Freed Nicaraguan political prisoners find a home in the Bay Area
CONCORD -- After years, 222 Nicaraguan political prisoners finally have a second chance at life in the United States.
Six of them are here in the Bay Area, where they are living in Concord temporarily.
"The night of February 8, some Nicaraguan National Penitentiary System jail officers transported us to the Augusto Sandino International Airport in Managua, the capital," Brian Cruz, a former political prisoner, told KPIX. "I thought they would torture us. Instead, we were forced to board a plane headed to Washington, D.C. Once on the air -- a big revelation. They told us that we all had been exiled from Nicaragua."
They had been in prison since 2018 after participating in protests against the Nicaragua government. All were facing charges like treason and terrorism. Cruz shared cellphone pictures to support his claim that he was a victim of torture in prison.
The U.S. Department of State confirmed that the former prisoners arrived on Feb. 9 after being granted humanitarian parole for two years with the option to apply for asylum.
The U.S. has referred to Nicaragua's leaders, President Daniel Ortega and his wife, vice president Rosario Murillo, as the heads of a "one-party, family-run dictatorship."
That political position helps Brian and the rest of the group feel welcome in the U.S.
They're currently receiving medical treatment, thanks to the efforts of human rights organizations like UNICA, a non-profit formed by the Nicaraguan Diaspora in California.
Juana Francis-Puerto is a member of this organization. She has opened her home as a temporary shelter.
"What they're living is very sad. The youngest one I have here was arrested when he was just 15 years old and, when they left Nicaragua, he was almost 21," Francis-Puerto said.
She moved to the Bay Area more than 30 years ago, fleeing the impact of the Nicaraguan revolution.
"I'm helping them, guiding them. How can you survive in the United States because it's another world," Francis-Puerto added.
They have no other place to go. They are no longer Nicaraguan citizens after the Nicaraguan National Assembly passed a reform to the Constitution that strips the nationality of citizens convicted of treason. Hence, their passports are just pieces of paper.
"That's their last travel," Francis-Puerto said. "They can't go to Nicaragua."
Some told KPIX those passports are their last memory of their country.
