Guatemalan journalist and anthropologist Irma Alicia Velásquez Nimatuj thanked the displays of “solidarity” after being detained and expelled from Nicaragua by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo when she was on her way to Nicaragua for academic commitments. Velásquez was also stripped of her equipment.
Through an interview with elPeriódico de Guatemala, the journalist who has also been a columnist for that outlet since 2003, reported that she was on her way to Managua “to a meeting and when I got off the plane they stopped me and took everything from me. I could only keep the phone. An agent of the regime stopped me and took everything from me.”
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As for his situation, he assured that he felt “in a limbo because Immigration has not registered my entry. It’s like I didn’t get in,” lamented the journalist, who in turn thanked “profoundly for the affection and all the concern expressed towards me,” after denouncing her situation in Nicaragua via email.
Velásquez managed to inform the Nicaraguan historian Horacio Cabezas of what had happened through an email that he was able to send minutes after his arrest. “I came to Managua for a meeting and when I got off the plane they stopped me and took everything from me. I could only keep the phone. An agent of the regime detained me and took everything from me, “said the journalist.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala explained that Velásquez was transferred to Panama after being detained and expelled by the Migration authorities in Nicaragua. Velásquez has a degree in Journalism and Communication Sciences from the University of San Carlos de Guatemala. She too, she studied a master’s degree in Social Anthropology and obtained a doctorate as an anthropologist at the University of Texas, Austin, United States.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), journalists and Nicaraguan opposition organizations denounced the anthropologist’s arrest.
“The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner received information about the arrest by Nicaraguan authorities of the Guatemalan columnist and anthropologist. Both offices take the opportunity to reiterate their call to the authorities to stop arbitrary arrests and harassment against people who actively participate in public life, “said Michelle Bachelet’s office on the morning of July 25.
