Land colonist Ariel Castro, accused of attacks on Mayangna communities, was freed after prominent FSLN members lobbied on his behalf.
HAVANA TIMES – Despite the absence of any investigation, the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship has freed land colonist Ariel Castro, accused by the Mayangna communities of being the intellectual author of an attack on the Amtrukna community in Nicaragua’s North Caribbean region. One person, Esmelda Palacio, was wounded in this attack. Castro’s release has been denounced by exiled environmental activist Amaru Ruiz.
According to Ruiz, the colonist has been accused on multiple occasions of attacks in the Mayangna territories. He had been detained by police as part of the investigation over the attack against Esmelda Palacio. The victim, who received a bullet wound and had her house burned down, had repeatedly denounced the constant presence of land colonists on the indigenous lands.
“This release leaves the attack on Esmelda Palacio in Amtrukna completely unpunished. On the contrary, the principal figures arranging the assailant’s release were Omar Noel Medina, FSLN political secretary in Bonanza, and Elvin Urbina, from Bonanza’s regional council,” the environmental activist stated.
Speaking during an interview with Confidencial, Ruiz insisted that this release reveals: “not only the dictatorship’s complicity with the colonists’ land takeovers in the indigenous te
