Nicaraguan muralist Vink Laguna feels “embraced” by Guatemala, the country that welcomed him after being released from prison by the government of Daniel Ortega, but he has a “bittersweet” feeling at becoming an exile.
On Thursday, Ortega released 135 political prisoners, including Laguna, for “humanitarian reasons,” who were transferred to Guatemala thanks to the mediation of the United States.
The 28-year-old artist told AFP that he was arrested in the northern city of Estelí on November 22, 2023 while painting a mural of the winner of the Miss Universe pageant, Nicaraguan Sheynnis Palacios.
Palacios’ victory sparked the largest street protests in Nicaragua since the 2018 protests in which she participated and which shook the Sandinista government. Ortega’s wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, accused the opposition of trying to take political advantage of Palacios’ victory in the beauty pageant.
On a street in the south of Guatemala’s capital surrounded by tall buildings, Laguna says she feels “purely mixed feelings.”
“On the one hand [estoy] very happy with how they welcomed us. We felt very embraced, very welcomed by Guatemala. And at the same time, the other feeling [es] bittersweet [porque] “We were banished from our homeland,” laments the artist, dressed in a hooded sweater and light grey pants.
Although the Guatemalan government did not release the identities of the 135 released for “security reasons,” a Guatemalan press group said that among them was journalist Fabiola Tercero, who had been reported missing since July 12 after a police raid on her home.
– “With the strength of a lion” –
The group arrived by plane on Thursday and were met at the returnee centre at the airport in Guatemala’s capital before being taken by bus to hotels.
Guatemalan authorities have granted them a 90-day residency permit while they choose to seek refuge in that country, the United States or another nation under the safe mobility program implemented by Washington and supported by UN agencies.
“We are in the process of seeing what happens now,” Laguna added, standing near the hotel where he is staying. Asking for refuge in the United States is his main option. “I feel like I have the strength of a lion because I am free now,” he added.
On the same street, near a popular American hamburger chain, evangelical musician Jared Ramírez says he is “happy” to have overcome the “ordeal” of imprisonment in Nicaragua.
He says he was arrested during the celebration for Palacios’ coronation because he was carrying a Nicaraguan flag, an “anti-government” symbol for Ortega, with the shield as a head and the phrase “No more dictatorships.”
The 35-year-old musician says he was taken to La Modelo prison, where he claims he was subjected to “psychological torture.”
Now he would like to travel to the United States to work and in the future reunite with his wife and four-year-old son whom he left behind in Nicaragua.
– “God loves Nicaragua” –
“God loves Nicaragua […] “And I know that soon our nation will be free,” says Ramírez, also dressed in grey, as part of the clothing given to the released prisoners in Guatemala.
Ortega, who ruled in the 1980s after the triumph of the Sandinista revolution, returned to power in 2007 and is accused by opponents and critics of establishing an authoritarian regime.
His government cracked down hard on critics following pro-democracy protests in 2018, which left more than 300 dead in three months, according to the UN.
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“It is really hard to be in those prisons under the Ortega regime,” says another former prisoner, Jefrey Ortega, 29, who was dedicated to creating comedy content for social media.
Married and the father of four children, he says he was arrested in early 2023 for distributing pamphlets that “incited the population to rise up” and “demanded that the government hand over power.”
“We are waiting for guidance from the organizations that helped us come here to Guatemala,” Ortega added near his hotel, while walking with three cousins who were also released from prison.
