Nicaragua announces release of dozens of prisoners, one day after U.S. demands

Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega speaks during the inauguration ceremony of a highway overpass in Managua, Nicaragua, Thursday, March 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Alfredo Zuniga)

MEXICO CITY - Nicaragua’s government announced on Saturday that it had freed dozens of people from its national penitentiary system, a day after the United States demanded the release of more than 60 political prisoners in the country.

The releases comes as Venezuela releases political prisoners under U.S. pressure.

In a statement, the authoritarian government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega announced the inmates’ release without confirming the exact number of people freed or whether they had been detained for political reasons. It’s unclear whether those released will be restricted to house arrest.

Opposition leader and former prisoner Ana Margarita Vijil, head of the UNAMOS political movement, told Reuters that those released “are political prisoners, and several of them are our friends.”

Vijil said she did not know the number of those involved but said they include former mayor Oscar Gadea and Christian pastor Rudy Palacios along with four of his relatives.

The U.S. has long exerted its influence in Latin America, but the pressure has been especially intense since the Trump administration attacked Venezuela a week ago and captured its president, Nicolas Maduro.

On Friday, the U.S. embassy in Nicaragua praised the release of opposition figures in Venezuela and called on Ortega’s government to follow in their steps.

“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 tweeted.

Reporting by Gabriela Selser; Editing by Emily Green and Alistair Bell