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The United States Embassy in Managua reiterated on Friday, 9 January 2026, after the “important step” taken by Venezuela to free “a large number of political prisoners,” that in Nicaragua there are also “more than 60 people” who remain “unjustly detained or missing.” This message came after the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by a U.S. military mission, who has been an ally of the Nicaraguan government.
“Venezuela took an important step toward peace by freeing a large number of political prisoners. In Nicaragua, more than 60 people remain unjustly detained or missing, including pastors, religious workers, the sick, and the elderly. Peace is only possible with freedom!” the embassy said in a message on X (formerly Twitter).
The post was accompanied by the Spanish version of a message from U.S. President Donald Trump on Truth Social, in which he celebrated that Venezuela was freeing “a large number of political prisoners as a sign of ‘pursuit of peace.’”
Before the U.S. embassy message, the Nicaraguan opposition political movement Unión Democrática Renovadora (Unamos) also noted on X that “in Nicaragua there are more than 60 people imprisoned for political reasons,” calling for their freedom as soon as possible.
In Venezuela, 24 hours had passed since acting President Delcy Rodríguez ordered the release of a “significant number” of these detainees, which was interpreted as her first gesture of openness in response to renewed U.S. pressure.
So far, the government has not published an official list detailing the number and names of those released, so several NGOs and the largest opposition coalition have verified the release of between 8 and 11 people, compared with the 811 political prisoners counted by the organization Foro Penal.
Following the capture of Nicolás Maduro on 3 January 2026, the Nicaraguan opposition in exile urged the international community not to “lower its guard,” arguing that after the “fall of a dictatorship” in Venezuela, the same must be done with the “dynastic dictatorship” of Nicaragua’s “co‑presidents” and spouses, Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
“Do not lower your guard. The fall of one dictatorship should drive the effort to bring down the next,” the opposition said in a statement signed by a dozen organizations, including the Nicaraguan University Alliance (AUN), the Nicaraguan Democratic Concentration, and the Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy.
The opposition emphasized that “the humanitarian and human rights crisis in Nicaragua continues”: “We demand the immediate release of our political prisoners, justice for the families of more than 355 Nicaraguans who have been killed, and the safe return of more than one million Nicaraguans forced into exile.”
