The United States announced that it has secured the humanitarian release of 135 political detainees in Nicaragua, including members of religious organizations and students, who will be received by Guatemala, according to a White House statement released on September 5.
“The Biden-Harris administration secured the humanitarian release of 135 political prisoners unjustly detained in Nicaragua,” wrote Jake Sullivan, US presidential security adviser. The official thanked Guatemala for “generously agreeing to receive these Nicaraguan citizens.”
Related news: UN report on Nicaragua: Persecution, torture and disappearance of political prisoners persist
The release was made “on humanitarian grounds,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement.
The United States “appreciates the leadership and generosity of the Guatemalan government in graciously accepting these Nicaraguan citizens,” it added.
Once in Guatemala, they will be able to “request legal avenues to rebuild their lives in the United States or in other countries through the Safe Mobility Office initiative,” he said.
Washington calls on the Nicaraguan government to “immediately end the arbitrary arrests and imprisonment of its citizens for merely exercising their fundamental freedoms.”
The Ortega government harshly repressed critical voices following pro-democracy protests in 2018, which left more than 300 dead in three months, according to the UN.
In 2023, he released, expelled, and stripped of their nationality and property 316 critical politicians, journalists, intellectuals, and activists, accusing them of treason.
Related news: Children of political prisoners have also suffered torture by the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship
He also attacked the Catholic Church and closed down some 5,500 NGOs, many of them religious.
In the statement, President Joe Biden and Vice President and Democratic candidate for the November elections Kamala Harris thank Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo “for his continued leadership throughout the region in addressing humanitarian issues and defending democratic freedoms.”
