Juana Méndez, the Last Survivor of Murillo’s Purge at Nicaragua’s Supreme Court

Juana Méndez is now known in Nicaragua not only for issuing a landmark corruption conviction against former President Arnoldo Alemán, but also as the sole survivor of Rosario Murillo’s purge of the Supreme Court.

Former judicial employees and human-rights organizations describe Méndez as trusted by the ruling elite around El Carmen and as a prominent member of the governing Sandinista National Liberation Front, or FSLN. She is also the widow of guerrilla commander Walter Ferreti Fonseca. In 2021, she was seen swearing in Electoral Victory Units in León and dancing to “Daniel se queda,” a song the government used to mock the April 2018 uprising.

Méndez was temporarily removed from the Supreme Court in 2025 during an unsuccessful attempt by the regime to place her at the presidency of the Central American Court of Justice. The National Assembly formalized her resignation on March 18, 2025. She returned to Nicaragua’s highest court the following day. The official explanation was that she would become president of the regional court, but that rationale disappeared after Daniel Ortega and Murillo ordered Nicaragua to leave the organization.

Her brief departure exposed instability inside the judicial apparatus and highlighted her importance to the regime. Since Murillo, who calls herself co-president, took control of the Supreme Court in October 2023, Méndez has remained in place while the purge continued. Sources connected to the judiciary told CONFIDENCIAL that more than 1,600 employees had been dismissed across the country by November 2025.

The purge forced several Supreme Court magistrates to resign, including Alba Luz Ramos, Gerardo Arce, Marvin Aguilar, Armando Juárez, Virgilio Gurdián, Manuel Martínez, Armengol Cuadra, Yadira Centeno and Ellen Joy Lewin. Méndez’s name never appeared among those who had fallen from favor. In November 2025, as other magistrates were being removed, she and then-magistrate Aguilar signed a circular ordering local judges to release sick prisoners and older people held for less serious offenses. Nine days later, Aguilar’s “resignation” became official, leaving Méndez as the only magistrate protected by Murillo.