The regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has detained at least 25 prominent Sandinistas and state workers whom the dictatorship “punishes” for lack of loyalty to the party or Murillo; However, few names from this list are revealed, since the dictatorship keeps their relatives under threat, as was revealed in the latest report from the Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners.
For the Mechanism, this is a clear reflection that the dictatorship is increasing persecution within its own ranks “carrying out arbitrary detentions without legal bases, manipulated judicial processes and forced disappearances, affecting not only the direct victims, but also their families.” .
In the case of Sandinista sympathizers or state workers, the regime, as part of the “punishment”, denies all information about the detainees, which creates uncertainty for their families. This type of repression, which is also accompanied by purges and coercive labor measures, is intended to instill terror within the state apparatus.
Son of Carlos Fonseca, one of the main punished
One of the cases that the report highlights is that of Carlos Fonseca Terán, the son of the founder of the FSLN party, Carlos Fonseca Amador, arrested in the “La Comuna” case, the name of a WhatsApp group, coordinated by Fonseca Terán, and of the that several Sandinista workers were members. Fonseca Terán was detained by the regime along with ten other allies and for more than three months the dictatorship kept his relatives completely isolated, without knowing about the prison conditions of the accused.
Fonseca Terán and his wife, the former judge of the Labor Court, Arlen Cuadra, were fired from their positions within the State and isolated in their residence, confiscating any type of communication device such as cell phones, computers, etc. and under the “house for prison” modality without making the arrest official and under threats from the Ortega Prosecutor’s Office.
Gustavo Antonio Zapata; Alejandro José Taleno Rueda; Ernesto Rafael Paredes Pérez; Cristian Eduardo Bermúdez Roque; José Antonio Bermúdez Sobalvarro; Isaías Alejandro Bonilla Chamorro, Frank Eduardo Matus Rodríguez, and Rigoberto José Ramo, all members of Fonseca Terán’s group, did not suffer the same fate because the dictatorship imprisoned them and accused them of “crimes of fraud, embezzlement of public funds.”
Another relevant case of persecution within Sandinismo is that of Steadman Fagoth, a former deputy and leader
arbitrarily detained in August 2024 who, despite having strong connections within the dictatorship, was “punished” for not aligning with the orders issued by the presidential couple.
“Fagoth has been subjected to conditions of detention that violate international human rights standards, including limited access to his defense and the absence of clear information about the accusations against him,” the report says.
For the Mechanism, the internal persecution against public workers and officials evidences a systematic pattern of repression that not only seeks to punish those they consider to be opponents, but also to send a clear message that any act of dissent, real or perceived, will be “punished” of severely, it also represents a setback in the labor rights that Nicaragua already had.
There are still 40 political prisoners
The mechanism denounces the detention of 45 political prisoners (39 men and 6 women) until the closing of the report, on December 13. The arbitrary arrests carried out by the regime occurred in 14 departments of the country from November 22 to December 6.
The organization also denounces the kidnappings orchestrated by the Sandinista police with the use of violence, affecting even minors present during the operations, this is the case of the son of businessman Henry Briceño, whose family was banished from the country after his arrest. at night.
Related news: Víctor Boitano, the retired Army colonel, on the list of political prisoners in Nicaragua
The report highlights a list of nine people who are missing: Brooklyn Rivera Bryan, Víctor Boitano Coleman, Eveling Hernández, Fabiola del Carmen Tercero Castro, Lesbia Gutiérrez Poveda, Carmen María Saénz Martínez, Leo Catalino Cárcamo Herrera, Julio Antonio Quintana Carvajal, Fabio Alberto Cáceres Larios.
Furthermore, the organization denounces the ultimatum given to the few nuns left in the country to leave Nicaragua before December 31. “This measure involved not only their exile, but also the confiscation of congregational property and the cancellation of organizations linked to the Catholic Church.”
