Nicaragua Exiles Pageant Director’s Family

The government of Nicaragua released and expelled to Mexico on Sunday the husband and son of the former director of Miss Nicaragua, Karen Celebertti, after nearly two months detained on charges of conspiracy, according to Nicaraguan press and opposition leaders in exile.

“At this moment Martín and Bernardo Argüello are flying to meet up with Karen Celebertti,” opposition leader Juan Sebastián Chamorro, a friend of the family, wrote on social media.

Former Nicaraguan Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS) Arturo McFields, who went into exile in the United States after leaving Ortega’s government, also said on social media that they were “exiled” to Mexico, where Celebertti is.

The Nicaraguan government has not referred to the information also disclosed by Nicaraguan media such as La Prensa, El Confidencia, 100% Noticias and others, which work from Costa Rica.

The former owner of the Miss Universe franchise in Nicaragua had left the country for the world beauty pageant in El Salvador, won by Nicaraguan Sheynnis Palacios on November 18.

After the coronation, Celebertti accompanied Palacios on a brief trip to Mexico and, when trying to return to Nicaragua, the authorities denied her entry and her husband and son were detained in Managua.

The Nicaraguan police accused Celebertti and her family of actively participating “in terrorist actions of the failed attempted coup d’état,” referring to the protests against Ortega in 2018, which left some 300 dead according to the UN.

“Without evidence, they accused them of “conspiracy against the nation,” exiled Nicaraguan journalist Carlos Chamorro, based in Costa Rica, said on social media.

After Palacios’ coronation as Miss Universe, Vice President and Ortega’s wife, Rosario Murillo, stated that the opposition was manipulating that triumph, since they highlighted that the beauty queen participated in the 2018 protests.

The Miss Universe Organization called on November 25 for the Nicaraguan government to guarantee the safety of those affiliated with the local contest.