Nicaragua detains at least 60 people over support for Maduro capture

Authorities in Nicaragua have arrested at least 60 people for reportedly celebrating or expressing support for the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, a human rights watchdog group and local media said.

The NGO Blue and White Monitoring said there have been "at least 60 arbitrary arrests" since the arrest of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and that 49 people remained in detention Friday "without information about their legal status," while nine people had been released and three others were temporarily detained.

The group said the detentions were "carried out without a judicial order and is based solely on expressions of opinion: comments on social media, private celebrations, or not repeating official propaganda." Confidencial reported the arrests took place under a "state of alert" ordered by vice-president Rosario Murillo, including surveillance in neighbourhoods and on social media, and La Prensa said arrests occurred due to "posts in favor" of the US operation. President Daniel Ortega and Murillo are described as staunch allies of Maduro.

The wave of arrests comes a day after US president Donald Trump claimed he cancelled a second wave of attacks on Venezuela because it was cooperating with the US on oil infrastructure and had released political prisoners. Trump did not elaborate on the alleged plan for fresh strikes but said the US navy armada in the Caribbean would remain.

Key Topics

World, Nicaraguan Authorities, Nicolas Maduro, Daniel Ortega, Rosario Murillo, Cilia Flores