Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON: In an unexpected gesture, Nicaragua’s increasingly authoritarian president, Daniel Ortega, released over 200 arrested opposition members on Thursday and sent them to the United States.
After weeks of secret talks with Washington, Nicaragua allowed the 222 detainees, including former challengers to Ortega, to board a chartered flight to Washington.
American officials said they would allow the former prisoners to stay for at least two years and provide legal and medical support.
“Not far from the US capital”
Juan Sebastian Chamorro, who was detained before he could oppose Ortega in the 2021 election, stated, “I would want to thank God and everyone who made possible this miracle — the miracle of freedom,” at Dulles International Airport, not far from the US capital.
“We are very grateful that we are here in the land of freedom,” he noted. According to Chamorro, whose aunt won the 1990 presidential election over Ortega, the group didn’t receive any warning. Instead, they were given clothes and moved to another cell before being on buses.
He stated, “It’s been completely alone for 20 months behind bars at a maximum-security facility. But look at us now; we’re standing tall.”
Another opposition leader detained ahead of the election, Felix Maradiaga, claimed he was not informed he could lose his citizenship and was only required to write a one-line note stating that he was leaving the country willingly.
He said, “We had no information on what would happen. I will be Nicaraguan until the day I die.”
According to Maradiaga, the group sang the national anthem of Nicaragua on the flight.
Ariana Gutierrez Pinto expressed her “hopefulness” while waiting at the airport for her mother, Evelyn Pinto, a human rights activist who had been held since November 2021.
She stated, “To me, their release is just because they won’t have to suffer any longer, but it’s also unjust since they’re being kicked out of their country. The exiled dissidents were transported to nearby motels after arriving.
