WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States (US) State Department announced Monday that it will restrict visa access for over 100 Nicaraguan officials and their family members following the death of a detained Indigenous leader.

Brooklyn Rivera, a renowned 73-year-old head of the Miskito people and former member of congress, was arrested in September 2023 by the left-wing, authoritarian government of President Daniel Ortega. It never stated publicly what the charges were.

Rivera’s death was announced May 31 by the Nicaraguan health ministry, which said his health failed because of a bacterial infection caused by the Covid-19 virus.

The United States had called for Rivera’s release after the government published photos of the visibly emaciated detainee hooked up to a ventilator.

“The United States will not ignore the Murillo-Ortega dictatorship’s responsibility for the horrific death of political prisoner Brooklyn Rivera,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. Murillo refers to Ortega’s wife and co-president, Rosario Murillo.

Considered a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, Rivera was barred from seeing his family and denied the right to a defense during his detention. He died May 30 and was buried the next day with no family present.

Tininiska Rivera, his daughter, told AFP last week that the shocking images released by the government proved “that they don’t care how they’re perceived abroad, but rather about demonstrating their strength inside Nicaragua.” She spoke to AFP from exile in Costa Rica.

Although the government never said publicly why it arrested Rivera, according to press reports in November 2024 it told the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that his congressional immunity had been lifted to investigate him for serious crimes including treason.

On June 2, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an investigation.

Rubio’s statement said that with the new punishment the United States has now imposed visa restrictions on more than 2,350 Nicaraguan officials and their family members “for their complicit role in Rosario Murillo and Daniel Ortega’s dictatorship.”

It did not say who the new targets of US restructions are.

A firebrand Marxist in his youth and leader of a revolution against a US-backed autocrat, 80-year-old Ortega has been in power since 2007 following elections questioned by the international community. He is widely accused of acting harshly to crush dissent and remain in power in the poor Central American country.

Managua is under US and EU sanctions, while thousands of Nicaraguans have fled into exile as the government jailed hundreds of opponents, real and perceived. Some Nicaraguans have been stripped of their citizenship.