The Death of an Imprisoned Activist Has Triggered U.S. Sanctions Against 100 Nicaraguans: Who Was Brooklyn Rivera?

Brooklyn Rivera, an Indigenous activist from Nicaragua's Caribbean coast whose death in government custody last month drew international condemnation, became the focus of new U.S. sanctions announced Monday against more than 100 Nicaraguan officials and their relatives.

In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the visa restrictions were imposed in part because of the death of Rivera, a 73-year-old Miskito leader and president of the Indigenous party Yatama, who had been imprisoned since September 2023 after criticizing the government of President Daniel Ortega and co-president Rosario Murillo.

"The United States will not ignore the Murillo-Ortega dictatorship's responsibility for the horrific death of political prisoner Brooklyn Rivera," the State Department said, adding that sanctioned official Lumberto Campbell Hooker had been "directly involved in denying medical care" to Rivera and preventing his family from burying his remains.

Rivera was one of the most recognizable Indigenous political figures in Nicaragua and spent decades advocating for territorial rights, political autonomy and environmental protections for Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities along the country's Caribbean coast.

As reported by El País, Rivera first gained prominence during the 1980s as part of the Indigenous resistance movement Misurasata, which opposed the Sandinista government during Nicaragua's civil conflict.

Over time, however, Rivera shifted toward electoral politics and later founded Yatama — "Sons of Mother Earth" in the Miskito language — which became one of the most influential Indigenous political organizations in Nicaragua's autonomous Caribbean regions.

He served multiple terms as a regional lawmaker and was widely known for denouncing land invasions by settlers into Indigenous territories, as well as violence against Indigenous communities linked to mining, logging and agricultural expansion. In recent years, he became increasingly critical of Ortega's government, accusing authorities of undermining Indigenous autonomy and persecuting political opponents.

Rivera was detained in September 2023 after returning clandestinely to Nicaragua from the United States, where he had denounced alleged abuses against Indigenous communities before the United Nations. Human rights organizations said he was held incommunicado for months and classified him as a political prisoner and victim of forced disappearance.

Nicaragua's government said Rivera died on May 30 from complications linked to a bacterial infection and COVID-19. Relatives and rights organizations, however, have disputed that account. Frances 24 revealed in an interview that Rivera's daughter, Tininiska Rivera, has accused authorities of denying the family access to him throughout his detention and blocking an independent autopsy after his death.

The government buried Rivera without the presence of close relatives, according to family members and rights groups. Several associates and relatives who traveled to Managua seeking custody of the body were reportedly detained.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights condemned Rivera's death in custody and described it as part of a broader pattern of repression against Indigenous leaders and political opponents in Nicaragua following the 2018 anti-government protests.

According to the State Department, the latest sanctions bring the total number of Nicaraguan officials and relatives barred from entering the United States to more than 2,350.