After US talks, Nicaragua expels dozens of political prisoners to Guatemala

WASHINGTON/GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) -The United States secured the release of dozens of political prisoners in Nicaragua on Thursday following talks with the government of President Daniel Ortega, who has in recent years often expelled individuals who he sees as hostile to his rule.

The White House announced that 135 prisoners were freed from jail on humanitarian grounds, adding that they will go to Guatemala before possibly moving on to the United States or other nations.

Since 2018, Ortega's government has intensified a crackdown on his domestic political opponents, arresting and jailing critics on charges including conspiracy and treason, and stripping many of their citizenship.

Those targeted include Catholic church leaders, who had sought to mediate between the government and opponents during deadly anti-government protests.

Vice President Rosario Murillo, the government's spokesperson and Ortega's wife, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest prisoner release.

Thursday's release and expulsion follows "months of negotiations between the U.S. and Nicaragua," the U.S. and Guatemala said in a joint statement.

Those released are all Nicaraguan citizens and include members of a U.S.-based Christian ministry, Catholic lay people, and students, according to the White House.

Eric Jacobstein, a senior U.S. diplomat for Western Hemisphere Affairs who was involved in the negotiations, was in Guatemala City to greet some of the released prisoners and said Washington would continue to push Managua to respect human rights.

"One personal reaction I had in having conversations with some of these individuals is the true pettiness and cruelty of the regime," he said.

The prisoner release follows a larger one last year, when more than 200 individuals were flown to the U.S., including former opposition presidential candidates who had sought to challenge Ortega in his 2021 reelection bid.

Those prisoners were labeled by Ortega as "mercenaries" seeking to overthrow him.

In January, Nicaragua also expelled 19 Catholic clergy to the Vatican, including Ortega's most prominent critic, Bishop Rolando Alvarez. He had previously been convicted of treason and sentenced to a 26-year prison term.

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo's office confirmed that the plane carrying the 135 Nicaraguans landed in Guatemala early Thursday morning.

In Guatemala, they will be able to request to go on to another country.

Among those freed on Thursday were Nicaraguans associated with the Texas-based evangelical group Mountain Gateway.

According to a statement from Mountain Gateway, 13 Nicaraguan pastors and attorneys affiliated with the group were released from jail after what it described as "wrongful imprisonment." 

They had been arrested last December and were convicted earlier this year on charges of money laundering.

The crackdown has also involved the government shuttering several thousand civil society groups, most accused of financial crimes.

Earlier this week, a report from the United Nations detailed alleged crimes committed by Ortega's government over the past year, including a new wave of arbitrary arrests and torture.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Costas Pitas, Kylie Madry and Sofia Menchu; Additional reporting by Simon Lewis and David Alire Garcia; Editing by Alistair Bell and Rosalba O'Brien)