Carlos Mejia Godoy Accuses Nicaraguan Government of Attack

HAVANA TIMES – The famous singer/songwriter Carlos Mejia Godoy denounced Friday an attack by police and paramilitaries on the home of musician Milciades Herrera and the subsequent kidnapping of one of his relatives, whose whereabouts are unknown.

Mejia Godoy called channel 15 TV to protest the kidnapping, that happened this Friday in a populated neighborhood of Managua and that he described as “an attack to the community of artists and singers of Nicaragua.”

According to the veteran singer-songwriter, the attackers penetrated via the roof of Herrera’s house and committed an armed robbery and kidnapped Herrera’s son-in-law, identified as Joel Moraga.

“They took cell phones, communication equipment, deactivated their home phone and threatened them,” he said. “Moraga was subjected to a terrible beating before being taken to a vehicle and taken to an unknown destination,” he added.

Milciades Herrera is a founding member of “Los de Palacaguina”, the musical group that has accompanied Mejía Godoy for almost 50 years. He and his son-in-law had attended peaceful marches against the Government.

“I hold the government of Nicaragua, the commander Ortega and Rosario Murillo responsible for what may happen to my colleague Milciades Herrera and his family,” he said.

Nicaragua is experiencing a crisis that began on April 18 with a student protest but that has already spread throughout the country and has left 200 people dead and more than 1,400 injured, according to independent human rights organizations.

Human rights activists have denounced a wave of raids of houses by uniformed police along with paramilitaries, in numerous cities and towns of the country, to detain alleged opponents.