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Nicaraguan NGO Denounces Forced Disappearance of Elderly Housewife
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Crime & Justice

Nicaraguan NGO Denounces Forced Disappearance of Elderly Housewife

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • A Nicaraguan NGO has denounced the forced disappearance of a 68-year-old housewife, Salvadora del Socorro Martínez Aburto, who was arbitrarily detained on August 14, 2025.
  • Martínez Aburto, wife of an imprisoned former Sandinista colonel, was sentenced to 15 years for "treason against the homeland" alongside her husband.
  • The NGO reports at least nine such cases, mostly involving elderly individuals, and demands a proof of life and immediate release from the Nicaraguan government.

A human rights NGO has raised alarm over the forced disappearance of Salvadora del Socorro Martínez Aburto, a 68-year-old Nicaraguan housewife. The Colectivo de Derechos Humanos para la Memoria Histórica de Nicaragua reported that Martínez Aburto was arbitrarily detained on August 14, 2025, and has since been in a state of forced disappearance. The NGO, composed mainly of Nicaraguan activists based in San José, stated that Martínez Aburto is a devout, simple housewife with no political involvement.

Martínez Aburto is the wife of former Sandinista colonel Carlos Brenes Sánchez, who is also imprisoned. Both were sentenced on April 7 to 15 years in prison for offenses classified as "treason against the homeland." According to the NGO, Martínez Aburto was "kidnapped" without a judicial order by Nicaraguan police from her farm. She was reportedly forced into a police vehicle, which then proceeded to capture her husband. Since that date, neither has been seen, and their families have received no information about their whereabouts.

She is a very Christian, believing, simple housewife who never got involved in politics.

— Colectivo de Derechos Humanos para la Memoria Histórica de NicaraguaThe NGO described Salvadora del Socorro Martínez Aburto to highlight the perceived injustice of her detention and disappearance.

The NGO emphasized that forced disappearance constitutes a crime against humanity. They have demanded that the government, led by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, provide proof of life for Martínez Aburto and secure her immediate release. This case is part of a broader pattern, with the NGO documenting at least nine individuals in forced disappearance, predominantly elderly people. This situation follows the death of indigenous leader and National Assembly member Brooklyn Rivera Brayan, 73, while in state custody on May 30.

Since then (August 14, 2025), both remain in a state of forced disappearance, without their families having information about their whereabouts.

— Colectivo de Derechos Humanos para la Memoria Histórica de NicaraguaThe NGO detailed the circumstances of Martínez Aburto and her husband's disappearance, emphasizing the lack of information available to their families.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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