Nicaraguan police raid home of detained musician Josue Monroy

On April 14 – Holy Thursday – six officials of the Nicaraguan National Police reentered the home of musician Josue Monroy, located in Managua’s Altamira neighborhood, and carried off his musical instruments and equipment. A source close to the musician told Confidencial they witnessed the moment the uniformed men arrived. It was the second time in a week the house was ransacked by the police.

Monroy himself was abducted from his home on Tuesday, April 12, in a round-up that included his band’s producers, Salvador Espinoza and Xochitl Tapia, owners of Saxo Productions, and musician and entrepreneur Leonardo Canales. Monroy’s relatives confirmed he’s locked up in the infamous Managua jail known as “El Chipote”.

To date, those abducted haven’t been presented by the authorities, nor has any motive been given for their detention.

“On Tuesday, they burst in violently and obtrusively, even scaling the outer wall. This time, they showed up in a more decent way, and rang the doorbell to the home,” stated the source that observed the new search.

“They returned on Thursday and left some 90 minutes later, carrying his guitars, amplifiers, microphones, cables, speakers and some other smaller objects. They’d already taken two laptops and a camera on Tuesday. I don’t know what they think they’ll prove with that. It’s irrational, illogical, absurd, because they’re performers, not criminals,” declared a relative who asked to remain anonymous.

Sources close to the musician explained that Monroy had cut off all relations with Juan Carlos Ortega, son of the presidential couple, although the latter still sought him out to play with them in Ortega’s band “Ciclo”. From the time Monroy refused to have contact with any figures from the dictatorship, he began to receive threats from unknown numbers on his phone.

On Tuesday afternoon, April 12, the Ortega regime had Monroy and another three musicians and music producers arrested in Managua. Those detained had participated in a concert on April 2, marking the 15th anniversary of the band “Monroy & Surmenage”. Allegedly, the performance included a song that criticized the Ortega Murallo regime.

The song that apparently offended the presidential couple and caused Monroy’s arrest and the looting of all his possessions was titled En el ojo del huracan [“In the eye of the hurricane.”]. Among its lyrics are phrases such as “a loud yell in April”, “they all shout Presente” [phrase commemorating the dead], and “They come together in the rain, they die two by two.”

According to a report from the online news site 100% Noticias, during the concert, they also stated: “April won’t be forgotten,” in allusion to the social protests of April 2018 that were brutally repressed by the Ortega-Murillo regime.

*This article was published originally in Confidencial and traslated by Havana Times.