Former Guerrilla Juan Carlos Baquedano: 'We Freed Ourselves from Somoza, But Fell Into Worse'

“We freed ourselves from (Anastasio) Somoza believing we had the solution, but we ended up falling into something worse,” lamented ex-combatant Juan Carlos Baquedano, one of the 135 former prisoners transferred to Guatemala on September 5.

The political ex-prisoner stated that removing Daniel Ortega from power is the only way to “end the tyranny” currently installed in the country.

Juan Carlos Baquedano, 67, was arrested on August 2, 2023, at his home in Jinotega, Nicaragua, when he returned to the country to sort out personal and property documentation. He had previously exiled himself in Mexico after spending eleven months in prison and being released through an Amnesty Law in mid-2019.

In July 2018, amid protests against Daniel Ortega’s regime, the Public Prosecutor’s Office charged him with “murder, illegal possession of firearms or ammunition, terrorism, obstruction of public services, and simple kidnapping,” sentencing him to 47 years in prison.

“In Nicaragua, many people remain imprisoned and kidnapped by a regime that has seized the country,” emphasized Juan Carlos Baquedano to the EFE news agency on Sunday, September 22, 2024.

“Ortega uses prisoners as bargaining chips,” Baquedano asserted, recalling his participation in the Sandinista revolution from 1979 to 1990, which ended the Somoza family dictatorship.

Baquedano is a veteran revolutionary, having had a bullet removed from his head by doctors from Cuba, Mongolia, and the Soviet Union in the 1980s, preserving his brain functions, as reported in the article “The Revolt Against Ortega Moves to Exile,”  published in Spanish.

Ex-prisoners attend religious service

Along with the other ex-prisoners, Juan Carlos Baquedano attended a religious service this Sunday in a hotel in Guatemala City with Pastor Walner Blandón, who was also imprisoned in Nicaragua for nine months.

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Before the service, the exiles explained that they had gathered to “cry out” for a “Free Nicaragua” and for the lives of those still imprisoned for political reasons in the Central American nation ruled by Ortega since 2007.

“There is no separation of powers in Nicaragua (…) we know it’s a complex process, but the greatest desire is to return one day,” Baquedano added.

Some don’t want to go to the United States

Currently, the 135 Nicaraguans expelled and received in Guatemala continue to stay in a hotel, working with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to resolve their exile situation in the United States and other countries.

Another ex-prisoner, who preferred not to be identified, explained to EFE that many of them do not want to go to the United States even if granted work permits, because it will be very difficult to reunite with their families who remain in Nicaragua. As a result, some may seek to establish themselves in Costa Rica or Guatemala.

Earlier this September, the Nicaraguan government decided to revoke the nationality of the 135 ex-prisoners and freeze their assets within the country.

In the past two years, Nicaraguan authorities have stripped a total of 452 Nicaraguans of their nationality and assets, many of whom are outspoken critics of the government and are accused, among other crimes, of treason against the homeland.

This article was published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by Havana Times. To get the most relevant news from our English coverage delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Dispatch.