Nicaraguan pop singer threatens President Ortega over revolutionary song copyright

Caracas, Venezuela, 14 June, 2008. Nicaraguan popular singer Carlos Mejia Godoy asked the Ortega government to stop using his revolutionary songs and lyrics in public events. In a letter addressed to Rasario Murillo -Nicaraguan First Lady-, Mejia Godoy also recalled that they are registered in Spain as his own under copyright protection. In addition, Mejia Godoy stated he would not allow his songs -that were inspired by the struggle and death of so many companions- to fall prey of a new authoritarian government. Such clarification comes after the current government leader, Daniel Ortega, and Mejia Godoy have increasingly distanced themselves over the years.   By calling Ortega administration in such term, Godoy was voicing his political opposition to it.

Mejia Godoy wrote many songs during the 70´s and 80´s inspired by the revolutionary movement in his country. Godoy even wrote the hymn of the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front. But he did not like Ortega at all.  During the 2006 presidential elections, Godoy was a member of the Sandinista Renovation Movement (SRM) that opposed Ortega bid for power. Just on Wednesday, the Nicaraguan Electoral Body striped the SRM of its political status for allegedly committing illegal acts. In a related event, former guerrilla fighter and SRM member, Dora María Tellez, initiated a hunger strike over such political suspension. Telles equated such move against political pluralism to authoritarian rule. She also opposed the personal way of governing of President Ortega.  According to El Nuevo Diario,  few unidentified Ambassadors to Nicaragua have expressed their concerns over both SRM and Conservative Party exclusion from political life.      

Godoy is the father of Camilo Mejía, a former U.S. soldier and anti-war activist. Camilo Mejia was imprisoned after becoming a conscientious objector and refusing to go to war.      

Sources: El Universal, PRinside, Mejiagodoy, La Prensa, El Nuevo Diario