Nicaragua’s police on Friday accused the owner of the Miss Universe franchise in the country, her husband and son of “treason against the homeland,” “conspiracy” and other crimes, two weeks after Nicaraguan Sheynnis Palacios won the pageant.
“In 2018, Karen Celebertti, (her husband) Martín Argüello Leiva and (their son) Bernardo Martín Argüello Celebertti, owners of the Miss Nicaragua franchise […] actively participated in networks and streets in the terrorist actions of the failed coup attempt, orchestrated by international agencies and foreign missions,” the police said in a statement released in pro-government media.
It alleged that they “remained in communication with exponents of treason against the homeland, willing to use their franchises, platforms and spaces […] in a conspiracy that has worked orchestrally to turn the contests into political traps and ambushes, financed by foreign agents.”
“All the above is evidenced in the telephone and technological records found in the possession of said individuals,” the police added.
On Thursday, the police said they returned to relatives of Miss Universe some suitcases with costumes that, according to opposition media in exile, were taken after the raid on Celebertti’s house last week.
The media reported that Argüello was detained and held incommunicado, as was his son, which has not been confirmed by the government. “The detained and fugitive persons must serve their sentence as specified by Nicaraguan laws,” the police said without giving details.
The Miss Universe organization on Saturday called on Nicaragua’s government to “guarantee” the safety of its local pageant affiliates, after its director was prohibited from returning to the country after Sheynnis Palacios, 23, won the crown on November 18 in San Salvador.
Palacios’ triumph sparked massive celebrations in the streets by Nicaraguans, unseen since demonstrations were banned in 2018. The 2018 anti-government protests, which led to clashes between opponents and loyalists that left over 300 dead, according to the UN.
Both the government and the opposition in exile praised Palacios’ triumph.
But a few days later, Vice President Rosario Murillo, the wife of President Daniel Ortega, accused the opposition of “crude opportunism” and of “crude and evil terrorist communication that aims to turn a beautiful and well-deserved proud moment into destructive coup-mongering.”
