MANAGUA/WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – More than 200 Nicaraguan political prisoners were freed and flown to the United States on Thursday, including dozens of prominent government critics jailed in President Daniel’s brutal crackdown. Ortega’s objections in recent years.
Ortega later described the surprise move as a push to expel criminal provocateurs seeking to harm Nicaragua, while Washington hailed the mass release as a “positive step” toward improving human rights.
The freed political prisoners include five former presidential hopefuls who sought to defeat Ortega in the 2021 polls only to be imprisoned in an unprecedented dragnet and criminalization of political dissent in the Central American country.
Surrounded by top security officials and sitting in front of the national and ruling party flags, Ortega in his televised statements reiterated his view that all the prisoners sought to undermine national sovereignty, mocking them as “agents” of foreign powers.
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“Leave them to their mercenaries,” he said.
On Thursday, a Nicaraguan judge and Ortega loyalist denounced the released prisoners as “traitors” who had been “deported.”
Crowds of cheering people waited to greet loved ones at Dulles International Airport near Washington, waving flags and chanting “Free!”
A US official told Reuters that Managua’s goal is to show its desire to improve relations with Washington that have been strained for a long time. In his speeches, Ortega insisted that he did not negotiate anything with US officials before the release, including the lifting of economic sanctions.
In 2021, Washington imposed sanctions and denounced Ortega’s re-election as a “sham” after all his leading opponents were jailed ahead of the vote, with journalists and religious figures jailed. also later.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the release “marks a constructive step in addressing human rights abuses in the country and opens the door to further dialogue between the United States and Nicaragua on issues of concern.”
Released prisoners will be allowed to enter the United States on emergency humanitarian grounds, the administration of President Joe Biden said in a note to Congress.
‘ATTACKS AGAINST SOVEREIGNTY’
Ortega’s allies in Congress plan to change the law to allow officials to strip freed prisoners of their citizenship, effectively shutting down any future plans they may have to repatriate in the future.
Among those released were former presidential candidates Juan Sebastian Chamorro, Felix Maradiaga, Miguel Mora, Medardo Mairena and Arturo Cruz, as well as prominent student activist Lesther Aleman, a Nicaraguan judicial document states.
Blinken said two citizens prominent businessman Michael Healy, who was given 13 years in prison, were also released.
About 100 people awaited their arrival at Dulles Airport, with many waving Nicaraguan flags and signs bearing the names of those being released. Others sang “My Nicaragua,” a beloved national anthem.
Ariana Gutierrez Pinto, 28, said she is looking forward to being reunited with her 63-year-old mother Evelyn Pinto, who was released just in time to celebrate her birthday later this month.
“I was very nervous,” said the younger Pinto. “There were days when I lost hope, but my father was always optimistic, the whole family was optimistic. And my mother, too. She never lost hope.”
On Twitter, the Nicaraguan University Alliance wrote: “Our friends have been released,” referring to the four students who were imprisoned after their participation in the protests.
“Some of these individuals have spent years in prison, many of them for exercising their fundamental freedoms, in appalling conditions and without access to due process,” said a spokesperson for the US State Department.
In addition to the 222 individuals deported to the United States, two others were released but chose not to travel, one of which is a prominent critic of Ortega and Catholic Bishop Rolando Alvarez.
Ortega said the cleric is now behind bars.
Reporting by Ismael Lopez in Managua and Julio-Cesar Chavez in Washington; Additional reporting by Daina Beth Solomon in Mexico City and Trevor Hunnicutt, Simon Lewis and Humeyra Pamuk in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler and Rosalba O’Brien
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