What We Know about Mayela Campos, a New Political Prisoner
HAVANA TIMES – Introverted, brave, a lover of nature and reading, this is how Tatiana Campos describes her younger sister Mayela Campos, who was in her third year of Industrial Engineering at the National Engineering University in Managua.
Last Monday, August 21, Daniel Ortega’s National Police arbitrarily detained the 27-year-old Mayela together with her boyfriend Joseph David Miranda Rodríguez. The latter was released after 48 hours but was prohibited from leaving the country.
In an interview with 100% News, Mayela’s sister, Tatiana Campos, said that she is an introverted girl with ups and downs “sometimes sad, happy, scolding, she likes to give construction advice, an active person.”
According to Tatiana, her sister likes to defend the weakest, which is why she was a member of a feminist group.
“If she sees someone in trouble, she tries to help them, she gives away her things to help, she is active, she likes to work and be independent. She is a person who doesn’t care how people look at her as long as she feels good.”
Tatiana says that she admires Mayela because she is a brave woman who always says what she thinks.
“She was always saying that one had to see the good things, discard the bad and grab the good. She likes to have the freedom to express herself, dress, to come and go, and that no one manipulates her life.
Mayela was starting a clothing business for pets, mainly dogs. Her priority was to finish her career. “She likes to read books a lot, she loves her hair and she enjoys time in nature”.
Mayela joined in the protests
Tatiana Campos says that her sister was in the first year of her Industrial Engineering degree at the National Engineering University (UNI) when the protests against Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo broke out in 2018.
She remembers that the day the Sandinista Youth (JS) attacked the Central American University (UCA) she was with her sister posting flyers on the poles because she had a missing friend.
“Beginning her first year at the university, she already had her friends on campus, the day the JS attacked the UCA we were both there, we saw how the JS came to throw stones at the UCA.”
She maintains that this attack and the murders of university students caused outrage in Mayela, which is why she decided to participate in express marches and pickets.
“She met with her classmates to support the students who took over the UPOLI university, then when they took over UNI she was there. I remember that they beat her that day; a group of taxi drivers who were protesting intervened. They prevented them from taking many kids, although some young people were abducted.
She was also present in the Managua Cathedral protests, she participated in marches, express protests, in activities at the UCA. “She was part of a feminist group,” her sister notes.
Disappointment
Although she was in love with her career, Tatiana acknowledges that her sister went through moments in which she felt unmotivated to continue her career.
“She tried to stay on her feet in her career, but there were days when she said: I don’t know if it’s worth studying because here in Nicaragua, even if you get a degree, it’s not worth it because you’re only going to get a job if you’re a supporter of the government and have connections”.
Campos assures that the adversities of life taught Mayela to be an independent and fighting young woman. “Life has taught her many things that she did not understand in her childhood, that made her an independent woman. We grew up only with the mother figure. We would see my father only once a year”.
She adds “Life itself taught her to value friendships, to defend herself, to want to improve herself every day and be independent.”