, who have arrived in Guatemala where they will apply for entry to the United States or other countries.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement that they were released on humanitarian grounds.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Eric Jacobstein, speaking with reporters, said that the Nicaraguan government received nothing in exchange for the prisoners’ release and the negotiation signaled no change in U.S. policy toward the government of President Daniel Ortega.
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo agreed to host the Nicaraguans while they apply for entry to the U.S.
The announcement came just two days after Nicaragua’s National Assembly approved changes to the criminal code allowing the government to try Nicaraguans and foreigners in absentia.
Opponents and organizations that have fled or been forced into exile in President Ortega’s yearslong campaign to silence critical voices could be fined, sentenced to lengthy prison terms and see their property seized by the government under the approved changes.
Last year, the government exiled more than 300 opposition figures, stripping them of their nationality. Far more Nicaraguans have fled into exile themselves to escape the repression that followed massive 2018 protests that Ortega dubbed a failed coup with international backing.
Posted by John3262005
2 Comments
Another foreign policy W for the Biden admin
It’s a relief to see those political prisoners finally freed, but there’s still a long road ahead for real change in Nicaragua.