The released political prisoner Gabriel López del Carmen recalled the situation of torture that he experienced in the cells of the Directorate of Judicial Assistance (DAJ), known as “El Chipote”, and thanked those who fought for the freedom of Daniel Ortega’s hostages who, This March 9, they celebrate one month of having been released by the dictatorship and sent into exile.
«A day like today at this time I was being stripped of my prisoner attire and being dressed in my freedom attire. I didn’t know where we were going or what would happen, were we going to die or live? Hours later, from the window of an airplane, God allowed us to see the sun of freedom,” said the son of the activist and member of the Renewing Democratic Union (Unamos), Andrea Margarita del Carmen.
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«A month already breathing freedom. Watching the clear sky. Walking without running into a wall after a few steps. Hugging in the distance who I love. Years have passed in a few days, and I still haven’t finished, nor do I think I ever will, thanking and appreciating them so much,” López continued.
The 34-year-old young man was part of a group of nine people who was captured by the regime’s Police in the first weeks of September. Said arrests were directed against relatives of opponents who were not in Nicaragua and his relatives were taken hostage to turn themselves in. López del Carmen was imprisoned in place of his mother.
Mother and son were accused of undermining national integrity, an accusation that the member of Unamos assures is due to the prohibition that exists in the country to express themselves, use freedom of speech and organize.
During the hunt against relatives of political prisoners, the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Estelí, Rolando Álvarez, who refused to be part of the group of political prisoners released and sent to the United States by the Daniel Ortega regime, was also imprisoned. Since his violent capture, on August 19, 2021, Bishop Álvarez remained in his family’s home in Managua and it is currently presumed that he is in the “La Modelo” prison system, in Tipitapa.
After resisting being banished, the bishop was taken to the Courts of Managua where he was subjected to an express summary trial. That same day, February 10, he was found guilty, sentenced to 26 years in prison, stripped of his nationality, and stripped of his civil and political rights for life.
After this action against the Catholic Church, the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship also took away the nationality of 94 Nicaraguans, including religious, human rights defenders, activists, and journalists. In addition to declaring them stateless, Ortega also confiscated their property.
