Mexico City: The United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 222 inmates who are widely regarded as political prisoners of Daniel Ortega's government have taken a flight to Washington. According to Blinken, the prisoners were held against their will for a long period of time and were subjected to unfair detentions for exercising their basic rights.

"The release of these individuals, one of whom is a US citizen, by the government of Nicaragua marks a constructive step towards addressing human rights abuses in the country and opens the door to further dialogue between the United States and Nicaragua regarding issues of concern," said Blinken.

Political and business leaders, journalists, members of civil society, and students were among those on board, according to him. Blinken gave "concerted American diplomacy" the credit.

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Ortega has remained adamant that his detained rivals and other individuals were behind the 2018 street protests, which he claims were an attempt to topple him. Since Nicaraguan security forces violently put down those anti-government protests, tens of thousands have fled into exile. The most recent estimate of "political prisoners" held by the Nicaraguan opposition was 245. Who was not released was not immediately clear.

Ned Price, a spokesman for the US State Department, stated that Nicaragua had designated 224 prisoners for the flight, but two of them turned it down. They weren't given names.

The nongovernmental organisation Mechanism for Recognition of Political Prisoners compiled a list of 39 prisoners who weren't on the plane, including Roman Catholic Bishop Rolando Lvarez.

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According to Price, those who travelled to Washington on their own volition would be granted humanitarian parole allowing them to remain in the nation for two years. The Department of Homeland Security, US Customs and Border Protection, and the government were in charge of the hotels where they were staying, and they would work with nongovernmental organisations to assist in their resettlement.

The decision to give these people the chance to visit the US was made by the Nicaraguan government, according to Price. "When I say this is the result of American engagement, as you know, we have long called for their release as a first step towards the restoration of democracy and an improved human rights climate in Nicaragua."

A judge recited a statement that the 222 prisoners had been "deported" back to Nicaragua. The deportation, according to magistrate Octavio Rothschuh of the Managua Appeals court, was carried out in accordance with a Wednesday order that labelled the prisoners as "traitors to the country." He claimed that their removal was a result of their actions undermining Nicaragua's independence and sovereignty.

Later on Thursday, a constitutional amendment allowing for the deportation of "traitors" was unanimously approved by Nicaragua's Congress. In the upcoming legislative session later this year, a second vote will be necessary.

Although the release of the prisoners was appreciated, Wilma Nuez, president of the Nicaragua Center for Human Rights, said in a statement that "deportation is a legal term that applies to foreigners who commit crimes in a country. They want to refer to exile as deportation, which is completely arbitrary and against the rules of human rights around the world.

The release was celebrated by Arturo McFields, a former ambassador of Nicaragua to the Organization of American States, who claimed to have received confirmation of it from the US State Department.

It is a significant prisoner release," McFields said. He gave the families of the prisoners credit for maintaining pressure at all times. Felix Maradiaga's wife Berta Valle claims the State Department informed her that her husband was travelling on the aircraft.

US officials claim that Cristiana Chamorro, who was a front-runner for the presidency before her arrest in 2021, was also on board the flight. She was given an eight-year prison sentence in March 2017 and is the daughter of the former president Violeta Chamorro. As Ortega pursued NGOs that received foreign funding, she was found guilty of money laundering through her mother's NGO. She was under house arrest at the time.

According to US officials, former presidential candidates Arturo Cruz and Juan Sebastian Chamorro were also on board.

Early in 2021, Ortega intensified his pursuit of political rivals in an effort to whittle down the field before the presidential elections that November. Seven potential presidential candidates were detained by security forces, and Ortega easily won a fourth term in a row in elections that the US and other nations called a farce.

Several opposition leaders, including former high-ranking members of the governing Sandinista movement and former candidates for president, were given prison terms by Nicaraguan judges for "conspiracy to undermine national integrity."

Given the infamously deplorable conditions at El Chipote and other prisons, as well as the advanced age of some opposition leaders, relatives had worried the terms might amount to death sentences.

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Hugo Torres, a former Sandinista guerrilla commander who once oversaw a raid that assisted in liberating Ortega when he was still a rebel, passed away while facing trial. He was 73.

This week, judges in Nicaragua jailed five Catholic priests for conspiring and disseminating false information. It was unclear right away if any of them were taking the flight.