Nicaraguan political prisoners they learned that they had been released and deported to the US at the doors of the plane that took them this Thursday from Nicaragua to the North American country.
This was explained in statements to the press by the former Nicaraguan presidential candidate Juan Sebastián Chamorro outside the hotel where the group was transferred and where some of them will spend the night.
Those who know Managua know that the Modelo prison is very close to the airport, so the expectation, what some of us thought, is that we were going to the Modelo prison
Chamorro affirmed that it was not until they were at the entrance of the plane that they found out their destination and made them sign a document to accept the trip.
He recalled that in prison they were “totally incommunicado and with very little information from outside” and that they were not notified that they had been released.
On Wednesday night they were given their clothes back in prison and put on buses that didn’t know where they were going.
“Those who know Managua know that the Modelo prison is very close to the airport, so the expectation, what some of us thought, is that we were going to the Modelo prison,” Chamorro recalled.
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A bittersweet feeling obviously (for being) free on the one hand, but being banished by the regime
However, the three buses that were transporting them turned to the right in the direction of the Air Force and there they realized that they were going to fly out of the country to an unknown destination until they were notified that it was the United States. at the door of the plane.
Chamorro indicated that in mid-flight they found out “by surprise” that their nationality had been taken from them, although he assured that a procedure of this type does not take away their “Nicaraguanness”.
On the plane, “it was a very exciting moment” due to the reunions between former companions in fatigues. “There are people here who have spent more than three years behind bars” and from different prisons, explained the opponent.
“It was a very happy, very happy moment on the plane. We sang the national anthem several times when leaving the national territory, with a bittersweet feeling, obviously (for being) free on the one hand, but being banished by the regime,” he said.
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Given what the future may hold for them, Chamorro pointed out that at leastSoon they are enjoying these first hours of freedom. “I think the priority now is to be focused on the family and rebuild our lives,” he reflected.
The opposition figure also wanted to thank God and “all the institutions, all the people, all the lawyers and all the countries that have made this miracle possible, the miracle of freedom.”
He recalled that in his case he has spent a year and eight months behind bars in “a maximum security prison in very deplorable conditions.”
“And most important of all, that we were victims of an enormous injustice,” remarked Chamorro, who has not yet seen his wife, because she is flying to Washington to start a new life together.
Even so, He mentioned his colleagues who have left their families in Nicaraguasince “there is concern” about what may happen to their wives and children.
He stressed that the now former political prisoners are unaware of the negotiations “behind the scenes” for their release and expulsion to the US, although he was grateful to the organizations and governments that have been able to facilitate it.
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Chamorro indicated that at the moment of boarding the plane “some people from the US Embassy” in Nicaragua “informed them that there were 224 prisoners released and expelled from Nicaragua, although he said” he understood “that there was one person who did not signed in. The US Department has reported 222 people.
Asked about what happened to that person or people who did not get on the plane, he said that they do not know anything about what could have happened to them.
In response to a question from journalists about the whereabouts of Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Álvarez, Chamorro revealed that he “understood that he did not (get) on the plane,” although he indicated that they know that “his trial was brought forward.”
The OAS demands that Nicaragua restore rights to prisoners
The Organization of American States (OAS) demanded this Thursday that the Government of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua restore the rights of the 222 political prisoners expelled to the United States.
In a statement, the OAS General Secretariat, headed by Luis Almagro, considered “great news” that the prisoners have been released from jail, but criticized the fact that they have been stripped of their Nicaraguan nationality.
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“The crimes committed against these people must not go unpunished, and their rights must be restored as soon as possible,” he stressed.
At the same time, the OAS body thanked the United States for hosting the 222 expelled prisoners and considered that the Joe Biden government is “an example of effective political work in favor of human rights.”
The General Secretariat stressed that these political prisoners were sentenced in “trials without any guarantee for alleged treason against the homeland.” and they were “stripped of their Nicaraguan nationality and of all their citizenship rights.”
For this reason, although “his freedom is great news” for the relatives and friends of those released, the OAS considers that what happened cannot be considered as a full “liberation”.
In addition, he affirmed that “there is still a long way to go” since in Nicaragua “there are still people imprisoned and tortured for thinking differently.”
“The release of these political prisoners is also a demonstration that international pressure is essential with dictatorships,” he emphasized.
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The release of these political prisoners is also a demonstration that international pressure is essential with dictatorships
The political prisoners found out that they had been released and expelled at the gates of the plane chartered by the US government that took them this Thursday from Managua to Washington.
This was explained in statements to the press by the former Nicaraguan presidential candidate Juan Sebastián Chamorro outside the hotel where the group was transferred and where some of them will spend the night.
The Biden Administration maintains that his release and expulsion was a “unilateral decision” by the Ortega government which was not negotiated with Washington, but the United States agreed to host them.
According to the US State Department, the US authorities made sure before the released prisoners boarded the plane that “every one of them wanted to travel to the United States.”
EFE
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