Nicaragua releases dozens of prisoners after US demands

The Nicaraguan government announced last night that it had released dozens of people from prison, a day after the US demanded the release of over 60 political prisoners in the country, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.

This move by the Nicaraguan authorities coincides with the process of releasing political prisoners in Venezuela under pressure from Washington, the world agency points out.

The government of authoritarian Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega announced the release of prisoners in a statement, without specifying their number or whether all of them were convicted for political reasons.

It is also unclear whether the people released from prison will not be placed under house arrest.

The opposition leader and former Inmate Ana Margarita Vigil told Reuters that those released were "political prisoners". "Several of them are our friends," she said.

Vigil said she did not know the exact number of those released, but among those she knew of were former Santa Maria de Pantasma mayor Oscar Gadea and Protestant pastor Rudy Palacios.

The U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua welcomed the release of opposition figures in Venezuela on Friday and urged Ortega's government to follow Caracas' example.

"More than 60 people in Nicaragua remain unjustly behind bars or missing, including clergy, the elderly and the sick. Peace is only possible through freedom," the embassy said in a social media post, cited by Reuters.