Nicaragua frees hundreds of political prisoners
Nicaragua released 222 political prisoners early Thursday, including a U. S. citizen, in a deal negotiated with Washington that marks one of the biggest prisoner releases ever involving the United States, according to senior Biden administration officials.
The Nicaraguan government, which sought nothing in return, agreed to release the prisoners as a way to signal a desire to restart relations with the United States, the officials said.
The Biden administration has imposed sanctions on the government and family of President Daniel Ortega in recent years, as the country has slid into autocratic rule and targeted opponents in civil society, the church and the news media
espite the positive action from the Nicaraguan government, officials in Washington say they remain wary since it is unclear whether the Ortega family is willing to loosen their grip on power, permit political dissent and hold free and fair elections.
Those released in Nicaragua included political opposition members, business figures, student activists and journalists.
Once in the United States, they will be given humanitarian parole for a period of two years, a process that allows foreigners who do not have a visa or may not be eligible for one to enter the country and apply for asylum.
Two other political prisoners declined offers of refuge in the United States.
The prisoner release “marks a constructive step toward addressing human rights abuses in the country and opens the door to further dialogue,” Secretary of State
Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Clutching what few belongings they had in plastic bags, many looking frail, the freed detainees boarded the flight from Managua to Washington before it took off at about 7:45 a. m. Eastern time, officials said. It landed about four hours later.
The f light was chartered by the U. S. government, and as it circled the sky above Washington, some of the freed prisoners began to sing, tears in their eyes, according to officials.
The U. S. government planned to provide medical and legal assistance to the former prisoners, according to U. S. officials, before allowing them to reunite with their families.
Friends and relatives of the prisoners waited at an arrivals section of Dulles International Airport. Some waved Nicaraguan flags while singing the national anthem. One person held up a painting of Jesus Christ. A person in the crowd read the names of those who had been freed as others chanted, “Libertad,” meaning freedom.
Biden administration officials said that while most of the sanctions against the Ortega family and the Nicaraguan government will continue, penalties specifically tied to the jailing of political prisoners may be eased.
Many of those released had been arrested over the past few years for political dissent against the Ortega family, with many sentenced to prison or house arrest in what critics and family members called sham trials.
Some of them experienced horrific treatment inside Nicaraguan detention centers, many family members said, and were denied treatment for longstanding medical conditions or given little to eat. At least one of them died in captivity.