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Rosa Ruiz, the mother of Costa Rican-Nicaraguan doctor Yerri Estrada, who has been imprisoned by the Sandinista dictatorship since August 13, 2025, called on the Costa Rican government to “speak out” and demand her son’s release.
“I ask you to speak out and do everything possible to find out his current condition (…) because even though my son didn’t spend most of his life there (in Costa Rica), he lived there until he was six years old, and he is Costa Rican by birth,” she said.
At a press conference with human rights organizations, she explained that to date she has not received any information from the Costa Rican Foreign Ministry and does not know if they have requested to see him.
“I call once again on the Costa Rican State to speak out, because as his mother, I have not seen a public statement from Costa Rica,” she insisted.
Children and Grandchild Forced into Displacement
Ruiz denounced that her other two children, Maura Estrada and a 14-year-old teenager, along with a five-year-old granddaughter, now live in “forced displacement,” because they had to leave their home after being harassed and threatened by police and civilians.
“They even threatened my 14-year-old son with an arrest warrant. That’s a terrible crime, because my boy didn’t even leave the house,” she said.
Since Ruiz lives in exile and her eldest daughter is in hiding, she warned that her son Yerri is once again in “forced disappearance.” After authorities allowed his girlfriend to visit him on Wednesday, September 3, 2025, and nine days later released photos and videos of him, “we have heard nothing more about him.”
“I Will Continue Denouncing and They Will Not Silence Me”
The mother of the political prisoner explained that after Yerri’s girlfriend visited, she lost all contact with the young woman “because they forced her to block me and not contact me.” She also said that at first they were going to allow Yerri’s sister to see him, but the visit was canceled a day before.
“My daughter was called to the Ministry of the Interior in Managua, along with his (Yerri Estrada’s) girlfriend. They showed her photos of Yerri in a cell with five other political prisoners, sleeping in a bunk (…) but they made it clear to my daughter that the situation had to change, that I had to stop speaking out, in order for her to be able to see her brother,” she said.
The dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, through propaganda media, released videos and photos of the young doctor claiming he was being well treated. The visit took place in a room that had previously been used to show photos and videos of the now-exiled bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, while he was imprisoned.
However, his mother is convinced that he did all of that under duress and to protect his physical safety. “No prisoner receives visits from their family in such comfort,” she insisted.
Ruiz reported that after seeing his face and expressions, she continued to raise the alarm about the torture he has endured in prison. That’s why she is sure he responded “prudently” to the pro-government journalists “because he is defenseless.”
The mother of the young doctor stated that she will continue “raising” her voice. “They will not silence me,” she added.
Continued Denunciations of Forced Disappearances
According to Gonzalo Carrion, a defender with the Nunca Mas Nicaraguan Human Rights Collective the dictatorship is carrying out “revenge” against the young doctor’s family for the public denunciations that triggered international reactions.
“They paraded him (during the visit) with a maneuver that makes it look as though he were practically staying in a first-class hotel, all because of his mother’s persistence in demanding proof of life of her disappeared son,” he explained.
Claudia Pineda, from the Legal Defense, Registry, and Memory Unit for Nicaragua, said they have reported Estrada’s forced disappearance, and that of 32 other political prisoners, to various organizations.
The advocate warned that the young doctor, being unable to receive visits from his family, could again be in a situation of forced disappearance.
She also detailed multiple violations of his human rights and due process, noting that the judicial system “has not made Yerri Estrada’s case file available,” that he is being prosecuted “for acts from 2018 that have already been archived or amnestied,” and that he has been denied the right to a defense.
“He has had no access to an independent lawyer or a fair trial. Minimum guarantees recognized by the American Convention on Human Rights have been violated,” Pineda emphasized.
She also said they have requested precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and appealed to the United Nations, through its rapporteurs on forced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary detentions.
