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Nancy Elizabeth Henríquez James, a Nicaraguan former alternate deputy, was released from prison on Saturday, March 21, 2026, by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo after spending nearly 30 months unjustly imprisoned, sources confirmed to CONFIDENCIAL.
According to the sources, Henríquez—who is also president of the indigenous party Yapti Tasba Masraka Nanih Asla Takanka (Yatama)—was taken to a relative’s home.
The newspaper La Prensa reported that the former deputy was released from prison for health reasons. “It seems she is in somewhat poor health. The family doesn’t want to make a big fuss,” a source told the exile-based media outlet.
Nancy Henríquez was illegally detained on October 1, 2023, two days after the founder of the Yatama party and National Assembly deputy, Brooklyn Rivera, was imprisoned—a man for whom several national and international organizations have demanded a “proof of life”.
The indigenous leader was at her home in Managua when she was taken, along with a niece and her three-year-old grandson, to the District III police station to be allegedly interviewed regarding the case of the indigenous legislator, her daughter Liza Francis Henríquez reported.
“They put them in a van and, as they were taking them to District II, they changed course to District III. From the moment they took her to District III, the shouting and threats against her began; they locked her up, and we haven’t heard from her since,” her daughter described.
Nancy Henriquez in women’s prison
Nancy Henríquez was being held in a women’s prison, in an isolated cell and under precarious conditions, according to reports by Nicaraguan human rights organizations.
In February 2024, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) ordered the Ortega government to “immediately release” Brooklyn Rivera and Nancy Henríquez.
The IACHR required the State of Nicaragua to “proceed with the immediate release of Brooklyn Rivera Bryan and Nancy Elizabeth Henríquez” and to “adopt the necessary measures to allow the beneficiaries to continue exercising their political rights as indigenous regional deputies, principal and alternate, as appropriate, of the National Assembly of Nicaragua.”
