Ortega expels musicians and producers from the country

The Ortega regime expelled the managers of Saxo Producciones, Xochitl Tapia and Salvador Espinoza, from Nicaragua, while the member of the Monroy y Surmenage band, Josue Monroy, was supposedly released, but his whereabouts are unknown, confirmed sources close to the artists.

The expulsion of Tapia and Espinoza occurred on Thursday, April 21, ten days after their arbitrary detention. They were abducted on April 12th without the Police or Prosecutor’s Office of the Ortega regime reporting on their legal situation. It was confirmed that during the interrogations at the infamous El Chipote jail, they were asked for an exit ticket from Nicaragua as a requirement to release them. The couple, together with their five-year-old son, supposedly left for Germany, through the Managua International Airport.

Norma Rivera, mother of Salvador Espinoza, shared through her account on social networks, the release of her son and his wife. “The entire family is now out of the tyrannical and dictatorial clutches that overwhelm and oppress the Nicaraguan people,” she said.

“Ten days of anguish, ten days of torture. It hurts the soul to think of your children locked up without knowing anything about the physical and psychological state in which they find themselves. I was panicking. I had no news about how Salvador and Xochitl could be,” said Rivera. She noted that there is still fear in the country to denounce the abuses that are committed and demanded the release of the 180+ political prisoners.

“Nicaragua, is a giant prison in which many people are imprisoned in their homes, in their jobs, in their pain, in their mourning, in their tears, in their impotence. Prisoners and chained hands and feet, they also have their voices chained. There are many people, family and friends of political prisoners who are swallowing their pain for fear that something will happen to them, or to their relatives or friends. It is human to be afraid,” she said on her Facebook post.

Persecution against musicians

In the case of Monroy, the sources indicate that the citizen was deported to El Salvador, because the musician has dual nationality from that country. However, sources linked to Salvadoran Immigration confirmed to Confidencial that their records do not show any entrance from Nicaraguan citizen Josue Monroy Ortega.

The three artists were arbitrarily abducted on April 12 along with music producer Leonardo Canales, director of La Anteala, who was deported to Costa Rica days later. Likewise, the regime also expelled the Italian artist Emilia Arienti, who was given 48 hours to leave the country.

This Monday, immigration authorities also refused to let Carlos Luis Mejía Rodriguez, a member and founder of the musical group La Cuneta Son Machín, to enter the country. The regime’s persecution against musicians occurs on the commemoration dates of the fourth anniversary of the April 2018 Rebellion. Likewise, the intensification of the police harassment against the victims of the massacre, released prisoners and critics has prevailed.

Silence on the arrests of musicians

The reason for the arbitrary arrests against the musicians, and the cause of the deportations, are unknown. The arrests occurred after on April 2, the artists participated in a concert for the 15th anniversary of the Monroy and Surmenage band, an activity in which the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo was allegedly criticized, through one of the performed songs.

On the day of the kidnapping, sources close to Monroy told Confidencial that the officers violently entered the house and took him away “without giving any reason” and “without informing which police station they would transfer him to.” On Holy Thursday, the police returned to the house for the second time and stole all his musical instruments and equipment.

Producers Tapia and Espinoza were with their five-year-old son at the time of the arrest, and the police left the child at a neighbor’s house, confirmed a source close to those involved.

Prior to the arrest of its managers, Saxo Producciones had suffered several concert cancellations. Confidencial learned that the Milly Majuc band, represented by those now deported, were recently not authorized to perform a scheduled concert in San Juan del Sur, Rivas.

This article was originally published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by Havana Times