MANAGUA -- The proprietors of a Managua discotheque apologized Tuesday to a black woman who represents Nicaragua in the Central American Parliament and who reported them to the authorities for denying her admission because of her race.
The owners of the El Chaman night spot offered their "sincere apologies" to lawmaker Bridget Yvonne Budier Bryan, a member of Nicaragua's governing Sandinista party.
Budier, a native of the Caribbean coastal town of Bluefields, whose residents are mainly of African, indigenous or mixed heritage, branded the disco as racist for denying her admission when she tried to enter with four dark-skinned friends.
She protested to public prosecutors, who have carried forward her complaint following the Feb. 6 incident.
El Chaman's owners promised to investigate the case and take the necessary steps to avoid such incidents in the future.
"We repeat before Nicaraguan public opinion and particularly to the community on the Caribbean coast that El Chaman deeply regrets that legislator Budier and her companions felt discriminated against," they said.
They said in the letter that the discotheque has "an admission policy that basically refers to legal age, dress code, drunkenness, aggressive attitudes, and other considerations," but not skin color. <span style="font-weight: bold">The Palestinian-descended proprietors </span>of El Chaman said that they are "multi-ethnic."
Nicaragua's national ombudsman, ex-Sandinista guerrilla Omar Cabezas, demanded Monday that the authorities close at least three discotheques in Managua where acts of racial discrimination have been reported.
He said that El Chaman, Hipa Hipa and Brothers, all located in an affluent area of the capital, do not accept blacks among their clientele.
People of African descent represent around 5 percent of Nicaragua's population.
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