New York, September 18, 2025
The Fundación para la Libertad de Nicaragua expresses its profound gratitude to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for including the case of our president, Félix Maradiaga, in the 2025 official report titled “Cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights” (A/HRC/60/62).
This report, presented in the context of the UN Human Rights Council, documents acts of intimidation and reprisals against individuals who cooperate with the UN human rights system. The inclusion of our president’s case not only recognizes the seriousness of the persecution endured by him and his family, but also confirms the systematic and transnational nature of the repression exercised by the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship against those who raise their voices for justice.
A Record of Cooperation with the United Nations
Félix Maradiaga has maintained a consistent and transparent cooperation with the United Nations as a human rights defender and president of our organization. On September 5, 2018, he testified before the UN Security Council in New York during a historic session dedicated to the human rights crisis in Nicaragua.
Following that testimony, a series of diplomatic and institutional actions were undertaken by the international community. In response, the Nicaraguan regime escalated its reprisals against Maradiaga, including his arbitrary arrest in 2021, his 13-year prison sentence, the revocation of his Nicaraguan nationality in 2023, and the confiscation of his personal property and legal documents.
Far from silencing him, these abuses have only strengthened his commitment. In 2025, Maradiaga has once again been invited, in his capacity as president of the Fundación para la Libertad de Nicaragua, to participate in high-level events during the UN General Assembly in New York, as well as in strategic meetings with special rapporteurs and partner organizations at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, with the goal of giving voice to the many Nicaraguans who are still silenced.
Transnational Repression Against His Family
The UN report (A/HRC/60/62) forcefully denounces that the persecution has not been limited to Félix Maradiaga alone. On the contrary, it has extended to at least 15 members of his extended family, both inside and outside of Nicaragua:
- Many relatives have been forced into exile due to direct threats and systematic harassment.
- The passports of 11 close family members have been canceled or denied renewal.
- Several relatives have been subjected to short-term arbitrary detentions, surveillance by unmarked vehicles, and intimidating phone calls.
- Some—including his own mother, siblings, in-laws, and extended relatives—have been prevented from re-entering Nicaragua after traveling abroad.
- On September 24, 2024, agents from the Attorney General’s Office illegally confiscated the family home in Jinotega, without court order or prior notice. This follows earlier confiscations of Maradiaga’s property in 2018 and 2021.
- In addition, former employees and collaborators of the organizations and businesses that Maradiaga led prior to their forced closure by the regime have been interrogated solely due to their association with him.
- Meanwhile, an ongoing campaign of defamation and disinformation continues against Félix Maradiaga, using pro-government media such as “Radio La Primerísima” to label him a “traitor,” “terrorist,” and “foreign agent.”
This repressive pattern reflects what the United Nations has termed transnational repression—a deliberate strategy used by authoritarian regimes to punish not only opposition leaders but also their entire human networks, even beyond national borders.
Our Commitment
At the Fundación para la Libertad de Nicaragua, we reaffirm that no campaign of hate, dispossession, or defamation will silence our work. The inclusion of our president’s case in this report is not merely an act of denunciation; it is a moral and institutional recognition of the work we continue to do for freedom, justice, and human rights in Nicaragua.
We also acknowledge that this report gives visibility to many other cases of repression that, lacking international platforms, face even greater danger. That is why our struggle continues—with humility, determination, and the unwavering conviction that truth and freedom will prevail.
We thank the United Nations for listening to those who have been silenced.
Fundación para la Libertad de Nicaragua
Freedom. Dignity. Justice.
