Central America Editorial.– At least 60 Nicaraguans were arbitrarily detained by the National Police of Nicaragua for “expressions of opinion” following the capture by US troops of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, an ally of the government co-chaired by Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo, reported this Friday the Blue and White Monitoring, a human rights organization.
“This new wave of repression is carried out without a court order and is based solely on expressions of opinion: comments on social media, private celebrations, or not repeating official propaganda. This constitutes a serious violation of human rights,” denounced Monitoreo Azul y Blanco.
Arbitrary arrests are concentrated in the departments of Chontales, Matagalpa, Managua, Jinotega, Chinandega, Estelí, Granada, Masaya and the North and South Caribbean regions.
Your report on this “new repressive escalation” indicates that of the total number of people apprehended, 49 remain detained “without information about their legal situation,” while nine arrested individuals were released and three remain subject to temporary detentions, without clear charges or access to transparent judicial processes.
In addition, it reports 18 documented incidents, including collective and individual detentions.
U.S. Denounces Unjust Detentions in Nicaragua
Faced with this situation, the organization made “an urgent call to the international community to pay attention to this new wave of repression in Nicaragua”, while demanding “freedom for all political prisoners” in the country.
So far, there is no official report on these alleged arrests following Maduro’s capture
The United States embassy in Managua recalled this Friday, after the “important step” taken by Venezuela to release “a large number of political prisoners”, that in Nicaragua there are also “more than 60 people” who remain “unjustly detained or disappeared”, unrelated to the new arrests of recent days.
“Venezuela took an important step towards peace by releasing a large number of political prisoners. In Nicaragua, more than 60 people are still unjustly detained or missing, including pastors, religious workers, the sick and the elderly. Peace is only possible with freedom!” reported the embassy in a message on X.
