SAN JOSE, Jan 11, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Nicaragua's authoritarian government said Saturday it had freed "tens" of detainees, following US pressure and a week after American forces seized Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, a close Managua ally.

"Tens of people who were in the national penitentiary system have gone home to their families," the government said in a statement published online, calling it a gesture to commemorate 19 years of rule by President Daniel Ortega, 80.

On Friday, the US embassy in Nicaragua posted a statement on X that hailed a promised release of political prisoners in Venezuela.

It said that in Nicaragua, however, "more than 60 people remain unjustly detained or disappeared."

"Peace is only possible with freedom!" the embassy said.

State media in Nicaragua published images on Saturday of detainees signing release papers and embracing relatives.

The statement did not identify those freed or explain the reasons for their detention.

An NGO and exiled media reported Friday that at least 61 people had been arrested for celebrating or supporting the capture of Maduro, a close ally of Ortega and his wife, co-president Rosario Murillo.

Maduro was seized by US troops in Caracas a week ago and taken to New York to face drug trafficking charges.

The US State Department has branded the Murillo-Ortega government a dictatorship, accusing it of seizing total power with a constitutional rewrite and crushing dissent since unrest during 2018 protests that left 300 people dead.

"Today, the brutal Murillo-Ortega dictatorship 'celebrates' 19 years of what should have been a five-year democratic term," the State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs posted Saturday on X.

"Nicaraguans voted for a president in 2006, not for an illegitimate lifelong dynasty," it added.

According to opposition reports, with Ortega facing mounting health issues, 74-year-old Murillo has launched an internal purge to ensure she retains power.