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U.S. demands Nicaragua immediately free indigenous leader Steadman Fagoth Müller
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Crime & Justice

U.S. demands Nicaragua immediately free indigenous leader Steadman Fagoth Müller

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • The United States demanded the immediate release of indigenous leader Steadman Fagoth Müller, detained in Nicaragua since September 2024.
  • The U.S. State Department expressed concern over Fagoth Müller's safety, citing the suspicious death of another indigenous leader, Brooklyn Rivera, after state-released photos.
  • Fagoth Müller's family denies his wife visited him in prison, and his arrest followed his denunciation of armed settlers encroaching on indigenous territories.

The United States has called for the swift release of Steadman Fagoth Müller, a 71-year-old indigenous leader and former presidential advisor in Nicaragua. He has been detained since September 2024, with the U.S. State Department labeling his disappearance and detention as "forced disappearance" by the administration of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.

The U.S. Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs voiced grave concerns on X, formerly Twitter, stating that after nearly two years of "forced disappearance and unimaginable conditions," photos of a supposed "family visit" had been released by the "dictatorship." The office drew a parallel to the case of indigenous leader Brooklyn Rivera, who died days after similar photos were published, questioning if Fagoth Müller faces the same fate.

In September 2024, Murillo and Ortega's henchmen forcibly disappeared Steadman Fagoth Müller, 71, a former political official dedicated to defending Nicaragua's autonomous lands from the greed and corruption of the FSLN.

— U.S. Department of State Office of Western Hemisphere AffairsThe U.S. State Department's Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs stated this on X, formerly Twitter, regarding the detention of Steadman Fagoth Müller.

Nicaraguan state media released photos of Fagoth Müller with his wife, Stefany Martínez, in prison on June 14, days after an opposition alliance requested proof of life. Fagoth Müller's family has disputed that Martínez is his wife. He was arrested by Nicaraguan police on charges of attempting to "steal organic weaponry" from the army.

His detention occurred shortly after he denounced the environmental impact of armed settlers entering the Bosawás Reserve, an indigenous territory near the Honduras border. This region is home to Miskito and Mayangna indigenous communities. Nine opposition figures and critics have died in state custody in Nicaragua over the past seven years.

After almost two years of forced disappearance and unimaginable conditions, photos of a supposed 'family visit' staged by the dictatorship have been published. We already saw what happened when the dictatorship published photos of (Miskito indigenous leader) Brooklyn Rivera: he died a few days later. Is this what awaits us again? Release Steadman Fagoth Müller now.

— U.S. Department of State Office of Western Hemisphere AffairsThe U.S. State Department's Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs expressed concern for Steadman Fagoth Müller's safety, referencing the death of Brooklyn Rivera.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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