Nicaragua: US journalist-translator deported

Judy Butler

A US journalist known for her decades of work translating for the monthly magazine Envio has been expelled from Nicaragua. Judy Butler, 83, was detained and summarily expelled from Nicaragua on 21 May. She had resided in Nicaragua since 1983 and was registered as a permanent resident.

Seven police officers and two plain-clothes agents demanded entry into her home in the countryside, near the town of Ticuantepe, some eight miles south of the capital Managua. She was informed that she was being deported and allowed just a few minutes to pack a small bag with clothes and medicines, before being taken away. No warrant was shown, no reasons were offered and there was no response to her questions about why the police were taking this action. The only reply she received was that they were following orders. Judy was taken first to an immigration office, where she was held for several hours, and then to the airport.

Judy Butler is now in California and still trying to assimilate the sudden life-changing events. She is being accompanied by friends and family.

In her long journalistic career, Judy worked for the North American Congress on Latin America, editing their Report on the Americas from 1977 until 1983, when she went to Nicaragua and decided to stay. During the 80s, she worked for the Center for Information and Documentation on Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast region. Her work for the Center included helping put together a regional magazine. For several decades, she was in charge of translation for the English edition of the acclaimed monthly magazine Envio of the Central American University (UCA) in Managua. The Nicaraguan regime seized the UCA last year.

A Latin America expert who has known Judy for four decades said: "It is widely thought that Judy's 'crime' was that she had been the occasional translator for the writings of Humberto Ortega. The action against her took place almost at the same time as the Nicaraguan police confirmed the 'de facto house arrest' of Humberto Ortega, brother of President Daniel Ortega and former head of the Nicaraguan Army. The coercive measure against the former military chief occurred after the publication of an interview with Argentine media in which he stated that his older brother will not be able to install any member of his family as a future President. This statement is said to have enraged Vice President Rosario Murillo, wife of President Daniel Ortega."

Daniel Ortega's rule in recent years has been marked by a return to authoritarian methods and suppression of protest. Hostility towards Christians in Nicaragua continues to intensify, with those who speak out against President Ortega and his government viewed as destabilising agents.