Exactly 222 convicted Nicaraguan criminals have been flown to the US for release in what the Biden administration is heralding as a “constructive step” towards improved bilateral relations.
“The release of these individuals… by the Government of Nicaragua… opens the door to further dialogue between the United States and Nicaragua regarding issues of concern,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a news release.
“Upon the release of these individuals from Nicaragua, the United States facilitated their safe transport to Dulles International Airport,” Blinken stated.
The former inmates, who left Managua early Thursday and arrived at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, DC, are generally referred to as “political prisoners” by pro-US media due to their involvement in an attempted coup d’etat in 2018.
Many played key roles in the bloody chaos which consumed the Central American country for months and left hundreds of people dead, including dozens of police officers.
On Thursday, Judge Octavio Rothschuh Andino announced, “the immediate deportation of 222 persons sentenced for committing acts that undermine the independence, the sovereignty, and the self-determination of the people, for inciting violence, terrorism, and economic sabotage, but also for harming the supreme interests of the nation.”
Citing their status as “traitors to the homeland,” Nicaragua’s National Assembly also voted to strip the group of their Nicaraguan citizenship.
Numerous publications have uncovered extensive evidence linking the ringleaders of the unrest to the US Embassy, and Washington has made securing their release from Nicaraguan jail a major priority in its discussions with Managua.
Now the convicts have touched down in Virginia, Blinken explained that “the United States is providing medical and legal support to ease their arrival.”