In Nicaragua, the dictatorship of the Ortega – Murillo family keeps 235 imprisoned political prisoners for the alleged “crime” of “ …conspiracy to undermine national integrity”. Intellectuals, journalists, students, seven presidential hopefuls who expressed their intentions to compete in the 2021 elections, peasant leaders, political party leaders, as well as Catholic Bishop Rolando have been sentenced to between 8 and 15 years in prison. Álvarez , arrested along with nine other priests and lay people. Also, historical figures of Sandinismo have been imprisoned, such as the former guerrilla Hugo Torres , who participated in a successful FSLN operation in 1974 that served to force the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza Debayle to release a list of political prisoners that included Daniel Ortega. Torres died in February 2022 as a political prisoner of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo in the feared El Chipote prison , a police complex accused of practicing white torture . The regime has even imprisoned and sentenced relatives of opponents in exile.
The massacre of 355 civilians that occurred between April and July 2018 was the turning point that pushed the Ortega-Murillo government to transition from a «hybrid regime», according to studies published in 2015 by Transparency International, Freedom House and The Economist Intelligence Unit. , to establish, since September 2018, a de facto police state that has advanced, in an accelerated manner, towards a totalitarian, dynastic and one-party regime. This massacre, the product of a government operation called Let’s go with everything to suppress the social protests of that year, was documented in a report by the OAS Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI). The report highlights the use of high caliber weapons of war that “Shooted with precision: to kill!” in neck, thorax and head.
Ortega and Murillo control with absolute discretion all the powers of the state, eliminating any requisite of independence. The entire political opposition was imprisoned due to accusations by the Public Ministry and spurious trials orchestrated by the Supreme Court of Justice under the orders of the presidential couple. The Supreme Electoral Council was in charge of canceling the opposition parties that represented a real threat to Ortega’s fifth candidacy in the 2021 general elections, while in the 2022 municipal elections, all the mayors of Nicaragua were awarded to the FSLN party, allowing the consolidation of a single party system . For its part, the National Assembly has canceled the legal personality of more than 3,000 civil society organizations, and the persecution against the Catholic Church has gone so far as to prohibit popular processions from taking to the streets. Civil organizations in exile estimate that the migratory exodus has reached almost 300,000 people leaving a country of 6.3 million inhabitants.
In its evaluation of the year 2022, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) highlighted in its report that, «…the arbitrary detentions of opposition persons (new arrests or recaptures) have been one of the most used criminal practices in 2022 by the Ortega-Murillo regime, which reflects its inability to govern and its lack of will to respect national laws and international human rights conventions”, and concluded that Nicaragua lives under “a state of permanent terror”.
However, despite the establishment by force of a totalitarian regime, it presents severe fractures in its inner circle of power. In the last months of 2022, high-ranking officers of the Police have been purged, as well as magistrates and high-level officials of the Judiciary. In an article published on January 3 by the Nicaraguan political scientist in exile, Manuel Orozco, 2023 «shows an opaque scenario where authoritarian continuity counts down» and in the same writing he warned that «political change in Nicaragua can be assumed by those who take advantage of the spaces for rupture that are occurring within the system and that represent an opportunity as long as they are capable of coordinating a broad front of national and international actions in the moments of greatest weakness of the dictatorship.”
Numerous human rights organizations, relatives of political prisoners and instances such as the OAS and the United Nations have demanded that the Government of Nicaragua “ immediately release” the political prisoners, but Ortega and Murillo do not respond to the calls. With this note, the Uruguay PEN Center shares a list of some of the most prominent Nicaraguan political prisoners in their opposition to an authoritarian regime that, it seems, is advancing more and more firmly towards the consolidation of a family dynasty.
Journalists imprisoned and sentenced
Cristiana Chamorro Barrios, journalist, daughter of former President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (1990-1997). She has been under house arrest since June 2, 2022. She was sentenced to eight years in prison. She was emerging as a favorite in the polls to face Ortega in the November 2021 elections. During the trial in which she was found guilty on March 11, 2022, she said that: «…they will never be able to stain my father’s name (refers to Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, national hero, assassinated by the Somoza dictatorship in 1978), nor my mother, because I am innocent».
Miguel Mora, director and owner of the television channel 100% Noticias. Candidate for the presidency of Nicaragua in 2021 until he was arrested on June 20 of that same year. On December 21, 2019, the channel was taken over “manu milItari” by the Nicaraguan Police. Mora and other journalist colleagues entrenched themselves in the outlet’s premises to avoid eviction, which cost them six months in prison in 2019, during the first wave of incarcerations resulting from the 2018 protests.
Juan Lorenzo Holmann Chamorro , general manager, Secretary of the Board of Directors of the newspaper La Prensa and member of the Chamorro family, which owns the newspaper. He was arrested when the Nicaraguan Police took over “manu militari” the newspaper’s facilities on August 13, 2022. Hours before the takeover, Holmann had informed a local media outlet that the newspaper would stop circulating in print due to the retention, by Nicaraguan customs, of the paper and supplies for your rotary. Despite this, Holmann stated during his statement that , «The dictatorship retains our role, but it cannot hide the truth.»
Miguel Mendoza, recognizedSports journalist with more than 150,000 followers on Twitter and Facebook. He was one of the most far-reaching critics of the Ortega government, until he was arrested in June 2021 during the wave of arrests prior to the 2021 elections. Days before his arrest, Mendoza had denounced threats from Sandinista sympathizers: «Some friends and followers of my Facebook page have been sending me, for weeks, publications threatening jail time that make me sympathizers and Sandinista bots (…)» .
Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Barrios, journalist, former director of the Ciudadanos por la Libertad (CxL) party, eldest son of former president Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (1990-1997). He was arrested on June 25, 2022 and sentenced to nine years in prison for «inciting foreign interference», «requesting intervention» and «applauding» sanctions against Nicaragua. For now, he remains under house arrest.
Jaime Arellano Arana, political commentator and creator of the television program Jaime Arellano en la Nacion. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison and suffers from chronic health problems. His relatives fear that he will get worse.
Intellectuals and academics imprisoned and sentenced.
Arturo Cruz Sequeira, was a presidential candidate for the Ciudadanos por la Libertad (CxL) party and was captured at the Managua International Airport at the beginning of June 2022, upon returning from a trip to the United States.He was ambassador to the United States between 2007 and 2009 of the Government of Daniel Ortega, from whom he distanced himself, and for more than two decades he has been a professor at the Central American Institute of Business Administration (INCAE).
José Antonio Peraza, specialist in political and electoral systems, and member of the Political Council of the opposition movement Unidad Nacional Azul y Blanco (UNAB). Peraza, who has been detained since July of last year, was director of the Movement for Nicaragua. In addition, he is co-author of the books “El régime de Ortega. A new family dictatorship on the continent? ; and, «Nicaragua, the blue and white change.»
Félix Maradiaga, academic and political activist. Leader in the opposition group Blue and White National Unity. Maradiaga was a candidate for the presidency in the 2021 Nicaraguan general elections. On June 8, 2021, he was detained by the Ortega government, which kept him in total isolation for 389 days until he was shown in images and videos published by official media where is visible his physical deterioration.
Oscar René Vargas, writer, sociologist and political analyst critical of the regime. He was imprisoned on November 23, 2022. He was an adviser to Ortega during the Sandinista revolution (1979-1990). When Ortega returned to government in 2007, Vargas was named Nicaragua’s ambassador to France that same year. But his appointment was annulled for questioning the dismissals of three state ministers and saying in an interview that «thinking brings a lot of adversity.»
Irving Larios Sánchez sociologist, political activist, president of the Institute for Research and Social Management (INGES), an NGO canceled its legal status by the National Assembly. He was captured on September 20, 2022 and sentenced to 13 years in prison. He remains in isolation in a punishment cell.
Imprisoned and convicted civil leaders.
Lesther Alemán Alfaro, student leader, who, in 2018, rebuked the dictator Daniel Ortega for the armed attacks that left dozens of students dead in Nicaragua. In an intervention during the first national dialogue, the young student told Ortega: “The people are in the streets, we are at this table demanding an end to the repression. Know this, surrender to all this people.»
Suyén Barahona Cuán, activist, president of the Democratic Union of Nicaragua (Unamos), an opposition group that succeeded the Sandinista Renewal Movement. She is also a member of the opposition group Unidad Nacional Azul y Blanco that was formed after the outbreak of anti-government protests in April 2018. In June 2021, she was arrested along with other opponents and pre-candidates for president in the Nicaraguan general elections of 2021.
Juan Sebastián Chamorro is a Nicaraguan economist, businessman and politician. He was a pre-candidate for the presidency in the 2021 Nicaraguan general elections for the Citizens for Freedom (CxL) sector. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Tamara Dávila Rivas, activist, member of the Political Council of the Blue and White National Unity (UNAB) and was part of the National Coalition. She was arrested on June 12, 2021 and according to humanitarian and family organizations, she has been one of the political prisoners who has spent the longest time in isolation in prison. During a prison visit, the activist said that «I am going to leave here stronger, smarter and more committed .»
Dora María Téllez, historic Sandinista guerrilla, historian by profession,leader of the political movement Unión Democrática Renovadora (UNAMOS), formerly the Sandinista Renewal Movement (MRS). Known for the intrepid assault on the Nicaraguan Congress in 1978 that achieved the release of a group of political prisoners. She has been incarcerated since June 2021.
Violeta Granera, a political activist, was one of the most prominent figures of the opposition bloc Unidad Nacional Azul y Blanco (UNAB). Many considered smartly using her potential to be a presidential candidate for the 2021 elections. She was arrested in June 2021.
Both Dora María Téllez and Violeta Granera are in isolation cells under a regime of white torture, a type of psychological torture that includes extreme sensory deprivation and isolation. In an article published by Letras Libres (Mexico) magazine, the contribution of both leaders to the fight for democracy in Nicaragua is highlighted.
Ana Margarita Vijil, was president of the extinct Sandinista Renewal Movement, now Unamos. She has been incarcerated since June 13, 2021 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. At the end of the trial, according to her mother ‘s statements , when Ana was asked to sign the minutes, she «wrote, under her signature, in her own handwriting: political prisoner,» her mother told local media. Like Dora María Téllez, Violeta Granera, Tamara Dávila and Suyén Barahona, Ana Margarita is also confined to an isolation cell. Organizations and relatives have denounced that their status as Sandinista women and dissidents is the reason for the cruelty with which they are treated in El Chipote.
Medardo Mairena, Nicaraguan farmer,candidate for the presidency of Nicaragua for the 2021 elections, leader of the Peasant Movement that demands the repeal of Law No. 840 that authorizes the construction of an interoceanic canal in the south of the country and that allows expropriation throughout Nicaraguan territory. Mairena was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Rolando Álvarez, bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa and apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Estelí, is one of the most heard voices in Nicaragua. Permanent critic of the regime in his homilies. Eight days before his arrest, at a mass on August 11, 2022, he had said that «a people without hope is a self-buried people, it is a people that can no longer see forward, towards the future or that thinks that it no longer exists.» has a future . » He is charged with “conspiracy to undermine national integrity” , but is still on trial and is expected to be sentenced.
[1] .- Frase tomada del Informe anual 2022 del Centro Nicaragüense de Derechos Humanos (CENIDH) “NICARAGUA: Se impone el Terror, persiste la Resistencia”