The day Sheynnis Palacios won Miss Universe, Jared Ramírez decided to grab a Nicaraguan flag he had at home and go out to the street to celebrate the triumph of the first woman in the country’s history to achieve that title.
It never crossed his mind that that night would end up in jail and much less that he would spend more than nine months there.
“I never took it as a political celebration. I took the flag because it is the flag of my nation and I went out into the street,” Ramírez told BBC Mundo from Guatemala City, where he arrived on September 5 after an agreement between Nicaragua, Guatemala and the United States allowed the release of 135 prisoners.
Ramirez, 35, was aware, however, that the flag had the shield invertedconsidered a sign of protest against the government of Daniel Ortega, and had a legend that read: “No more dictatorship.”
According to the indictment, he was arrested for “aggravated robbery and illegal possession of weapons.”
The release of Ramírez and the other prisoners was for humanitarian reasons and was achieved after mediation by the United States. According to the Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners in Nicaragua, there are still 36 political prisoners.
On Tuesday, five days after the exile, the Supreme Court of Justice of Nicaragua, close to the Ortega government, announced in a statement that it was stripping the nationality of the 135 political prisoners sent to Guatemala and also confiscating their assets.
The statement says that those “convicted of criminal acts” promoted “violence, hatred, terrorism and economic destabilization” and that the confiscation of all their assets is so that they can answer for “the severe material and immaterial damages.”
On November 18, 2023, when the Miss Universe pageant was held, Ramírez had gone out to celebrate her son’s third birthday.
When he returned home and learned of Sheynnis Palacios’ victory in the beauty pageant, he took the flag that he had kept since 2018, the year he participated in the protests against the Ortega government, and went out on his motorcycle.
The flag, he says, was rolled up in his hand.
“I didn’t know there were political prisoners. The misinformation in Nicaragua is incredible. I only knew about a few people, but I didn’t know there were so many political prisoners,” she says.
Ramírez had decided years before not to participate in demonstrations anymore and “keep silent” for fear that something would happen to him and his family.
The crime of demonstrating
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Although the government in Nicaragua has banned demonstrations since September 2018 and considers them a crime, last November Citizens took to the streets to celebrate the victory of the Nicaraguan in the beauty pageant.
It was the first time in years that crowds with blue and white flags were seen in the streets of the country. There were celebrations in cities such as Managua, Diriamba, Jinotega. Several people ended up in jail.
That night, Ramírez says he was at a celebration in Managua for about half an hour when a man approached him to ask what his flag said and when he saw the legend and the inverted shield, he detained him. Then more people began to surround him.
The triumph of Palacios as Miss Universe has become a controversial and even political issue in Nicaragua.
Following her victory, Ortega banished the owner of the Miss Nicaragua franchise, To Karen Celeberrand accused her of “conspiracy and treason.”
Last May the owner of the Miss Universe organization, Anne Jakrajutatipstated via Instagram that Palacios was living in “indefinite exile.”
However, the Nicaraguan later said that this was not the case.
“I want to inform you that I am not in exile, I want to inform all the media here that I am not in exile. The doors of my country are open to go and celebrate with all Nicaraguans,” she said.
Sheynnis Palacios, however, is the only Miss Universe who has not returned to her country to celebrate the crown in the last 20 years, according to a count published by the newspaper La Prensa.
Although he has repeatedly assured that he will return to the country, he only has two months left until the end of his reign.
“I felt: ‘This is the end, they are going to kill me’”
Ramirez He was imprisoned for more than nine monthsfrom November 18, 2023 until September 5. “I was imprisoned for celebrating the victory of Miss Universe,” he says.
“They took my photo, took my ID, and started telling me: ‘We are from the Front (Sandinista, of which Ortega is a member).’ They took my motorcycle keys and began interrogating me,” Ramírez recalls of the day he was arrested.
He was then taken to the police station where an officer told him: “You know what? You deserve to be shot and for this to end. It’s your fault that the country is in this state.”
After the death threat, Ramirez felt afraid.
“That was the moment when I felt: ‘This is the end, they are going to kill me, they are going to dump my body and say it was a murder, a robbery, an assault.’ That was what I thought and I began to ask the Lord for forgiveness. I felt very afraid for my life at that moment.”
The reasons why some of the 135 incarcerated ended up in prison are diverse.
Journalist Víctor Ticay, for example, was imprisoned for broadcasting a religious procession through Facebook; Óscar Parrilla and Kevin Laguna for trying to draw a mural in honor of the Miss Universe in the city of Estelí, about 150 kilometers north of the capital of the Central American country; to Anielka García for making some shirts in honor of the 2018 crisis; and Olesia Muñoz does not even know why she was taken from her home.
It is the second time what Olesia Muñoz She became a political prisoner. The first time was in 2018, when she spent ten months in prison. On that occasion, she was accused of terrorism, organized crime, and illegal possession of weapons.
This time she was imprisoned in April 2023, she spent 17 months in jail: she was accused of “cybercrime”.
Muñoz learned after she was taken from her home that She was accused of having commented on an alleged publication on social networks where a bishop criticized the government.
The publication, however, she says, never existed: it was fabricated. Furthermore, she says, “I don’t even have social media” and says that due to the government’s persecution of priests, she “out of prudence” had tried to withdraw a little.
The conditions in which political prisoners are held in Nicaragua have been denounced in Guatemala, where they are currently held.
Jared Ramirez He claims that he suffered physical and psychological abuseWhen he was first arrested, he says that an officer hit him twice in the back of the head.
“They told us: ‘You’re not going to get out of here.’ We had fewer rights than any ordinary prisoner. We only had one visit a month, for 30 to 40 minutes. We had a patio and sun for 10 to 15 minutes a day. We spent all our time locked up, in stifling heat.”
Olesia Muñoz says she was “practically in a cage: iron on the roof, iron on the sides and the heat was unbearable. I was locked up all day.”
Start over
Last week, the Guatemalan government welcomed those it considers “political prisoners.”
“Once in Guatemala, these individuals will be offered the opportunity to apply for legal ways to rebuild their lives in the United States or other countries,” said Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.
This is the second group of political prisoners to be exiled from Nicaragua in the last two years. The first was on February 9, 2023, when a group of 222 were flown to Washington, United States.
“My priority is for this process to end as soon as possible so that I can settle down financially and bring my wife or for organizations to help me reunite with my family. A reunion and a fresh start. This is a new beginning,” says Ramírez, who would like to be able to give his son a “better future” in the United States.
“The most painful thing was leaving my homeland. I love my nation, I know the situation Nicaragua is going through. I had to leave churches, families, a life dedicated to God,” he says.
But one day he is convinced that he will be able to return to Nicaragua. “Without any fear, without any fear, to be able to be with those people I left behind.”
Before September 5th Ramirez had never been on a plane.
His first time was to be banished.
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A potential catalyst for change.
The Unlikely Consequences of Celebrating Miss Universe in Nicaragua
In November 2023, Nicaraguan beauty Sheynnis Palacios made history by becoming the first woman from her country to win the Miss Universe title. For many Nicaraguans, this was a moment of pride and celebration. But for Jared Ramírez, a 35-year-old Nicaraguan citizen, that night of jubilation would end in a nightmare that would last for over nine months.
Ramírez, who had been keeping a Nicaraguan flag at home since 2018, decided to take it out into the streets to celebrate Palacios’ victory. Little did he know that his patriotic gesture would land him in jail, accused of “aggravated robbery and illegal possession of weapons.” The flag, which had an inverted shield and a legend that read “No more dictatorship,” was seen as a symbol of protest against the government of Daniel Ortega.
Ramírez’s case is not an isolated incident. The celebration of Palacios’ victory turned into a political issue in Nicaragua, with many people taking to the streets with blue and white flags, only to be met with repression from the authorities. Several people ended up in jail, and even the owner of the Miss Nicaragua franchise, Karen Celeberr, was accused of “conspiracy and treason” and banished from the country.
The incident highlights the sensitive political climate in Nicaragua, where demonstrating against the government has been banned since 2018. The authorities have been cracking down on opposition voices, and even celebrations like the one sparked by Palacios’ victory are seen as a challenge to the regime.
Ramírez’s story is a testament to the harsh realities of living in a country where freedom of expression is curtailed. “I never took it as a political celebration. I took the flag because it is the flag of my nation and I went out into the street,” he says. But the authorities saw it differently, and Ramírez was arrested and imprisoned for months.
His release, along with 134 other political prisoners, was made possible through an agreement between Nicaragua, Guatemala, and the United States. However, the Nicaraguan Supreme Court has since stripped them of their nationality and confiscated their assets, accusing them of promoting ”violence, hatred, terrorism, and economic destabilization.”
The incident has drawn international attention, with human rights organizations condemning the Nicaraguan government’s actions. The Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners in Nicaragua estimates that there are still 36 political prisoners in the country.
Sheynnis Palacios, the Miss Universe winner, has become a symbol of resistance against the Ortega regime. Although she has repeatedly assured that she will return to the country to celebrate her crown, she has only two months left until the end of her reign. Her victory has sparked hope among Nicaraguans, who see her as
