The regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo continues to direct its repression against the local media. This Thursday it was learned that, through the Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Post Office (Telcor), it canceled the transmission license of two stations in the city of León, in western Nicaragua.
Is about Radio Athens Y Radio Kiss Me. In the case of the first station, it is owned by the journalist Leonardo José Ortiz Avendaño, who in October 2018 was detained by the Ortega Police and released 48 hours later.
Article 66 learned that Telcor officials arrived at the Radio Atena facilities under the argument that they would carry out a “routine inspection”, however, two hours later they notified its owner that the transmission license had been suspended. The regulatory body justified the censorship for non-compliance with Law number 200, the General Telecommunications Law. That same argument has been used to close other local media.
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After the closure of Atenas, two local news programs that were broadcast on that station went off the air: Nicaragua Adentro, which has been informing the city of León for more than 60 years, and Noticias Al Día, directed by journalist Carlos Sánchez. Although both programs were informative, neither addressed political issues to avoid reprisals from the regime.
Radio Kiss Me off the air
Another of the media outlets censored by Telcor was Radio KissMe, also from León, founded in 2005 by Edgar Toruño and broadcast on the 95.7 FM frequency. Without prior notification, the regulatory body replaced the station’s signal with Viva FM 98.3.
In its Web page The radio indicates that it has a 1,000-watt transmitter that allowed it to cover a large part of Western Nicaragua, such as León, Chinandega, the beaches of Poneloya, Jiquilillo, Corinto, and surrounding municipalities.
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With the closure of these two radio stations, the Ortega-Murillo regime has added at least 15 media outlets closed so far in August, most of them located in the north and west of Nicaragua. Most of the censored stations are Catholic in profile.
On August 13, Telcor ordered the closure of Radio Darío de León, owned by journalist and businessman Aníbal Toruño, who is in exile in the United States. Three days later, the regime ordered the closure of the Sky and La Guarachera radio stations, belonging to the Toruño family.
