Nicaragua: government announces release of dozens of prisoners after US pressure

Mexico City (Mexico), 11 January (LaPresse/AP) – Nicaragua’s Interior Ministry has announced the release of dozens of prisoners. This comes as the United States increases pressure on the government led by President Daniel Ortega a week after ousting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. On Friday, the US Embassy in Nicaragua said that Venezuela had released what it called “political prisoners”, but complained that in Nicaragua “more than 60 people remain unjustly detained or disappeared, including pastors, religious workers, the sick and the elderly”. ‘Dozens of people who were in the national prison system are returning to their homes and families,’ Nicaragua’s Interior Ministry said on Saturday. It is unclear who has been released or under what conditions. Since 2018, the Nicaraguan government has intensified its crackdown, imprisoning and exiling critics.