GUATEMALA CITY – The US government announced Thursday that it has secured the release of 135 Nicaraguan political prisoners who have arrived in Guatemala where they will apply for admission to the United States or other countries.
National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan said in a statement that he had been released on humanitarian grounds.
“No one should be imprisoned for peacefully exercising their fundamental rights to free expression, association and practice of their religion,” Sullivan said.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Eric Jacobstein told reporters that the Nicaraguan government received nothing in exchange for the release of the prisoners and that the talks did not signal a change in policy toward the US government. President Daniel Ortega.
“Although the pressure itself has been consistent, the planning and execution of this release was swift, and we have worked quickly to facilitate the journey of these individuals and truly ensure their safety at every step of the journey,” Jacobstein added, calling the Nicaraguan people “unjust manner” continues to detain.
Asked if there were any prisoners Nicaragua was willing to release, but who refused to leave, he declined to comment.
Jacobstein, who greeted the Nicaraguans in Guatemala, said “these are individuals, some of whom have been victims of torture … who have had a very difficult time, we found them generally in very good health and spirits.”
The US One of the things the diplomat said about some of his conversations with the prisoners was the “true pettiness and cruelty” of Ortega’s government for imprisoning people for no justifiable reason.
Francisco Arteaga, a freed prisoner who spoke from the window of a yellow bus transporting him and others from the air field, was asked why he had been arrested. “Government action against Catholic Church for spreading on social media,” he said.
Among the freed Nicaraguans were 13 members of a Texas-based religious charity, Catholic laity, students and others.
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo Agreed to host Nicaraguans while they apply for admission to the US
Nicaraguans left the capital’s Guatemalan air base on buses Thursday morning, with some waving from windows.
The Nicaraguan government did not immediately confirm the announcement of the release of the prisoners.
Nicaraguan human rights lawyer Hedy Castillo said the release of the prisoners was “a victory for the resistance of the Nicaraguan people”. She noted that the prisoners were not actually freed because their release comes with forced displacement from their country.
“No one should be imprisoned for thinking differently,” Castillo said.
Prosecutors are reviewing the lists to see how many such inmates are in custody, she said.
Ivania Alvarez, a member of the Accreditation Mechanism for exiled Nicaraguan and political prisoners, said their most recent count was 151 in prison, suggesting some of them are still in detention.
Mountain Gateway, a Texas-based religious organization, has confirmed the release of 13 of its people after nine months in prison.
“This is the day we’ve been praying for,” Pastor John Britton Hancock, founder of Mountain Gateway, said in a statement.
Environmentalist Amaru Ruiz said on social platforms that eight indigenous forest rangers were among those freed.
“The United States again calls on the government of Nicaragua to immediately end the arbitrary arrest and detention of its citizens simply for exercising their fundamental freedoms,” Sullivan said.
The US government called them political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.
The announcement came just two days later Nicaragua’s National Assembly approved the changes In the criminal code allowing the government to try Nicaraguans and foreigners in absentia.
Protesters and organizations that have fled or been forced into exile in a years-long campaign to silence critical voices of President Ortega can face fines, long prison terms and their Property confiscated by the government Under approved changes.
Last year, the government deported more than 300 opposition figures, stripping them of their nationality. More Nicaraguans have fled into exile Ortega called the failed coup with international backing to avoid repression following large-scale 2018 protests.
“These individuals have arrived in Guatemala safely and voluntarily,” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement. “We thank President Bernardo Arevalo and his administration for their efforts and support in welcoming him.”
“Nicaraguaan authorities unjustly detained these individuals for exercising their fundamental freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly and religion or belief,” Blinken said.
Govt has Over 5,000 establishments closed As of 2018, many of them are religious in nature.
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