First modification:
RFI interviewed Miguel Mendoza, one of the 220 imprisoned opponents released by the Ortega regime. Journalist, he was imprisoned for 20 months. Or, to be exact, 598 days, because he counted them since he was imprisoned on June 21, 2021 for denouncing human rights abuses and violations in that country. Mendoza suffered psychological torture, such as preventing him from sleeping and not seeing his relatives.
R.F.I. How many months was he imprisoned and why?
This February 21 would be turning 20 months. I was captured on June 21, 2021. It was exactly 598 days. I had never been in jail. And one counts every day. I was arrested for being a journalist on social networks, which was the only means that Ortega and his wife left us to disclose, to post, to report on the arbitrariness of his regime. Starting in 2018, we have seen a stage of terror throughout Nicaragua: human rights violations, almost 400 murders, according to the count of international human rights organizations. And as a journalist, one does not have a mission to be with the truth. For this reason he was imprisoned, for denouncing, for monitoring, for pointing out, for giving his opinion, for criticizing. But through my social networks because in Nicaragua the Ortega regime and his wife Rosario Murillo bought all the media. They have taken over all the television and radio media. The few media that do not belong to them have been intimidated.
RFI What was the hardest thing in these 20 months?
The first months were the hardest because there is systematic torture. They don’t let you sleep, they take you out for interrogation several times at night, at dawn. It was also very hard not seeing my family, not hearing from my daughter and my wife. That tormented me. We didn’t have a single book to read, just a newspaper. The food was of very low quality. We had no medical attention. There were various irregularities. We were not allowed to have a lawyer, a defense as dictated by the country’s Criminal Procedure Code. They even violate their own laws. So it was systematic torture; Not physical, but psychological. It was tremendous. The trial they gave us was practically a circus. My lawyer was only allowed to speak to me for three minutes.
R.F.I. When did he know that he was going to be released?
When a regime takes people from all social groups in the country hostage, it is clear that they do so to turn them into bargaining chips. Ortega is in need of a way out. The country is falling apart. The United States is Nicaragua’s main partner and is in a fight with them. That is why we knew that at any moment the prison door was going to open. But when it finally happened we found it hard to believe. They took us out of jail, put us in civilian clothes, took away our prisoner uniforms. We didn’t realize the release until we were parked near the airport runway. In other words, we found out five minutes before boarding the plane.
R.F.I. But did they know where they were going?
No, we had no idea. We were in a prison and there were other comrades in another prison near the airport. They are political prisoners friends who had greater restrictions and greater calamities there than we did. Well, we believed that they were taking us there, to the so-called Model Prison.
RFI How was that trip to the United States?
Very exciting because we sing the national anthem. We sang various songs that we identified with. Slogans were shouted. A group of eight priests dedicated themselves to making prayers, to praying. We couldn’t believe it, after being locked up for so long. From one moment to the next, from one hour to the next, we were on a plane headed for the United States. It was tremendous happiness. But our family is left behind, we don’t know when we are going to return. It was a party, but bittersweet. Because even though we achieved freedom, our country continues to be kidnapped, a prisoner.
R.F.I. You were stripped of your nationality. What do you think about this?
It’s a stupid decision. Serious jurists are finding it funny because they violated the law regarding nationality. They can’t take away our citizenship. Now we don’t know where we are from. It is also happiness, but bittersweet because my family stays there. In Nicaragua there is danger because the country is closed, it is a kidnapped country, people are practically on their knees. There it is not possible to tweet or post on social networks because they can accuse you of terrorism.
R.F.I. Do you think that the Ortega regime at this moment is stronger or weaker than 20 months ago, when you were imprisoned?
When nine out of ten Nicaraguans are against a regime as brutal, as genocidal as this one, well, it cannot be strong. Ortega only has the weapons: the police weapon, the army weapon. Nicaragua needs a breather, the country has no resources. We are a country dependent on international aid, on credits from international financial organizations. The country cannot function like this. We do not have oil, we do not have great wealth. It is a country that depends fundamentally on the agricultural sector. I don’t know how it’s going to be. I believe that soon he will run out of money to pay the salaries of public employees.