Nicaragua’s government, led by the married couple Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, has released 38 detainees who celebrated on social media the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, an exiled human rights NGO reported on Wednesday.
The NGO Monitoreo Azul y Blanco, which compiles complaints of human rights violations in Nicaragua, recorded at least 71 arrests between January 3 and 8 for celebrating or expressing support for Maduro’s capture during a U.S. military operation, according to the group.
“What we have confirmed (…) is that 38 people from that group were released,” the NGO’s spokeswoman, Claudia Pineda, said in an interview with the exiled digital newspaper 100% Noticias. Pineda, who did not provide further details on the dates of the releases, said those freed were placed under a “reporting and control” regime requiring them to “inform [authorities] of every move they are going to make.”
So far, the Nicaraguan government has not commented on these releases, unlike earlier this month, when it announced the release of “dozens” of jailed opposition figures and critics amid pressure from the United States. The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs recently rebuked the “illegitimate regime of Murillo and Ortega” for detaining Nicaraguans for “liking” social media posts and demanded the release of all political prisoners.
Last Thursday, Ortega joined “the clamor” for Maduro’s release. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are facing trial in New York on alleged drug trafficking charges.
