Dear John,

Normally when you hear about people being forced to flee their home countries, you might think about North Korea or Soviet dissidents from way back.

But did you know that this still happens today, much much closer to home? It’s happening just a two and a half hour flight from Miami, in Nicaragua.

Felix Maradiaga and his wife Berta Valle have paid dearly for their freedom. Felix has already lived many different lives in his first 46 years.

He has served in Nicaragua's Office for the Reintegration of Ex-combatants (think: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs), Secretary General of Nicaragua's Ministry of Defense, investor, husband, father, and founder of the Institute of Strategic Studies and Public Policies.

Now, for the second time in his life, Nicaragua’s dictator Daniel Ortega has made him a refugee; the first time when he was 12 years old, and now as a leader of the opposition.

Felix announced his candidacy for Nicaragua's presidency in 2021, and was arrested soon after, along with seven other presidential candidates running against Ortega.

He had already been imprisoned without any contact from the outside world in terrible conditions—including solitary confinement—for almost a year and a half when Berta Valle spoke at last year’s Liberty Forum & Freedom Dinner. She courageously spoke out against Ortega for his “establishment of a totalitarian regime” even as Ortega’s regime still controlled her husband’s future.

Berta also spoke at our 2022 Latin America Liberty Forum in Mexico City, and one of our guests there, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, who heads up TV Azteca in Mexico, decided to take action.

He organized a team that slipped into Nicaragua at great personal risk to tell the stories of people being repressed by the Ortega regime, creating a series of viral videos that led to a diplomatic backlash against Nicaragua, a 60 Minutes interview with Berta, and eventually, Felix’s release in February. As a parting gift, Ortega stripped Felix and over 200 other Nicaraguans of their citizenship, leaving them without a state in another country.

After I heard Berta speak last year, even with the uncertainty for the future of her husband and family, you could feel her resolve as well as the emotional strain placed on her.

I’m glad to tell you this year we will celebrate with Felix Maradiaga and Berta Valle together as they deliver this year’s Linda Whetstone Toast to Freedom at Liberty Forum & Freedom Dinner, and share their happiness at finally being reunited. Felix and Berta's journey is a testament to the resilience and courage of free people who refuse to let others take their liberty without a fight.

Linda Whetstone, daughter of our founder Sir Antony Fisher and former Chair of Atlas Network’s Board of Directors, believed that every country deserves access to freedom, and she would have raised a glass to the courage that Felix and Berta had shown. Great people who fight to make unfree countries free are heroes, and I hope you will join us when we celebrate them in person in November.

All my best,

Kam

P.S. If you want to raise your glass with us at Freedom Dinner in November, you can sign up here: atlasnetwork.org/events ([link removed]*1245r6t*_ga*MTg1ODg5NDAxOC4xNjYzNjEyMjYx*_ga_F992Z0Y4W1*MTY5MzI1MTkxMi4xMzEuMC4xNjkzMjUxOTEyLjYwLjAuMA.&utm_source=Atlas+Network&utm_campaign=4468c98d64-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_08_28_06_28_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-54e8bdcdb4-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D.)

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