at least 13 leaders of the Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy (ACJD) remain captive in different jails in Nicaragua. The capture of most of the opponents happened months before the presidential elections of November 2021, which were branded as undemocratic, without credibility or transparency by the international community.
The dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has as its prisoners the former executive director of the political group and presidential candidate, Juan Sebastian Chamorro; the former president, former vice president and current president of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (Cosep), Jose Adán Aguerri, Alvaro Vargas Y michael healy, respectively.
Likewise, the list of political prisoners is added to the student leaders Max Jerez, Lesther Aleman, Miguel Flores Y Mildred Lightningalso members of the Nicaraguan University Alliance (AUN).
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The regime is holding territorial leaders of the Civic Alliance, including Yubrank Suazo, Armando Robles, Nidia Barbosa, and Edder Muñoz. Y Wilfredo Brenes.
Daysi George West, spokesperson for the political organization, in communication with the team of Article 66 indicated that Juan Sebastián Chamorro, who has been held captive since June 8, 2021 in the cells of “El Nuevo Chipote”, was one of the leaders “devoted to the cause” and always bet that through a democratic process it could be achieved a change in the country.
“Juan (Sebastián Chamorro) was one of those dedicated to the cause, he compromised even the offices where he worked to facilitate the work space, in truth he opted for democratic change in Nicaragua with a popular vote responding to the will of the people, regardless of whether The regime showed that it was not consistent with what it asked the Episcopal Conference to look for sectors so that it could dialogue. Juan bet that democracy was real, which was going to solve the problem of the crisis in Nicaragua,” said George West.
He stressed that the former executive director of the Civic Alliance “was committed, broke with his work scheme and approached the people.”
In the case of entrepreneurs Jose Adán Aguerri, Alvaro Vargas Y michael healy, Those who were present at the dialogue table, the opponent stressed that the leaders together with all the members of Alianza Cívica gathered support for the relatives of political prisoners and the hostages of the dictatorship.
“There is one thing in these businessmen that I never forget, the private company together with the entire Civic Alliance collected support, support for family members and support for political prisoners,” he recalled.
“The businessmen were collecting and they delivered packages month after month and the young people, seeing so many attacks against the organization that they said “we are going to have to publish everything we are doing” and Álvaro (Vargas) said “that the day you want to take For humanitarian aid, political credit, I am not going to belong to this group”. And it was never removed, although people finished us off, “he pointed out.
The former president of Cosep was arrested on the night of June 8, 2021 and the Nicaraguan justice system accused him of allegedly “conspiring to undermine national integrity” and the judge of the Fifth Criminal Trial District, Félix Ernesto Salmerón Moreno, sentenced him to 13 years in prison.
The businessmen Álvaro Vargas and Michael Healy were captured by the Ortega Police on October 21, 2021. The court sentenced Healy to 13 years in prison for the alleged crimes of “undermining national integrity” and Vargas to nine years in prison for “conspiracy to undermine the national integrity”.
Ortega’s young prisoners
Max Jerez, Lesther Alemán, Miguel Flores and Mildred Rayo are young leaders representing AUN in the Civic Alliance. “They were young people who at that crucial moment (in April 2018) and with so much aggression, as they had killed more than 355 people, took the baton, gave up their lives, gave up everything, bet on a real change that could refound democracy, they believed on it,” Daisy George said.
A source from AUN, who preferred anonymity, explained that “Lesther and Max were the ones who represented us as an organization in the Civic Alliance, Mildred for a time supported the Territorial Technical Directorate and Miguel was in charge of assisting the relatives of political prisoners.”
He also highlighted that the now political prisoner Miguel Flores previously held a brother hostage to the dictatorship, who is currently in exile.
He stressed that the young opponents “were very passionate about fighting for the rights of not only students but generally as young people in Nicaragua and because of this it is that today they are in the condition of political prisoners.”
Daisy Goerge West recalled that Lesther Alemán faced the dictator Daniel Ortega on May 16, 2018, during the first session of the national dialogue. The student leader “by telling him we are here to negotiate his exit was something real, the exit was not that we were going to take power away from him, but that we were going to face each other at the polls and we were sure that the people were going to vote for whoever be blue and white and not the dictator,” he said.
«The main reason for them not to abandon this fight was that they wanted a better place where they could live, they were always thinking about future generations and especially about our generation, about the few opportunities and access that there was to young people of a good first job, to a good education,” said an AUN source.
Lesther and Max were arrested on the night of July 5, 2021. Both were sentenced to 13 years in jail. In the case of Mildred and Miguel, they were arrested on November 1st by the Nicaraguan Army near the Sapoá River, in Cárdenas, in the department of Rivas. Both remain in the Police District 3 delegation in Managua.
Although there is a formal accusation against the opponents, it does not specify what crimes they are accused of, but the victims are the State and Nicaraguan society, the same ones that concern the political prisoners accused of “conspiracy to harm the national integrity.”
Regarding their physical health, they are relatively stable. «Lesther who continues with his migraine, leg and gastritis problem. Miguel has some stomach problems and they are being controlled by his relatives with medication, because we already know that there is no access to specialized medical care,” added the source.
Territorial leaders also imprisoned
The territorial leaders of the Civic Alliance as the opponents Armando Robles, originally from the municipality of Morrito, in Rio San Juan; Nidia Barbosa, Edder Munoz Y Wilfredo Brenes, all from Masaya; They were in charge of organizing their territories, communities, hamlets and neighborhoods in order to have a solid block against the Ortega dictatorship.
Barbosa and Robles were arrested on the night of November 6, 2021 on the eve of the presidential vote where Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo were re-elected for a new term at the Head of State of Nicaragua. Nidia Barbosa Castillo was sentenced to 11 years in prison and forced to pay an 800-day fine, equivalent to 52,767.46 córdobas, and Armando Robles, to 10 years behind bars.
Edder Muñoz was recaptured by the Masaya Police on November 24, 2021 and the opponent Wilfredo Brenes has been detained since April 30, 2020. Both are accused of the alleged crimes of drug trafficking, psychotropic drugs and other controlled substances.
Likewise, the leader of Masaya Yubrank Suazo was detained by the Sandinista Police for the second time on May 18 of this year. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the alleged crime of conspiracy to undermine national integrity, “in real competition with the crime of spreading false news.”
«We cannot leave the innocent, who fabricated crimes for them, sought false accusations, found false witnesses. Nicaragua cannot endorse this process and the day that as Nicaraguans we endorse that then we lose, we lose the reason for being human, because the greatest thing that human beings have is to know how to distinguish evil from good”, concluded Daysi George West.
