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Upcoming Events
(12.9.2022) Nicaragua Untold: The Fall of Democracy Under the Ortega Regime

Berta Valle event

About the Event

The dream of the Sandinista Revolution seems to have vanished once and for all in Nicaragua. Daniel Ortega's now entrenched authoritarian regime has many parallels with the regime of dictator Anastasio Somoza, who ruled the country between 1967 and 1979 and was then overthrown by the Sandinistas under Ortega. Once again there are political prisoners - currently about 170 of them. Among them is the liberal human rights activist and politician Félix Maradiaga, a long-time partner of the FNF. We talk to his wife, Berta Valle, about the current situation in Nicaragua and future scenarios.

About the Speaker

Berta Valle is social communicator and pro-democracy activist from Nicaragua. She is the former Executive Director of “Fundación Coen” (2016 – 2018), one of Nicaragua’s largest private philanthropic foundations. Fundacion Coen. (FC) provides free health services and also focuses on improving the quality of education in Nicaragua through its own network of 24 schools and 220 teachers. As Executive Director of FC, Berta directly oversaw a team of 45 people, including a team of medical doctors, education experts and a regional “Operation Smile” program. Due to political persecution, Berta and her family had to flee Nicaragua and recently abandoned her position at FC.

Prior to joining FC, Berta was the General Manager of “Vos TV” (2014-2016), one of Nicaragua’s main private TV Networks. At age 30, Berta was the youngest General Manager (CEO) of a major TV company in Central America. Previously, she was the main TV anchor of “Primera Hora” at Channel 2, a show she co-hosted for eight years (2004-2011), making at the time, the morning show with the highest TV ratings in the history of Nicaragua.

She is the founder of “Todo en Positivo” (2015), a social-business and online streaming show focused on empowering women. She is also a co-founder of “TrollBuster” an award winning digital tool designed to tackle online harassment against women. Berta is a former Curator of Global Shapers’ Managua Hub (2015 –2016), a World Economic Forum initiative and is also a member of the “Council on Women Leadership” an initiative sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to promote women in public policy. In 2016, Forbes Magazine (Mexico Edition), selected her as one of Central America’s most influential women.

Kindly register for this event by 09. September at:  https://forms.gle/fnWZ4dXgCrezvcQv9