A senior police official from within the circle of power of the dictatorship was removed and jailed. This article goes into the history of this Police Commissioner and the theories behind his fall.
The fall of Commissioner Marenco: different versions and his imprisonment in El Chipote
By Divergentes, January 17, 2023
Up to now the National Police have not reported on the reason for the arrest of Adolfo Marenco, former assistant director of the institution and chief of political intelligence and investigation. The versions point to disobedience to the presidential couple, corruption and supposedly an investigation into the high officials in the Army of Nicaragua, even “collaboration with the United States.” The Commissioner was a man of importance within the Sandinista regime, a person considered “untouchable”, because he enjoyed the confidence of Rosario Murillo and Nestor Moncada Lau.
The imprisonment of retired General Commissioner Adolfo Joel Marenco Corea, former assistant director of the National Police and chief of political investigation and intelligence, is the confirmation about the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo that no figure of power within the dictatorship is free from being taken to courts in Nicaragua, said a senior source of the Sandinista government to DIVERGENTES.
“Marenco was `powerful´ because of the title he had, but he lacked leadership and his own thinking within the institution. This allowed them to squeeze him. They are sending a clear message: if this happens to a former director of intelligence, they will go all out against anyone,” explained the source who requested anonymity for security reasons.
There are several versions about the capture of Marenco Corea and his imprisonment in the cells of the Judicial Support Office, better known as El Chipote. The digital media Confidencial published that the former chief of intelligence was detained because he wanted to flee the country, and for refusing to comply with the orders of the Sandinista dictators. On the other hand, 100% Noticias reported that they did not know whether the detention was linked to politics, business, corruption or drug trafficking.
An extraofficial version to which DIVERGENTES had access pointed to the fact that the imprisonment of Marenco Corea was motivated by supposedly an investigation that he was doing on members of the Army of Nicaragua. The digging that the former assistant director of the Police was doing did not sit well in the heart of the military body who immediately informed the dictator Daniel Ortega, who supposedly ordered the arrest of the retired general commissioner.
Supposedly the investigation was an initiative of Marenco Corea in order to “remain in good stead” with Rosario Murillo and give her on a silver platter the intricacies of some soldiers who were doing business behind the back of the Sandinista regime. This version, nevertheless, was not able to be corroborated by this communications medium. It is known that the senior military command strictly responds to Daniel Ortega, and the relationship that the Vice president has with the military body is tense.
“I do not believe that Marenco would have taken such a risk. He is an ally of the military and does not have the guts to do it, and even less without authorization. There is no investigative autonomy without prior notice. And if he did do it, it would be his first bold action”, explained the Governmental source.
The fall of Marenco Corea in the police institution happened on November 16, 2022 when he was named to the service commission in the Social Security and Human Development Institute (ISSDHU), an office responsible for the financial administration of the Police pension and of those institutions subordinated to the Ministry of the Interior.
The former chief of political investigation and intelligence lasted in that post nine days. On November 25, 2022 his removal from the police institution and therefore the post in ISSDHU was made official in La Gaceta, the official daily newspaper.
The senior source of the Government consulted by DIVERGENTES said that the removal of Marenco Corea was due to a housecleaning of important posts, like that of police intelligence, within the institution, and to keep things from getting out of hand, the dictatorship decided to send the former assistant director of the Police home. Nevertheless, another source linked to the party in power says that they detected that Marenco wanted to flee Nicaragua, and that is why he was transferred again to El Chipote.
“The signs of corruption of Marenco are confirmed. His arrest could revolve around, almost certainly, acts that he did not report and which he did not inform the regime about. And this is also treason, they do not let that pass,” added the senior government source. Another version that circulates in the corridors of the Police is that Marenco was passing information to the United States, something that also has not been able to be confirmed by this media.
Marenco Corea is the only one of the senior police officials who has not been sanctioned by the Government of the United States. Since the April 2018 crisis exploded until now, the North Americans have designated Luis Alberto Pérez Olivas, Head of the Judicial Support Office (DAJ); Justo Pastor Urbina, Head of the Office of Special Operations (DOEP), and Major Commissioner Juan Alberto Valle Valle, Head of the Transit Brigade Office of Managua, Francisco Díaz, Chief of Police, and the institution itself all as sanctioned.
A police source who spoke with DIVERGENTES said that one of the reasons why Marenco Corea has not been sanctioned by the United States is because the former assistant director of the Police up until his retirement was the permanent connection to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in Nicaragua.
Who is Adolfo Marenco?
Up until his removal and arrest Adolfo Marenco was one of the most important figures within the police institution. He was the assistant director of the National Police and chief of political investigation and intelligence for the institution. If there was a person of interest to the Sandinista regime, the former assistant director himself was responsible for putting together a complete report to be used in any way.
Most of his life he dedicated to the National Police, from his entry into their ranks at the age of 20 to his retirement last year. During his youth he worked in Juigalpa hand in hand with the chief of that delegation, Major Commissioner Francisco Cuadra Serrano. A mentor who helped him evade patriotic military service.
“He was always interested in investigations. It gave him enormous pleasure to dig into the details because he used to say that they could be of “interest” to the police,” stated a police source consulted for this article.
In the mid 1990s Marenco Corea worked as the second head of the provincial unit of Madriz. He acquired so much knowledge in the field of investigation that he was named head of the one of the special investigations departments of the police institution.
After spending many years in this special investigations department, Marenco Corea was promoted in 2009 to the chief of the Executive Secretariat of the Police. In that office he had time to continue training himself and got involved in national baseball.
The pact with Moncada Lau and the confidence of Murillo
His “free time “ended in 2012 when he was responsible for the Intelligence Office of the Police, an office that worked on investigating criminals who formed part of drug and weapons trafficking, and human trafficking networks, also those involved in assaults, extortion and kidnapping.
“In that police office he had access to a record that connected a senior official of the Sandinista Government with arms and drug trafficking. That person was Néstor Moncada Lau. But Marenco did not want to hurt anyone, he always took advantage of the information. So as a show of confidence, he gave the file to Moncada,” said a police source who knew the former assistant director and also asked to remain anonymous.
The delivery of the file which Marenco Corea provided Moncada Lau was well regarded by the security advisor who took it into account to develop in 2015 a police intelligence strategy and policy in the National Police with the purpose of preventing fissures which might put at risk the capture of power of the Sandinista dictatorship.
In addition to the police and political intelligence post, Marenco Coreo was designated by the Sandinista regime in 2017 as the head of the National Council against Organized Crime. A post in which he had access to the Financial Analysis Unit, the Superintendency of Banks, the General Office of Income, the Ministry of the Interior, among other institutions.
His greatest progress within and outside the institution happened in 2018, during the police repression ordered by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo against the demonstrators who were protesting against human rights violations.
His function was to infiltrate people of his trust throughout the national territory in order to get information about the opponents who were resisting the police repression in the roadblocks. The work of Marenco Corea was so effective that in less than two months the roadblocks were knocked down during “Operation Cleanup” which paramilitaries and police officers carried out with a bloody toll for demonstrators.
“Marenco was recognized by Ortega and Murillo for his work. He was key in preparing the files for the political prisoners and continuing the police vigilance. There is when, hand in hand with Lau, he won the trust of Murillo,” stated the police source.