Nicaragua Revokes Citizenship to 135 Political Prisoners Freed to Guatemala

By Jose Aguilar

On Tuesday, Nicaragua stripped the citizenship of 135 political prisoners that were released to Guatemala earlier this month. The Nicaraguan government stated that the released prisoners engaged and were convicted of acts that they consider “criminal.” According to the Nicaraguan government, these acts went against the country’s sovereignty, independence, and self-determination. In addition, the Nicaraguan government will confiscate the entirety of their assets in Nicaragua.

This sheds light on how authoritarian governments use their power to punish their populations and how their power crosses borders. The prisoners were released and expelled from Nicaragua in a deal negotiated by the United States and Guatemala. Among the released, are students, activists, journalists, and several United States citizens of a Texas-based evangelical church. The U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Eric Jacobstein, stated that the released will be offered an “expedited refugee procedure.” This is one example of what the international community is doing to ameliorate severe human right violations of the Nicaraguan government.