In Nicaragua they even confiscate balloons and fashion costumes
Going after balloons and confiscating the blackbird costume Sheyniss Palacios displayed for the Miss Universe pageant – are only samples of the hare-brained behavior of a regime that will do anything to remain in power.
HAVANA TIMES – The Ortega-Murillo dictatorship never ceases to amaze us, but never in a good way. In addition to dedicating their efforts to hunting down any dissident or out-of-line voices, since 2018 they’ve led persecutions that even in the kingdom of the absurd stand out as especially hare-brained and even ludicrous.
Confiscation of rights and property, arbitrary searches, and police abductions are the daily bread of a country dominated by a totalitarian regime determined not to leave power. But the dictatorship’s repression has gone so far as to order the seizure of balloons, punish a runner, lock up and banish a farmer for “cybercrimes,” when he didn’t even know how to use a smartphone. And now, to put the icing on the cake, they’ve confiscated a blackbird costume belonging to Miss Universe.
Some analysts feel that the behavior of the Ortega-Murillo duo responds to a totalitarian vision in which nothing and nobody exists unless they live by and for their Sandinista party. However, there are things that don’t fit in any analysis based on logic.
Sheynnis Palacios’ luggage
What should have been a joyous national occasion on November 18, when Sheynnis Palacios became the first Nicaraguan or Central American ever to win the Miss Universe contest turned into a nightmare for those most closely involved. Instead of celebrating the event, five days later the regime blocked Karen Celebertti, director of the Miss Nicaragua franchise, from entering the country upon returning from El Salvador via Mexico with one of her daughters. With no explanation, they banished them from the country.
Not content with that, police surrounded the home of Celebertti’s in-laws, and on November 27th carried off her husband, Martin Arguello and her son Bernardo, who’s only 16. Amid this family tragedy provoked by the dictatorship, it came to light that on November 19, days before his abduction, they had confiscated five suitcases that Arguello was bringing with him when he entered Nicaragua from El Salvador, where the Miss Universe pageant was held.
According to the Police press release: on November 25, three suitcases, a brown bag, and a black plastic bag with the belongings of the newly crowned Miss Universe were delivered to the home of Sheyniss’ family. It must have been an important assignment, since the delivery was effected personally by Police High Commissioners Thelma Collado and Fernando Borge, accompanied by Griselda Rivas, Managua City Hall’s Cultural Director. They even took photos to document the moment.
So as to leave no further doubts regarding the honesty of the institution directed by Francisco Diaz, related by marriage to Daniel Ortega, the press statement included a detailed list of the belongings that were returned. Dresses, t-shirts, socks, brassieres, gloves, scarves, bathing suits chocolates and little plastic bottles, were some of the goods that were returned to Sheynnis’ family. There was no mention, however, of
