Opposition leaders and human rights defenders agree that it is a “mockery” and a “lack of respect” for the Nicaraguan people that the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo declare April 19 “National Day of Peace”, date on which the civic rebellion of 2018 is commemorated.
This Thursday, April 13, Rosario Murillo reported that in the coming days the National Assembly will meet to formally declare April 19 as National Day of Peace.
The first lady of Nicaragua, in her address through her propaganda media, stated that her regime “applauds” the supposed initiative of its deputies, assuring “that peace (…) is essential for life, that is why we declare ourselves defenders, guardians and human beings who protect peace as the main treasure”.
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For Enrique Martineza member of the Student Youth Unit (UJE) are “contradictory the statements of Rosario Murillo, because we must not forget that the main cause of divisions and confrontation between the Nicaraguan people is the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.”
“In the end, it is an attempt to continue changing the connotation of that emblematic day for the Nicaraguan citizens, which represents a civic rebellion in search of a change, of a social transformation and not forgetting that unfortunately there is no peace in Nicaragua,” the opposition leader told Article 66.
Martínez also pointed out that “talking about peace today in Nicaragua, and about a figure like Rosario Murillo seems to me to be disrespectful to the people and to the people who still resist the ravages of a bloody dictatorship that does not fully understand what the concept of peace in our country.”
For his part, Josefa Mezaa member of the Mothers of April Association (AMA), affirmed that this “invention” of the dictatorship to declare April 19 as a national day of peace “is a mockery for mothers, for all citizens, for all the people from Nicaragua”.
“We know the degree of cynicism with which this dictatorship always acts, we are never going to expect anything good and for us April 19 is the day the population rose up, it is the day we took to the streets and said enough is enough. After so much repression, and that the tyrant got his hands dirty killing our children, then for us April 19 is the day to commemorate a tragedy for the people of Nicaragua where we did not expect so many deaths that the dictatorship would have committed, the murderous family dictatorship,” he said.
In addition, Meza indicated that “the people of Nicaragua flatly reject and especially the Mothers of April flatly reject that day of peace, which is not peace at all, peace of the cemeteries, because that is the peace that is being given (the dictatorship ) to the people of Nicaragua.”
Luis Blandonspokesman for Unamos, also pointed out to the team of Article 66 that «the desperation in which Rosario Murillo finds herself for trying to erase this date on which all Nicaraguans are going to commemorate for the fifth consecutive year is evident, it is the fifth year that we continue resisting to achieve a just, free and democratic country; a country with opportunities for all”.
The opposition leader assured that the Ortega dictatorship, by declaring April 19 as a national day of peace, shows “that it has not been able to put out the blue and white struggle, it knows that Nicaraguans in any country, in any part of the world, including internally we continue to resist because we want to change Nicaragua, a Nicaragua in which we can all live freely and in peace.”
In addition, Braulio Abarcadefender of the Nicaragua Nunca Más Human Rights Collective, pointed out that the Ortega and Murillo regime has “contempt” towards the history that happened in Nicaragua, five years ago, where the population rose up against the dictatorship and it responded with violence and attacked peaceful demonstrations.
“Where more than 355 people have died as of that date, where thousands and thousands of Nicaraguans have had to be forcibly displaced outside the country, as well as hundreds of political prisoners who have denounced inhuman, degrading treatment, sexual violence and acts of torture against him,” denounced Abarca.
The defense lawyer reiterated that this “invention” of declaring April 19 as a national day of peace “reflects contempt for the historical memory of Nicaragua, where the Ortega and Murillo dictatorship has perpetrated not only these serious violations of the rights but also crimes against humanity.
“We condemn these arbitrariness and we demand that the memory of all the people who have died or who have lost their lives as of April 2018 be respected, who to date continue in impunity, because in order to build a free Nicaragua, really independent and in democracy, we need to start from the real and tangible historical memory through the processes of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition”, he added.
