Rosa Ruiz faces each day with growing desperation as her son, Yerri Gustavo Estrada Ruiz, remains detained in Nicaragua without clear access or updates. The 30-year-old doctor, who holds dual Costa Rican and Nicaraguan citizenship, was arrested in August at the Japan-Nicaragua Friendship Hospital in Managua where he worked. Authorities linked the arrest to his alleged role in civic demonstrations during the 2018 protests against the government.
Ruiz, who lives in exile, publicly calls for her son’s immediate release and questions why Costa Rican officials have not done more to intervene. “I continue to demand the immediate release of my son, that he be handed over to the U.S. State Department or the Costa Rican Embassy in Managua,” she stated in a video shared on social media. She marks today, November 14, as the 93rd day since his arrest, describing it as a period of forced disappearance despite brief glimpses provided by Nicaraguan officials.
The Nicaraguan regime under Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo released photographs in early September showing Estrada Ruiz during a visit from his wife on September 3. The images aimed to counter claims of mistreatment, with Estrada Ruiz appearing in interviews where he confirmed receiving basic rights and a conjugal visit. Nicaraguan authorities label him a golpista, or coup plotter, accusing him of terrorism and treason. They reject international criticism, including from the U.S., as defamatory and an infringement on sovereignty.
The U.S. State Department has condemned the detention, reporting that Estrada Ruiz was “arrested, brutally tortured, and disappeared” by the regime, and holds Ortega and Murillo responsible for his safety. Weeks after the arrest, U.S. officials demanded proof of life, prompting the release of the photos.
Ruiz insists the images do little to ease her fears. “Here I am, Rosario Murillo and Daniel Ortega, demanding and insisting on the release of my son, Yerri Gustavo Estrada Ruiz,” she said in one video. “They showed him to me once, but since then they have made him disappear again, taking away all the rights we have as people, both to visit him and to see him and deliver his packages.” She reports facing punishment for her public outcries but vows to continue speaking out.
Her pleas extend to Costa Rican leaders. She accuses President Rodrigo Chaves, the Foreign Ministry, and other authorities of silence that borders on complicity. “I continue to urge the Costa Rican state, the Foreign Ministry, President Rodrigo Chaves, the deputies, the executive branch: what is going on?
They continue to remain silent, just as the Ortega-Murillo regime does,” Ruiz said. She emphasizes her son’s birthright citizenship: “He is not Costa Rican because he arrived and settled and later applied for citizenship. No, sir, he is Costa Rican because he was born there. So don’t remain silent. You must speak out. It is your moral obligation.”
Costa Rican congresswoman Priscilla Vindas has echoed Ruiz’s calls, urging Nicaragua to release Estrada Ruiz amid rising alarms in both countries. Opposition voices in Nicaragua highlight the case as part of broader patterns of enforced disappearances under the regime.
Ruiz’s family has endured further hardship. After the regime published the photos, her eldest daughter went into hiding, and Ruiz warns her son is again in effective disappearance. She recently demanded that Ortega and Murillo hand him over to U.S. or Costa Rican diplomats in Managua, pleading after 92 days without new information.
Human rights groups monitor the situation closely, noting it reflects ongoing repression since the 2018 protests. Estrada Ruiz’s case draws attention to dual citizens caught in cross-border tensions between Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
As days pass, Ruiz holds firm in her fight. “Pensar diferente no lo hace un delincuente, ni terrorista, ni traidor a la patria,” she affirmed, insisting differing views do not make her son a criminal.
