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

Mazatenango Carnival cancelled amid State of Siege in Guatemala

The municipal government of Mazatenango, in the department of Suchitepéquez, Guatemala, has cancelled the city’s traditional Carnival as a security measure aimed at protecting visitors and residents.

The decision was announced on Tuesday through the municipality’s official Facebook page and comes as a preventive action amid the state of siege declared by the national government last Sunday.

The Mazatenango Carnival, one of the country’s most emblematic festivities, boasts more than 140 years of traditionand typically draws large crowds from across Guatemala and neighboring regions. Its program usually includes parades of floats, the traditional “Rabbit Race,” street dancing and live music, concerts, and cultural events in the Central Plaza.

According to the official statement, the cancellation responds to the current security context and the restrictions associated with the state of siege, prioritizing public safety.

Municipal authorities clarified that the scheduled concert by La Arrolladora Banda El Limón will still take place separately and will be the sole responsibility of the private production company, independent of the cancelled carnival activities.

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Central America

Guatemala raises police death toll to nine after gang violence escalates

Guatemalan authorities raised the death toll of police officers killed in a wave of gang violence to nine on Monday, after one officer wounded in the attacks died from his injuries. The violence prompted the government to declare a state of siege.

Criminal gangs launched a series of coordinated attacks against police forces across several parts of the country in retaliation for the government’s recapture of three prisons, where gang leaders had been holding dozens of prison guards hostage. Authorities said the hostages were used to pressure officials into transferring gang leaders to facilities with looser security measures.

Eight police officers were killed on Sunday. Another officer, identified as Frayan Medrano, died Monday in a public hospital after being shot while riding a motorcycle with a colleague, who remains in critical condition, according to police and the Ministry of the Interior.

Central America

Guatemala prison uprisings leave 46 guards held by gangs

Gang members staged riots, took prison guards hostage and set fires on Saturday at several prisons in Guatemala, in protest over the transfer of their leaders to a maximum-security facility and the implementation of new confinement measures, authorities said.

The Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gangs — both designated as terrorist organizations by the United States and Guatemala — are accused of contract killings, extortion and drug trafficking. Guatemala’s Minister of the Interior, Marco Antonio Villeda, confirmed that the unrest affected three prison facilities.

Villeda said the riots did not result in any fatalities or injuries, but 46 prison guards are currently being held hostage by gang members.

The minister stated that the government is willing to engage in dialogue to secure the release of the detained personnel, regain control of the prison facilities and ensure that inmates submit to internal regulations and the rule of law.

“Dialogue, not negotiation. We are dealing with terrorist structures that are financed and well organized. These are terrorist groups with whom we will not negotiate. The State is acting with legitimacy and in accordance with the law,” Villeda said.

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According to official figures, 18 guards are being held at the Renovación 1 prison and the Preventive Detention Center for Men in Zone 18 — nine at each facility — while another 28 guards are hostages at the Fraijanes 2 prison.

Villeda acknowledged that all three prisons remain under gang control, but stressed that authorities are prioritizing the safety of those being held. “We will guarantee their lives and respect for them. We will take whatever time is necessary to retake control of the prisons,” he said.

The minister also warned that the prison riots are part of what he described as an “orchestrated plan,” which has included road blockades in other parts of the country and the destruction of penitentiary infrastructure and records.