Nicaragua confirms death in custody of Indigenous leader Brooklyn Rivera | Indigenous Rights News
Indigenous Leader Brooklyn Rivera Dies at 73 Amid Controversy Over State Custody
May 31, 2026 — Brooklyn Rivera, a prominent Indigenous leader, politician, and activist, has died at the age of 73 while in the custody of the Nicaraguan government. His death has sparked significant outcry from human rights advocates.
Nicaragua’s government reported that Rivera succumbed to a bacterial infection exacerbated by a previous COVID-19 infection. However, many critics have expressed skepticism regarding this narrative, particularly given the mounting pressure surrounding his well-being prior to his death.
Reed Brody, a member of the United Nations Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua, questioned the official account of Rivera’s demise. “If he is dead, it cannot be said that the cause was illness,” Brody stated. He accused the government of contributing to Rivera’s suffering, asserting that he had been under “conditions of enforced disappearance” for over two years and denied independent medical oversight.
Rivera had been detained since September 2023, with little information about his condition or location available to his family. Until a recent announcement, there had been no official confirmation of his imprisonment. On Wednesday, the Ministry of the Interior verified his detention and released photographs showing him intubated in a hospital. At the time, the ministry characterized Rivera’s condition as “delicate,” citing multiple organ failure, cirrhosis, and an active lung infection.
The public release of these images prompted a renewed wave of condemnation and calls for Rivera’s release. In a statement on social media, the United States demanded his “unconditional release” and criticized Nicaragua’s leadership for their role in his treatment. The U.S. State Department described the government’s actions as “abhorrent” and reiterated calls for the release of all political prisoners.
Nicaragua’s government, led by co-presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, has faced long-standing accusations of human rights abuses, including the arrest and repression of dissenters. Rivera was known for opposing Ortega’s Sandinista government, advocating for the protection of Miskito Indigenous lands along Nicaragua’s northeast coast, which are threatened by various business interests.
Throughout his life, Rivera was involved in efforts against the original Sandinista government from 1979 to 1990, during which he led the Misurasata armed group. His political activism led to two periods of exile due to government threats, the first in Costa Rica and later in Colombia.
In the latter part of his life, Rivera co-founded Yamata, a political party aimed at securing autonomy for Indigenous peoples following peace negotiations with the Sandinista leadership. Although Ortega returned to power in 2007 and enacted reforms to consolidate his authority, Rivera remained a vocal critic.
In April 2023, after addressing a United Nations forum on Indigenous issues in Geneva, Rivera was banned from returning to Nicaragua. He later smuggled himself back into the country, living in hiding until his arrest in September 2023 on terrorism charges, which critics deemed as an effort to silence him.
Since his arrest, Rivera had been effectively unaccounted for, described by Brody as a “disappeared person.”
