A vehicle that crashed into a pole in front of the farm of retired colonel and former head of the Sandinista State Security during the 1980s, Lenín Cerna Juárez, and the deployment of dozens of police officers of different specialties, would have caused confusion among neighbors and passersby in the area, who believed that the operation was a raid against Cerna.
At first, Article 66 and other media published the information such as the execution of a police raid on Cerna’s house, however, once the facts were corroborated with several sources, we clarified that the police movement had generated a misunderstanding , and that in reality it was a chase against a vehicle in which some people were traveling, supposedly for an issue related to drug activity.
In the photos that were sent to us in the heat of the events, yesterday afternoon, Tuesday, police officers with black vests, balaclavas and private vehicles with men dressed in civilian clothes are seen, and a silver Toyota brand vehicle is seen crossed near the main gate of Cerna’s house. Upon verifying the information, the neighbors reconfirmed that it was the car that had been involved in the chase that crashed into a metal post that is right next to the gate of the property of the former FSLN organization secretary.
The consequences of the information blockade
Article 66 apologizes to its community of readers and followers who trust this media for the publication of the misunderstanding. We reiterate our commitment to the truth and contrast of information and insist that in a free and democratic country, where there is no censorship or persecution of journalism, where the media can carry out our work without restrictions or criminalization, journalists could go to cover this type of news without major consequences and we could consult the official versions or the people who are involved in events of public interest.
This is the consequence of having a dictatorship that uses armed institutions, parastatal groups and the justice system to intimidate journalists. The impediment to the media from being able to cover an event, whether because we have to work clandestinely, from exile or relying on sources close to the events, without the possibility of rigorous verification in situ, is a form of boycott. that we denounce and reject.
We demand the restoration of full freedoms for all Nicaraguans and the breaking of the chains imposed by the Sandinista regime on the media. We demand an end to criminalization, persecution, threats and harassment.
