Students and teachers have been among those held in political prison in Nicaragua; the sociologist Freddy Quezada, who was arrested in 2023, has been released.
Source: with information from AFP and Sul 21
On 6th September Nicaragua released 135 political prisoners on humanitarian grounds. They were received in Guatemala on Thursday following mediation by the United States, which will allow them to travel to Guatemala and other countries. Among those released are students and teachers – such as the sociologist Freddy Quezada [see photo]. These are people whom Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice-President Rosario Murillo, ‘consider a threat to their authoritarian regime’, according to the White House.
IIn Guatemala they will be able to ‘apply for legal channels to rebuild their lives in the United States or other countries’, said the White House, which has offices in Latin American countries to provide ‘legal channels’ for migration.
Freddy Quezada, a professor at the UNAM, has been in prison since 29 November. He was approached at his home in Managua and taken away without a warrant by three security agents for protesting on social networks against the government and the arrest of Bishop Rolando Alvarez.
Context. Ortega, who ruled in the 1980s after the triumph of the Sandinista revolution, returned to power in 2007 and is accused by opponents and critics of establishing an authoritarian regime. His government harshly repressed critical voices during the 2018 pro-democracy protests, which left more than 300 people dead in three months, according to the UN. In 2023, it released 316 politicians, journalists, intellectuals and activists critical of the regime from prison, expelled them and stripped them of their nationality and property.
The Organisation of American States (OAS) created a ‘voluntary group’ to follow the situation in Nicaragua, which formally ceased to be a member of the organisation last year by Ortega’s decision.
More: Retired Professor Freddy Quezada: “I Didn’t Think My Opinions Represented Danger” – Confidencial news.