US secures release of 135 Nicaraguan political prisoners who have arrived in Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY (news agencies) — The U.S. government announced on Thursday that it has secured the release of 135 Nicaraguan political prisoners who have arrived in Guatemala, where they would apply for asylum permits to come to the United States.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement that they were released on humanitarian grounds.

“No one should be put in jail for peacefully exercising their fundamental rights of free expression, association, and practicing their religion,” Sullivan said.

Among the Nicaraguans were 13 members of a Texas-based religious charity, Catholic laypeople, students and others.

Guatemala President Bernardo Arévalo agreed to host the Nicaraguans while they apply for entry to the U.S.

“The United States again calls on the government of Nicaragua to immediately cease the arbitrary arrest and detention of its citizens for merely exercising their fundamental freedoms,” Sullivan said.

The announcement came just two days after Nicaragua’s National Assembly approved changes to the criminal code allowing the government to try Nicaraguans and foreigners in absentia.

Opponents and organizations that have fled or been forced into exile in President Daniel Ortega’s years-long campaign to silence critical voices could be fined, sentenced to lengthy prison terms and see their property seized by the government under the approved changes.

Last year, the government exiled more than 300 opposition figures, stripping them of their nationality. Far more Nicaraguans have fled into exile themselves to escape the repression that followed massive 2018 protests that Ortega dubbed a failed coup with international backing.

“These individuals safely and voluntarily arrived in Guatemala,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “We thank President Bernardo Arévalo and his administration for their efforts and support in welcoming them.”

Blinken said that among those released were 13 individuals affiliated with Mountain Gateway, a Texas-based religious organization. Mountain Gateway did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Nicaraguan authorities unjustly detained these individuals for exercising their fundamental freedoms of expression, of association and peaceful assembly, and of religion or belief,” Blinken said.

The government has shuttered more than 5,000 organizations since 2018, many of them religious in nature.