One of the political prisoners released in Nicaragua recounted what his exile was like and pointed against the Ortega regime: “We are expelled from our own country”

After the surprise announcement of a agreement between the United States and Nicaragua for the release of 222 political prisonersthe voices of the leaders of the opposition to the regime of Daniel Ortega began to be heard, who spoke of the harsh conditions of detention and what it was like to have been expelled from their own country.

“It’s strange enough, but we’re talking about a dictatorship that has been arbitrary and does everything. The case of Nicaragua is an unprecedented exile, we were expelled from our own country,”said Juan Sebastián Chamorro (52), who had been running for president for the 2021 elections, but was arrested by the government for “undermining national sovereignty”.

“We accept it because the denomination of nationality is not removed, you continue to be Nicaraguan at heart,” he said.

“It was an arbitrary detention, we were the victims of a frame-up, of a closed-door show”, he denounced in an interview with Radio Mitre. “This dictatorship wants to put an end to those of us who raise our voices for democracy. But here we are, free, out of a cell where we spent 20 months,” he said.

And he continued with his story: “I was in prison for one year, eight months and one day. (I was in that prison) only for the first two months. And then the prison filled up with naysayers. For four months we were in cells of 2 to 4 people.”

Although he was not subjected to physical torture, he described the psychological torture he endured during his months of confinement, including being held in tiny places. “Physically there was no beating, but yes prolonged isolation. More than three months without seeing relatives. Even punitive confinement in very small cells,” she said.

He also claimed that they had not been told they were going to be deported until they arrived at the airport runway. “We have been deprived of our own citizenship,” she complained, but reiterated that she was part of it “commitment to democracy.

When asked about the Argentine government’s support for the Nicaraguan regime, Chamorro accused Ortega and the governments of the region of supporting the president out of ideological affinity.

“It’s part of a system that tries to justify everything and its stay in power. (Ortega’s dictatorship) claims to be Christian, socialist and supportive, but it’s none of those three things,” he said, and thanked the US government for “his transfer and release.”

“It is the work of thousands of wives and also of social organizations. More than 45 political prisoners are left. But the work is not to lose democracy in countries where there is still some institutionality,” she said.

The government of Nicaragua released 222 political prisoners on Thursday and sent them on a plane to the United States, where they will receive asylum for two years.

It is one of the largest prisoner releases involving the United States, senior Joe Biden administration officials involved in the matter said. “It’s a first step towards restoring democracy”they said from the State Department, although they indicated they would encourage “further steps” by the Nicaraguan government to restore democracy and freedoms to that country.

In addition to Chamorro, the list of those released includes other former opposition presidential candidates such as Cristiana Chamorro, Arturo Cruz, Félix Maradiaga, Miguel Mora, Medardo Mairena and Noel Vidaurre.

The dissenters were sent to prison as part of the repression of protests that erupted in 2018 against Ortegain power since 2007.