Nicaraguan Dictatorship Sends 40+ Political Prisoners Home
HAVANA TIMES – The regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo released between 40 and 50 political prisoners on Saturday, in a conditional release under “house arrest”, various sources confirmed to 100% Noticias.
The surprise release comes amid growing international pressure and the threat of US trade sanctions, including the possible expulsion of Nicaragua from DR-Cafta.
Among those released are the liberal leaders Valmore Valladares and Alejandro Hurtado, president and secretary of one of the factions of the Independent Liberal Party (PLI), who had been detained since the end of January 2025.
The preliminary list includes six women, among them Eveling Matus, Eveling Guillen, Carmen Saenz, and Lesbia Gutierrez.
Saenz and Gutierrez were workers for the Diocese of Matagalpa and had been missing for 475 days. Both were imprisoned since August 10, 2024.
Also among the released is political prisoner Eliseo Castro, who has spent nearly four years hospitalized after suffering a stroke in prison but remained under police custody. A source told 100% Noticias that “the police stopped guarding him and the hospital director waited until late afternoon for the release letter, but the police withdrew and said goodbye to him,” the source said.
Other released prisoners include four indigenous forest rangers imprisoned since 2022, who were falsely accused of being responsible for a massacre that took place in 2021 in the community of Kiwakumbai. Residents had blamed settlers, but the indigenous men were imprisoned to silence them. They had even been sentenced to life imprisonment.
The US State Department once again condemned this week the detention and sentencing of the forest rangers and demanded their release.
The rangers, identified by community authorities of the Mayangna Sauni As Territory, are: Ignacio Celso Lino, syndic of the Suniwas community; Argüello Celso Lino, communal judge and teacher; and the so-called “forest sentinels” Donald Andres Bruno Arcangel and Dionisio Robins Zacarías, recognized as community leaders in the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region.
International Pressure
This “conditional” release takes place amid mounting international pressure. US diplomats and organizations have maintained a steady campaign denouncing what they describe as the illegal imprisonment of opposition members.
After an investigation by the Office of the United States Trade Representative determined harmful and undemocratic practices by the Sandinista dictatorship, the US government is deciding whether to impose trade sanctions, including Nicaragua’s expulsion from DR-Cafta.
On November 19, the public consultation with the private sector and Nicaraguan citizens concluded, allowing them to submit comments on possible sanctions the United States may impose on the Ortega–Murillo regime after determining that its policies violate human, labor, and rule-of-law standards.
Analysts note that the dictatorship is also responding nervously to the uncertain political outcome in Venezuela—an allied country whose immediate future could have direct repercussions for Managua. The combination of these factors may have pushed the regime to carry out this partial release, without dismantling the repressive machinery that keeps charges and sentences intact.
“Merry Christmas… Alejandro”
The release of Hurtado was celebrated by his acquaintances, among them Alfredo Gutierrez. “I am filled with enormous satisfaction to know that the Sandinista Dictatorship took Alejandro Hurtado out of prison. Merry Christmas with your family, my brother Alejandro!” he wrote on X.
The dissident confirmed the conditions of Hurtado’s release: “He has been sent home with his family and assigned house arrest; he must appear daily to sign in at the Nindirí police station. I have been told that along with him, 39 more political prisoners were also released. I don’t have the names of the other political prisoners, but I understand that 39 political prisoners were released today,” he told 100% Noticias.
So far, the regime has not published any official list or made any statements. Some of those released did not even appear on official lists. The families of detainees, often intimidated by police, prefer not to speak about the releases for fear they will be arrested again.
Human rights organizations warn that these releases do not constitute full freedom, as political prisoners still face active charges, mobility restrictions, and constant surveillance. In previous cases, several released individuals were rearrested for alleged violations of imposed conditions.
In recent weeks, the regime has released journalist Leo Catalino Cárcamo Herrera, opposition member Julio Antonio Quintana Carvajal, Fabio Alberto Caceres Larios, Ronald Leiva Silva, Jorge Danilo Portocarrero Argüello, and Dr. Yerri Estrada Ruiz. In addition, the dictatorship was forced to provide proof of life for journalist Fabiola Tercero. Each of these gestures by the dictatorship is an attempt to prevent sanctions from being imposed.
First published in Spanish by 100% Noticias and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.