Valeska Sandoval is a Nicaraguan university student. She was active in

2018 Nicaraguan protests The 2018 Nicaraguan protests began on 18 April 2018 when demonstrators in several cities of Nicaragua began protests against the social security reforms decreed by President Daniel Ortega that increased taxes and decreased benefits. After five ...

who has been repeatedly captured by pro-government forces including once in an assault captured live on

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Nicaraguan protests

Originally from Ometepe Island. During the

against

Daniel Ortega José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguans, Nicaraguan revolutionary and politician serving as President of Nicaragua since 2007. Previously he was leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, first as coordinator of the ...

, since May, she remained entrenched in the

National Autonomous University of Nicaragua The National Autonomous University of Nicaragua ( es, link=no, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua, UNAN) is the main state-funded public university of Nicaragua. Its main campus is located in Managua. The original campus, UNAN-Leon, is ...

(UNAN-

Managua ) , settlement_type = Capital city , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Nicara ...

), when the campus was taken over by young protesters. In June, she was captured and tortured by pro-government vigilante groups, who sexually abused her and two of her university partners, before leaving them abandoned and without clothes on the outskirts of Managua. On 14 July, pro-government paramilitary groups attacked the university to dismantle the trenches. During the attack, Sandoval made a live broadcast on

that went viral in which she said goodbye to her mother and affirmed her commitment to the democratization demands to the government. Sandoval disappeared on 20 July, being threatened and imprisoned in El Chipote prison, where she remained for six days and was beaten and tortured by the police. She reported that in her cell they received only one plate of food, despite being three people in it. She was released on 25 July. In July 2020 she traveled to the

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to request asylum, but was deported by the

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

administration. On 24 April 2021, a person dressed in plainclothes was followed her in the Metrocentro Managua shopping mall, Managua, while she was shopping, and afterwards, while she was waiting for a taxi, a police officer took her hand and told her she was detained without offering explanation. A group of riot police arrived later, handcuffed her and took her away in a patrol car along with two other young men who she did not know nor what happened to them after seeing them in the vehicle. Sandoval was tortured again by police officers over the weekend, being beaten, kicked, waterboarded and

tased A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed darts intended to ...

. She was released again on 26 April.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandoval, Valeska 1990s births Living people 2018 Nicaraguan protests Nicaraguan activists Nicaraguan women activists Nicaraguan women Nicaraguan torture victims

Nicaraguan protests

See also

References