Four years have passed since the assassination of Junior Gaitana 15-year-old adolescent, originally from Masaya, who on June 2, 2018, was murdered near the Masaya handicraft market during the social protests against the Daniel Ortega dictatorship.
To this day, the crime remains unpunished. The minor’s parents point to a police officer at the service of the Sandinista regime as being the one who shot the teenager.
Related news: Three years after the murder of Junior Gaitán, the teenager’s parents demand “true justice”
On each anniversary of the death of the “chick” – as Junior was known – his relatives carry out some activity to honor his memory or go to flower the tomb where his remains rest.
«The government of Daniel Ortega is responsible for the death of our son; He was a child with a great future ahead of him, he liked sports a lot, but now he is no longer with us because the police killed him », he said in a recent interview with Article 66 Aura lila López, mother of one of the more than 30 citizens of Masaya murdered.
Regarding the constant harassment by the Ortega Police, the teenager’s relatives demand that the repression against him cease. “(The government) speaks of love and peace, but there is none because it always continues with the repression with the anguish of the mothers of the victims and of the political prisoners,” said Junior Gaitán’s mother.
“Mother’s Day was not a joy because in our homes we need our children,” stressed Aura lila López, denouncing the impunity and repression they suffer.
Victims of illegal trespassing
Junior Gaitán’s relatives have an altar dedicated to his memory in their living room. At the entrance to the house there are two flags, one from Nicaragua and the other from the Catholic Church. There is a mosaic of photos, trophies and diplomas that belonged to the teenager who would be turning 19 this year.
Related news: Junior Gaitán and Donald López Ruiz celebrate one year after being assassinated by the dictatorship
However, in April of this year, on the eve of the anniversary of the social protests, the Police raided the house of the teenager’s parents, located in the El Replega neighborhood, in Masaya, without a warrant.
«Three patrols came, the riot police surrounded the entire street, they did not let anyone pass. They took our cell phones. they told my dad that he will sit down and not say anything. The children who were in the fours took them out and put them in rows. They took some t-shirts from my mother that have the child’s photo, a Nicaraguan flag and another from AMA (Mothers of April Association), “one of Junior Gaitán’s sisters told this media outlet.
He added that a police officer threatened them and told them that they were prohibited from going to mass at the San Miguel Church and that they cannot carry out any act of protest. Despite the threats and siege, opponents continue to demand justice.
Junior Gaitán is one of the more than 300 murdered in 2018 in Nicaragua. The opponents blame all the deaths on the Police and paramilitaries who attacked demonstrators during the social protests.
