Nicaragua: the dictatorship releases and exiles 222 political prisoners

Since the early hours of yesterday the news circulated rapidly. A charter flight from Managua bound for Washington carried a contingent of 222 political prisoners in Nicaragua. The event politically shocked the Central American reality and caused mixed sensations in the environment., logical joy in exile organizations. With this article, and still, By processing data and information we give a preliminary vision of this event that marks a turning point in the Nicaraguan situation..

They write: Mariano Rosa, leader of the MST Argentina and Coordinator of the International Commission for the Life and Freedom of political prisoners in Nicaragua by the LIS andMohamed Pacheco, Anticapitalist Alternative activist (LIS-Nicaragua)

As the information was confirmed, Expectations grew among organizations of relatives and Nicaraguan exiles. Finally, upon knowing the list of 222 prisoners, who were flying to the United States to be released there, The emotion and joy were enormous.. For hours, the analyzes had to wait, because hearts tight after almost 5 years of hard suffering, were the dominant axis in the dialogues, virtual meetings, and choppy calls. Under the figure of “exile for treason”, the sinister dictatorship of the Ortega-Murillo clan, simulated a press announcement (in their official media, what are they all), trying to give it some political-legal coverage, to what is ultimately a counter-coup response to international isolation and the pressure of systematically mobilized exile. The names that we were able to read once the final list was known, I actually had, to Dora María Téllez, to Suyen Barahona, Yader Parajon, Lester Aleman, Felix Madariaga, Oscar René Vargas and many other figures from the field, different, of the opposition to the regime. They remain, 38 political prisoners, hostages in the country-prison, whose immediate freedom is placed as an urgent task of the international movement for life, real political freedom and the end of the criminal dictatorship in Nicaragua.

Unilateral decision? Diplomatic victory? Total triumph? Discuss the contradictions

logically, the conditions in which they were released from prison 222 political prisoners has different aspects to analyze, contradictory and that we have to address collectively.

On the one hand, the concrete fact of saving life, to get out of those dungeons of torture and confinement, It is a step forward that strengthens the fight for the freedom of all prisoners and against the regime. From that point of view, It is a triumph that invigorates family members, exile collectives and the international movement of which we are part.

But we cannot ignore that both the dictatorship and gringo imperialism, They waited to face this negotiation and free the prisoners, that there was no mobilization, nor independent international initiatives such as, for example, the International Commission that we encouraged a few months ago and the Caravan with which we reached the border in Peñas Blancas. They did everything possible to prevent the release of the prisoners from strengthening an anti-regime political-social pole., because it causes them panic to think about the prospect of renewed mobilization in Nicaragua, with a current of resistance strengthened from a critical left position. The Ortega-Murillo clan and the White House, They think about the country and the region in the coming years and aspire to cohabit without changing the capitalist business matrix. That's the crux of the matter.

With that frame, We must understand the decision to banish and cancel the nationality of the 222 released, like a slap destined to give a sobering internal signal with this rigged and medieval retaliation. At the same time, disguise the weakness of having to free most of their political hostages, definitely.  

In parallel, with the negotiation with the State Department, tried to give a sign of “good will” to gringo imperialism given the geopolitical cornering and economic dependence of Nicaragua on the United States.

According to the New York Times, The Biden administration considers this measure by Ortega-Murillo a “diplomatic victory” for its foreign policy in the region., to which, on the other hand, presented as a “unilateral decision”, without the mediation of the Yankee embassy in Managua, which is clearly false.The imperialism, trying to appear as a “democratic actor of good will” in this entire episode, bets on strengthening its influence on the future of the opposition to the dictatorship. Obviously, seeks to position an “anti-Ortega” reference related to its economic-political interests in the region.

evidently, the emotion of families and groups of exile, for the release of the 222 It is logical and we share it. At the same time, With these reflections we try to collaborate with essential debates that we see to be faced among all of us who are part of the fight against the criminal dictatorship..

Nor almighty dictatorship, nor democratic imperialism: the tireless fight of families, international groups and organizations

All of Ortega-Murillo's orientation is to try to present the fact as a “unilateral” demonstration of authority, strength and determination. You need to prevent this obvious concession, encourage protests and direct actions in Nicaragua itself. That is the double character of your line.

Meanwhile, the white house, pacting with the dictatorship, intervenes to gain prestige in the face of exile and appear as a democratic manager of this freedom – exile. He wants to gain influence in the resistance to the dictatorship, to eventually set up an anti-Ortega-Murillo exit, but related to its own geopolitical interests in the region. Total and utter imperialist hypocrisy.

Both of them, dictatorship and State Department, They devalue the weight of the resistance's fighting action in exile – and even in the harsh underground.- of relatives, migrant groups and initiatives such as that of the International Commission, that precisely with the purpose of ensuring the life and freedom of political prisoners, arrived in a defiant Caravan to the border post of Peñas Blancas in May of 2022.

Thus, the balance of what happened, The careful comprehensive evaluation of all its edges is essential, to draw correct conclusions and guide the perspective of a movement against the dictatorship that must be strengthened from now on, but with clear delimitation of gringo imperialism and its economic-political aspirations in Nicaragua and all of Central America. From the place of militants for the Nicaraguan cause, We make this contribution to the debate on the steps to follow.

For the freedom of those who are missing, to sweep away the dictatorship: resume the independent international initiative

This new political situation, In Nicaragua, revives the exile movement and moralizes families and groups. In a few weeks, they are going to be fulfilled 5 years of theApril Rebellion, from 2018. Beyond the contradictions of the freedom of 222 It is undoubtedly a step forward in the fight for the freedom of all the Ortega-Murillo hostages who still remain., and in the strategic task of sweeping away the dictatorship with popular mobilization, opening the way to a new stage in the country, of complete reorganization in its economic matrix, social and political, with a power arising from below, no pacts with murderers, with memory and without impunity, without interference from imperialism – especially the gringo- of the big business community and the accomplices of the dictatorship. Our International Socialist League reaffirms its commitment to these underlying causes.: now resume initiatives in the international arena to continue activating the de facto movement, that we were building together with the main independent exile groups, mainly, in Costa Rica. But simultaneously, towards a Nicaragua without false left, nor new rights protected by Washington, It is essential to discuss how to establish a powerful political alternative, from young activism that aspires to another way out for their country and with the best of exile that does not give up. For a Nicaragua and Central America of the peoples: nor of the dictators, nor of imperialisms.