Nicaraguan Artists Costly Mural of Miss Universe
In Jail for 194 days for painting a mural of the beauty queen
The muralists were arrested in the northern Nicaraguan city of Esteli, for painting a mural to honor Sheynnis Palacios, after she was crowned Miss Universe.
HAVANA TIMES – Nicaraguan artists Kevin Laguna and Oscar Parrilla have already spent 194 days of arbitrary imprisonment under the regime of Daniel Ortega. Their crime? Painting a mural in honor of fellow Nicaraguan Sheynnis Palacios, the current Miss Universe.
The mural was begun in the city of Esteli in November 2023, shortly after Sheynnis was crowned. It was an initiative of the artists, intended to celebrate the first Nicaraguan to win the international beauty pageant. Their project was subsequently interrupted by the police, and the artists arrested under false accusations.
“They were deprived of their freedom in November 2023, for exercising their fundamental right to free expression through the creation of an artistic mural,” the Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners denounced in a statement.
Likewise, the government ordered the partially completed mural immediately painted over.
Since November, both muralists have remained behind bars, without a fair trial. The artistic community and organizations that advocate for human rights have denounced their arbitrary detention and demanded their immediate release.
“Both artists, recognized for their valuable cultural contribution to the Esteli community, were detained unjustly and without legal basis, representing a grave attack against freedom of expression and the right to culture,” the statement added. At the same time, the organization questioned the criminalization of artistic expression in Nicaragua.
“It’s unacceptable that the authorities criminalize peaceful artistic expression and go after those who exercise their creativity for the good of society. Defense of human rights and the promotion of cultural diversity are fundamental to the construction of a just and democratic society,” the document affirmed.
Since their arrest, relatives of the two muralists have avoided making any public statements, in hopes that their family members would be freed. However, their decision to abstain from giving declarations to the media hasn’t kept the Ortega regime from continuing to hold the two men captive, merely for expressing their art.
“We demand their immediate release, as well as that of all the political prisoners,” the organization demanded at the conclusion of their statement.
After Sheyniss Palacios was declared the pageant winner, the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship in Nicaragua turned against the entire organization of the country’s “Miss Universe” pageant. They accused the franchise owners of a litany of fabricated crimes, and eventually expelled them from the country.
Meanwhile, Sheyniss Palacios herself “is experiencing an indefinite exile,” according to the co-owner of the Miss Universe franchise, who made the statement on social media. For that reason, she added, Sheyniss hasn’t been able to return to Nicaragua and celebrate her triumph with her people. In fact, it was the spontaneous explosion of joy from the Nicaraguan people – who poured out onto the streets when Sheyniss was crowned – that so perturbed the dictatorship as to provoke a furious crackdown on all things related to the beauty queen.
After the forced dismantling of the country’s Miss Universe apparatus and the persecution of the organization’s owners, the dictatorial couple have inaugurated their own beauty pageant, which they call Queen Nicaragua. In this way, they have gained full control over who wins, although their beauty contest will have no reach or impact in the region or the world.