Berta Valle

Nicaraguan television presenter and human rights activist
​
(m. 2006)​
Children1

Berta Valle (born c. 1984) is a Nicaraguan television presenter and human rights activist. She is the wife of former 2021 presidential pre-candidate Félix Maradiaga, who was detained by the government of Daniel Ortega on June 8, 2021.

Early life and education

Valle, born circa 1984,[1] grew up with three brothers.[2] She holds a BS in Business Economics from the Catholic University of Nicaragua and an MBA from INCAE Business School in Managua.[2]

In 2003, she was crowned queen of the Carnaval Alegría por la Vida.[2]

Career

Valle spent eight years working as a television presenter on the morning show Primera Hora.[2] She also worked as a station manager at Vos TV, and on a show she created in 2015 with Xiomara Blandino called Berta y Xiomara: Todo en Positivo.[2]

In 2016, Valle was nominated as an independent to represent Managua in the National Assembly by the Independent Liberal Party (PLI) as part of its National Coalition for Democracy.[3] She was the first candidate listed on the party’s electoral slate,[3] but Nicaragua’s Supreme Court, controlled by Ortega loyalists, disqualified the party’s electoral coalition and Valle was blocked from running.[citation needed]

Since 2019, she has led Voces en Libertad, a nonprofit promoting cooperation among members of Nicaragua’s independent media who fled the country following the 2018 sociopolitical crisis.[4]

On June 8, 2021, her husband Félix Maradiaga became part of a wave of arrests of opposition pre-candidates for president in the 2021 Nicaraguan general election.[5] Valle has coordinated defense teams supporting him in and outside of Nicaragua.[6] On July 27, 2021, the Nicaraguan Public Ministry and Nicaraguan National Police announced an investigation of Valle under controversial Law 1055, accusing her of being a “traitor to the homeland,” based on her international advocacy for pressure to release her detained husband.[7] Victoria Cárdenas, wife of Juan Sebastián Chamorro, another detained candidate, was similarly accused.[7]

Personal life

She married Maradiaga circa 2006.[2] Since 2018, Valle has been living in exile in the United States with the couple’s daughter (born circa 2014).[8]

References

  1. ^ "Revista Envío - Ortega juega con las cartas marcadas y la oposición presenta sus primeras cartas". Envío. 2016. Archived from the original on August 5, 2016. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Matamoros, Kathia (2016-05-18). "Conozca quién es Berta Valle". La Prensa (in Spanish). Archived from the original on May 19, 2016. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  3. ^ a b Álvarez, Leonor (2016-06-01). "Berta Valle hace su primera aparición política". La Prensa (in Spanish). Archived from the original on June 2, 2016. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
  4. ^ "La censura multiplicó las voces". ManaguaFuriosa (in Spanish). 2019-09-11. Retrieved 2021-09-10.
  5. ^ Brasileiro, Adriana (June 11, 2021). "U.S. warns Nicaragua more sanctions will come if opposition candidates aren't released". Miami Herald. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  6. ^ Valle, Berta; Cárdenas, Victoria (July 1, 2021). "Opinion | Ortega kidnapped our husbands. The world must act to save them and democracy in Nicaragua". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  7. ^ a b "Policía anuncia "investigación" contra Berta Valle y Victoria Cárdenas". Confidencial (in Spanish). 2021-07-28. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  8. ^ Romo, Rafael (June 13, 2021). "'The [Ortega] regime is willing to kill', says wife of detained Nicaraguan activist". CNN. Retrieved 22 July 2021.