What it's like to be a freed Nicaraguan political prisoner
Former Nicaraguan presidential candidate Félix Maradiaga was in prison for 20 months. This month, he and 222 other political prisoners were flown to the U.S. and stripped of their citizenships.
Updated February 23, 2023 at 3:42 PM ET
Félix Maradiaga, 46, has played many roles in life: unaccompanied minor refugee, director of Nicaragua's Office for the Reintegration of Ex-combatants (which he calls "kind of like the Department of Veteran's Affairs"), Secretary General of Nicaragua's Ministry of Defense, investor, researcher, husband, father, and political leader.
After he declared his intention to run for Nicaragua's presidency, he became something else in 2021 — a political prisoner.
Then, he and 221 other prisoners were suddenly released earlier this month. They were surprised to find themselves aboard a chartered flight, leaving them stateless.
