Central America

Jailed Nicaraguan opposition figures face ill treatment, relatives say

AFP

Relatives of more than 180 jailed opponents of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s government on Monday denounced the ill treatment they said had been inflicted on the detainees, while Catholic leaders complained of “repression” and harassment by authorities.

Five organizations representing relatives of imprisoned opposition figures launched an “urgent appeal” for their immediate release because of their “extreme physical and mental deterioration.”

The imprisoned opponents are victims of a “policy of ill-treatment (…) in order to exhaust, exterminate or mutilate” them, said a joint press release.

More than 40 opposition figures accused of “undermining national integrity” and money laundering were arrested in the months running up to last November’s presidential election.

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Seven of them were Ortega’s rivals in the presidential election, and their detention gave him an easy return to power for a fourth consecutive term.

The election was slammed as a “pantomime” in Brussels and Washington.

Since February, at least 45 opponents of the government have been sentenced to terms of up to 13 years in prison on charges of plotting to overthrow Ortega with US backing.

Relatives of the prisoners have frequently criticized conditions inside the prisons that sap the detainees’ health to the point where they need emergency hospitalization.

In February, Hugo Torres, a hero of the Sandinista guerrilla movement who fought with Ortega against the dictatorship of the Somoza dynasty but later turned against his old comrade in arms, died in hospital custody.

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The organizations of prisoners’ relatives expressed particular concern over the health of Nidia Barbosa, a 66-year-old activist who suffers from “serious heart problems” and who was hospitalized last week.

The relatives also voiced solidarity with Rolando Alvarez, the bishop of Matagalpa in the north, who has been holed up in his church since Thursday and who started a hunger strike to protest the police surveillance he says he’s been the target of since denouncing the repression of the opposition.

Harvy Padilla, a parish priest in the southern city of Masaya, said that police are also preventing him from leaving his church, and that on Sunday they banned his congregation from attending mass.

Central America

Analyst questions IACHR role over report on El Salvador emergency measures

Political analyst Óscar Martínez Peñate on Tuesday called for a review of the role currently played by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), arguing that it has undermined its credibility by hosting the presentation of a report critical of El Salvador.

Speaking during the interview program Panorama, Martínez questioned the commission’s decision to accept a report prepared by the Grupo Internacional de Expertas y Expertos para la Investigación de Violaciones de Derechos Humanos en El Salvador, which examines alleged human rights violations under the country’s state of emergency.

“We should examine what the current role of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is. How is it possible that they agree to host the presentation of a report whose premise is against a State, a government, a political system, and Salvadoran society?” Martínez said.

He added that by allowing the presentation of the report, the commission “automatically disqualifies itself.”

Martínez also questioned whether it is appropriate for the IACHR to serve as a “platform” for what he described as the defense of criminals, by treating the GIPES report as credible.

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According to the analyst, the commission is acting in a way that contradicts its mandate by enabling narratives that, in his view, go against Salvadoran society.

Central America

El Salvador destroys $166 million worth of cocaine seized from Tanzanian vessel

A total of 6,606 kilograms of cocaine, valued at more than $166.1 million, were destroyed on Tuesday in an operation led by the Fiscalía General de la República, in coordination with the Policía Nacional Civil, the Superintendencia de Regulación Sanitaria, and the Cuerpo de Bomberos de El Salvador.

The drugs had been seized on February 13 by the Naval Task Force Tridente of the Salvadoran Navy aboard a vessel flying the flag of Tanzania.

Authorities reported that the ship was intercepted approximately 380 nautical miles southwest of the Salvadoran coast. On board were 10 individuals of different nationalities: four Colombians, three Nicaraguans, two Panamanians, and one Ecuadorian.

The detainees were identified as Colombians Luis Enrique Rodelo Osorio, Antonio José Ángulo Narváez, Mario Alonso Pérez Hernández, and Miguel Antonio Galeano Ariaza; Nicaraguans José Martín Cerda Cea, Roberto Adolfo Díaz, and Francisco Javier García Duval; Panamanians Yareth Sanir Carr Garcés and Vicente Ramos; and Ecuadorian José Ramiro Valencia.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, following the initial hearing, the Tribunal Primero Contra el Crimen Organizado de San Salvador ordered that the suspects remain in custody while the investigation continues, and authorized the destruction of the seized drugs.

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International

Trump Says Iran Is Welcome at 2026 World Cup but Warns of Security Concerns

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said Thursday that the national football team of Iran is “welcome” to participate in the 2026 World Cup, although he suggested it might be safer for the team not to take part in the tournament.

“The Iranian national soccer team is welcome at the World Cup, but I really don’t think it’s appropriate for them to be there, for their own safety,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

His comments came a day after Iran’s sports minister, Ahman Donyamali, said that there are currently no conditions for the country to participate in the tournament following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, during a military offensive launched on February 28 by Israel and the United States.

“After the corrupt government killed our leader, there are no conditions that allow us to take part in the World Cup,” the Iranian official said. He added that the country has faced two wars in the past eight or nine months, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths, making participation in the tournament unlikely.

On Tuesday, the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, met with Trump at the White House.

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Following the meeting, Infantino said that Trump reiterated that Iran’s national team would be allowed to compete in the FIFA World Cup 2026.

“We discussed the current situation in Iran and the fact that the Iranian team has qualified to participate in the FIFA World Cup 2026. During the conversation, President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States,” Infantino wrote on Instagram.