Berta Valle is a Nicaraguan journalist, human rights activist, and vocal critic of the Ortega regime. She is married to pro-democracy activist, and former presidential candidate Félix Maradiaga, who was imprisoned from June 8, 2021, to February 21, 2023, by Ortega’s regime in an unprecedented crackdown on the opposition in Nicaragua. With fifteen years of experience as a senior television anchor and station manager working with top morning shows in Nicaragua, Valle is one of the most recognized broadcasters in the country. In 2016, Valle was nominated as an independent to represent Managua in the National Assembly by the Independent Liberal Party as part of its National Coalition for Democracy. However, the Supreme Court, controlled by President Daniel Ortega loyalists, disqualified the party’s electoral coalition and blocked Valle from running.

Since 2019, Valle has been living in exile after her husband Félix Maradiaga was forcibly disappeared and imprisoned by the regime in June 2021. In her exile, Valle campaigned to bring international attention to Daniel Ortega’s abuses, including the unjust imprisonment of more than 140 pro-democracy activists in her country. Since 2019, Valle 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.