By Gabriela Selser
BUENOS AIRES, May 31 (Reuters) – Nicaraguan Indigenous leader and former lawmaker Brooklyn Rivera has died in state custody aged 73, the 100% Noticias news service reported on Sunday, citing family sources.
The report follows government confirmation last week of his detention since 2023 after demands for proof of life from his family, the U.S. government and United Nations representatives.
Reuters could not independently corroborate the report and Rivera’s daughter, Tininiska, did not respond to a text message. The government of Nicaragua has not yet issued a statement on the report of Rivera’s death.
Rivera was arrested in September 2023 as part of a government crackdown on political dissent, according to human rights groups. He was a sitting lawmaker at the time and his family has said the government never formally admitted he was being held and denied family members visitation rights.
Wednesday’s confirmation of Rivera’s detention was accompanied by photographs showing him bedridden, intubated and severely emaciated. The Interior Ministry described his condition as “delicate, with mechanical ventilation through a tracheotomy and intravenous feeding” owing to “multiple organ failure, a cirrhotic liver and an active lung infection.”
The U.S. Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs denounced the statement, accusing the Nicaraguan government of attempting to conceal its role in the “cruel treatment and current condition” of Rivera.
Rivera had fought against Nicaragua’s first Sandinista government (1979 to 1990) as a leader of the Misurasata militia alongside the Contra rebels. His political party, Yatama, was initially an opponent of President Daniel Ortega but later became an ally after Ortega returned to power in 2007.
In October 2023, the Indigenous Yatama party said the government had banned it from running in elections.
(Reporting by Gabriela Selser in Buenos Aires; Additional reporting by Leila Miller in Buenos AiresEditing by David Goodman and Matthew Lewis)
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