Mahaz News
—
The Nicaraguan authorities launched greater than 200 political prisoners, a lot of whom arrived within the United States on Thursday, in accordance with officers, following years of repression by the nation’s President Daniel Ortega.
The authoritarian chief has jailed dozens of opposition figures and activists, notably within the lead as much as the final elections in November of 2021.
Judge Octavio Rothschuh Andino introduced the discharge of not less than 222 inmates by the Nicaraguan penitentiary system at a press convention on Thursday, saying a number of had been already en path to the US.
“The deportees have been found guilty of treason and charged with serious crimes, they are forever banned from public office and from competing in elections,” he added.
According to US State Department spokesperson Ned Price, the choice to launch the people, a few of whom had spent years in jail, was “a unilateral decision that the Nicaraguan government took.”
Each of the people who left Nicaragua “voluntarily consented to travel,” and “there were two individuals who, on their own volition, chose not to travel to the United States,” Price mentioned.
Among the launched prisoners is one American, in accordance with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who welcomed their transfer, calling it a product of American diplomacy.
“The release of these individuals, one of whom is a U.S. citizen, by the Government of Nicaragua marks a constructive step towards addressing human rights abuses in the country and opens the door to further dialogue between the United States and Nicaragua regarding issues of concern,” Blinken mentioned.
“Today’s development is the product of concerted American diplomacy, and we will continue to support the Nicaraguan people,” he added.
Blinken famous that those that had been detained included “include political and business leaders, journalists, civil society representatives, and students.”
The people, who all flew to Dulles International airport, will probably be granted humanitarian parole for 2 years, permitting them to stay US and giving them the time to use for asylum if they need, in accordance with Price.
Images from the airport on Thursday confirmed tearful scenes as activists and supporters greeted the arrivals.
One of the arrivals was political activist Felix Maradiaga, who informed Mahaz News en Espanol that they solely realized what was taking place when by the aircraft.
“They made us sign some documents saying in one single line that we were leaving the country of our free will with no further explanation,” he mentioned. “On one facet what occurred is surprising, however on the opposite, I’m overwhelmed by this second, the chance to hug our household. Personally, I haven’t seen my daughter in additional than three years.
Another freed political prisoner, Juan S. Chamorro, who was a pre-candidate within the 2021 presidential elections, informed Mahaz NewsEE that he realized one thing was up when “they gave us our clothes in the middle of the night and put us on some buses.”
Chamorro, who has been in jail since June 2021, added: “We didn’t know where we were going. When the buses turned to the right at the Air Force station we realized that we were going to fly out of the country, but still didn’t know where… until eventually they told us.”
Price mentioned that the motion “was not part of a broader bargain,” and that “sanctions and other restrictions remain in place.”
“It was the Nicaraguan government that decided to offer the opportunity to these individuals to travel to the United States,” Price mentioned. “We agreed that we would of course receive them.”
According to Price, the US authorities is “working with partners beyond government to see to it that these individuals have a roof over their heads.”
“We’re also working, we have worked, with a diaspora population, knowing that there is a very active and engaged Nicaraguan diaspora population here in the United States who we imagine and are confident will be here to greet these individuals and to welcome them to the United States,” he mentioned.
The political prisoners will not be Nicaraguan residents, after the Ortega-controlled National Assembly on Thursday handed a reform to the Constitution that strips the nationality of residents convicted of treason.
“Ortega has two targets with this move: by stripping these political prisoners of their nationality, the regime pushes forward the de-humanization of dissent, it sends the message that opponents simply do not belong in Nicaragua,” Tiziano Breda, a Central America analyst on the Italian Institute for overseas affairs, informed Mahaz News.
“The second target is directed at Washington: what type of legal measure will the United States take to simply deal with these people? It’s extremely complicated for a country to interact with a stateless individual, from a bureaucratic and legal point of view,” he added.
Nicaragua’s authorities beneath fifth-term President Ortega has sharply cracked down on each the press and on critics over the previous two years.
Many Nicaraguan journalists have been compelled into exile, and there stays “practically no independent media within the country,” in accordance with press freedom group Reporters with out Borders.
Source web site: www.cnn.com
