Hader Humberto González Zeledón, Originally from Masaya, he was released and exiled from Nicaragua on February 9, along with 221 other former political prisoners who were held captive in the different prisons of the country.
The opponent was imprisoned for more than two years in the Jorge Navarro de Tipitapa Penitentiary System, after the Nicaraguan Army captured him on August 16, 2020, in a border area with Costa Rica, when together with the former political kidnapped Cristian David Meneses Machado They were trying to cross onto Nicaraguan soil.
Related news: Political prisoner Hader González denounces that the maximum security director of “La Modelo” tortures him
After a trial qualified as arbitrary, the judge Nancy Aguirre, of the Tenth District Trial Court of Managua, sentenced both opponents to 48 years in prison and a 700-day fine for the alleged crimes of organized crime, aggravated murder, drug trafficking, psychotropic drugs, and other controlled substances; trafficking, use and illegal possession of restricted weapons to the detriment of the State of Nicaragua.
In an interview with Article 66González Zeledón reported that he spent his entire confinement in the maximum security cells of “La Modelo”. He also pointed out that both he and Cristian Meneses were tortured “from our capture until our release.”
He denounced that on Tuesday, February 7 —two days before his release— he was beaten for the last time by prison guards, whom he describes as “true executioners.”
Despite the captivity he suffered, the opponent affirmed that «God my Lord and creator healed my wounds, he was my comforter; Prison taught me many things, and one of them was to “leave vengeance to the Lord,” says First Thessalonians. God is just and he will make those who caused us suffering suffer ».
“We had to resort to a power to be free”
González said that “unfortunately Nicaragua” is far from knowing the true meaning of the word freedom, because “we will always have to resort to a foreign power to put the rulers —Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo in order.”
“Unfortunately, everyone who comes to power only cares about filling their pockets and does not look after the interests of the citizen and improve education in our beloved homeland, in order to move a nation forward, to be a competitive country,” he said.
Related news: Dictatorship sentences political prisoners Cristian Meneses and Hader González to 48 years in prison
Regarding his political position, Hader González said he considers himself an opponent of the Ortega regime, but not an enemy. “I was imprisoned for being an opponent, for not sharing his ideals and thoughts,” he remarked.
In reference to the sociopolitical crisis that Nicaragua is experiencing, the former political hostage said that the country suffers from “an oppressive and genocidal regime, in addition to nepotism” in all its splendor, because it is a family that governs.
Now free, the opponent assures that he is trying to start a new stage in his life, dreaming of being able to return to Nicaragua when there is freedom. “Right now I’m working, looking for how to survive like all of us who came out of prison after being unjustly kidnapped,” he concluded.
