Relatives of four of the 27 political prisoners that the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo keep kidnapped in the cells of El Chipote, expressed their stupor, frustration, concern and pain, upon receiving the ‘proofs of life’ offered by the dictatorship that governs Nicaragua.
Last week, prisoners of conscience were taken to some illegal ‘informative hearings’which were broadcast by the media owned by the ruling family, and served to verify the physical deterioration suffered by the prisoners who were exhibited.
The program This week, which is only broadcast online due to the censorship imposed by the Ortega-Murillo regime, spoke with Renata Holmann, daughter of the general manager of the newspaper La Prensa, Juan Lorenzo Holmann; with Ramón Mendoza, brother of the journalist Miguel Mendoza, as well as with Alfredo Mairena and Kélner Mena, brother and son respectively, of the peasant leaders Medardo Mairena and Pedro Mena, to find out their impressions after having seen the images.
Along with the pain in the face of the injustice suffered by their relatives —as well as the rest of the hostages of the dictatorship— the reactions of the four are of concern, given the evident physical and health deterioration of all those exhibited, which led them to to demand the release of all, convinced that they have not committed any crime for which they have to be imprisoned.
As Mairena puts it, “our relatives, our friends and all the political prisoners don’t have to be in jail, if they haven’t committed any crime. If anyone here has committed a crime, it is the dictatorship. It is the dictators and their accomplices who have to be imprisoned, because it is not just the dictator, but the police, the judicial system… everyone is involved to perpetuate themselves in power at the cost of the blood and pain of the people”.
Juan Lorenzo Holmann remains committed to Nicaragua
Renata Holmann, daughter of Juan Lorenzo Holmann, recounts that the last time she saw him in person was in March 2021, when he traveled to the United States to have a medical check-up and heart surgery, and that the last time she spoke with he was a day before the seizure of the facilities of La Prensaon August 13, 2021… until he saw the photos published by the official media.
He says he didn’t recognize him when he saw him so deteriorated, so thin, weak and convalescing, being that he is someone who always looks strong. Seeing that image made him feel that “his heart was broken, shrinking”, to the point that it is very difficult for him to put into words the feelings he experienced, but the shock, sadness, anger and impotence, seeing that injusticebecame proud, seeing that their father “is the same as always: a person who is firm and committed to Nicaragua, despite the abuses he has experienced.”
The businessman’s daughter demanded the freedom of all political prisoners in the country. “While they are guaranteed that right, I ask respect the ‘Nelson Mandela Rules’; Y that they be given the food they need to survive, and if the Government cannot provide, let them let the relatives take it; that they let them see their lawyers, and their doctor, so that they can be evaluated and treated for their ailments before and now”.
Medardo Mairena is almost ‘disappearing’
The peasant leader and political prisoner, Medardo Mairena, in the Managua Courts. Photo: Taken from Diario BarricadaAlfredo Mairena refers that he did not recognize his brother Medardo either, whom he considers “the dictatorship is practically killing him”, in this, his second lockdown. He feels that the peasant leader is living “in inhuman conditions”, and that he is almost “disappearing. I was skinny next to him, and I think now he’s skinnier than me. There are no words to describe the reactions and impressions we have as a family seeing him in his current physical state,” he assured.
The family is worried because they do not know the plans of the dictatorship, fearing that it is “let all political prisoners dieand it would not be new, because there have already been political prisoners who have died while in the hands of this dictatorship”. Hence, they are concerned about the lack of medical care and adequate food, as evidenced by the physical deterioration of his brother Medardo, and the rest of the political prisoners.
The only thing that reassures them is that the inmates stand firm in their convictions, in their fight for the freedom of Nicaragua, and that despite the suffering and torture they are experiencing, they have a clear conscience. “They know that they have to go out because they are innocent, and I know that they do not regret what they have done, because it has been for the freedom of Nicaragua, of ourselves, of his family, and of all the people,” he said.
That the girl does not see Miguel Mendoza in that state
Miguel Mendoza, sports journalist. Photo: Taken from TwitterRamón Mendoza, Miguel’s brother, reported that the journalist’s family has seen with horror how the journalist’s body has been deteriorating, in addition to narrating the efforts of all those close to him so that Alejandra, the communicator’s daughter, is not exposed to those such heartbreaking pictures.
The family clan – with Margine, Miguel’s wife at the head – is very close to the girl, and they talk to both of them daily. She explains that the decision was that the girl should not see the photos of her father, because “Margine, who lives the girl’s suffering every day, knows -because the girl has told her- that she wants to see her father the same as the last day she was with himthat June 21 when it was kidnapped”.
As an alternative, what they do is present her daily, videos of interviews made by Mendoza, which are posted on YouTube, or kept in files, so as not to tarnish the girl’s memories, and so that she remembers it the same, without this meaning They don’t want you to see it. “Every day the girl asks to see him, and abuse is being committed against her and Miguel, because they have not allowed her to visit him.” the family lawyer He has put eleven letters so that the girl can see her father and talk to him, but they do not allow it, he asserted.
The family is grateful for the expressions of affection, affection, solidarity and surprise that they have received from the people, from Miguel Mendoza’s colleagues, from the independent pressseeing the physical condition of the communicator, and reiterates his demand for freedom, as well as professional medical care, that they receive better nutrition and better prison treatment, but first “his freedom, because Miguel Mendoza is not a criminal, nor has he committed any crime. We demand his freedom, because his has been a judgment full of arbitrariness”, he reiterated.
Kélner Mena: inmates are “one step away from death”
The last time Kélner Mena saw his father, the peasant leader Pedro Mena, was in Costa Rica in 2019, shortly after they were released, and later, again in Nicaragua, although they frequently talked by phone or WhatsApp. Seeing it in photos was “pretty disappointing. I have felt very powerless. I have felt frustrated, angry”, seeing the “inhumane, malnourished” conditions in which they are kept.
Remember that although it is true in 2018 they presented weight loss, “it was not something exaggerated, as we could observe these days, seeing the unfortunate presentation of the political prisoners, who showed an incredible deterioration. I just didn’t believe it. I had to see the images many times, because my dad has always been strong, robust”, and the times he was sick, “I had never seen him in that state. Many people who have known him for many years have told me that it is inhumane how they have him, ”he narrated.
Kélner reiterated the family’s concern that Mena not come out alive, because “we can see that they are one step away from death. The weight loss is so great that I fear that at any moment I will get the bad news that my father has passed away, or any of the political prisoners they hold in inhumane conditions”, he confessed.
His fear is based on the fact that his father is diabetic, and does not receive medical care for that ailment, to which he adds the consequences of “the torture that the regime has been giving political prisoners,” and that in the short time he was released, “they never let a doctor check him, because they wouldn’t let him leave, not even from the place where he was, because the police were constantly harassing him,” for which he blames “the government for all the physical and psychological, and anything that happens to my dad, “he concluded.
