Nicaragua frees dozens of prisoners amid pressure from Trump administration 

Nicaragua’s left-wing government has announced the release of dozens of prisoners following pressure from United States President Donald Trump’s administration.

The government of President Daniel Ortega said in a statement on Saturday that “tens of people who were in the national penitentiary system have gone home to their families”.

The statement did not specify the exact number of people freed, or whether they had been detained for political reasons.

While the government described the move as a gesture to commemorate 19 years of Ortega’s government, Nicaragua is under considerable pressure from the US over its human rights record and a years-long crackdown on opposition leaders and activists.

Saturday’s prisoner release also reflects the growing pressure that left-wing governments in Latin America face to appease demands from the Trump administration, which has moved to exert greater dominance across the Americas region.

Tensions have soared since the US military attacked Venezuela on January 3 and abducted the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, who is facing US charges of narcoterrorism and drug trafficking, which he denies.

On Friday, the US Embassy in Nicaragua praised the release of opposition figures in Venezuela following Maduro’s removal from power, calling on Ortega’s government to follow suit.

“In Nicaragua, more than 60 people remain unjustly detained or missing, including pastors, religious workers, the sick, and the elderly. Peace is only possible with freedom!” the Embassy posted on social media.

A human rights NGO that tracks political prisoners in Nicaragua identified 19 people released on Saturday, the Reuters news agency reported.

Opposition leader and former prisoner Ana Margarita Vijil told Reuters that she did not know the exact number of people released, but said the group included a former mayor, Oscar Gadea, and an evangelical pastor, Rudy Palacios.

Palacios was detained in July after criticising the Nicaraguan government for human rights violations. He had also supported demonstrators who took to the streets to demand Ortega’s removal in 2018.

Ortega responded to those protests with a crackdown that left at least 350 people dead and hundreds detained.

Liberales Nicaragua, a coalition of opposition groups, praised the prisoners’ release on Saturday.

They said in a statement that there was “no doubt” that it resulted from “political pressure exerted by the US government on the dictatorship” and “political chess moves triggered by events in Venezuela”.