The Nicaraguan economist and opposition figure Douglas Castro, exiled in Colombia and de facto denationalized by the dictatorship, managed to graduate from the prestigious University of Oxford, managing to overcome the statelessness to which he was condemned by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
This Saturday it was announced on different social networks about the graduation ceremony held at the European university, where Castro graduated with a master’s degree in Latin American studies thanks to a scholarship awarded by that university.
The member of the Nicaraguan University Alliance (AUN) is a sociologist and economist and in Nicaragua he worked as a researcher and teacher at the Central American University (UCA), currently confiscated by the Ortega-Murillo regime.
He was forced to go into exile in October 2021, after learning that the dictatorship had issued three arrest warrants against him. The AUN member left irregularly and sought refuge in Colombia where he was notified that he had won a scholarship to study at Oxford.
Related news: Nicaraguan Douglas Castro wins a scholarship to Oxford, but Ortega refuses to renew his passport
When he tried to pursue this master’s degree, he was initially prevented because the Nicaraguan dictatorship denied him the renewal of his passport, a basic document to be able to travel, which left him in a state of de facto statelessness.
However, the Government of Colombia granted him the nationality of that country, so he finally dedicated himself to his studies to complete his master’s degree this weekend.
For some Nicaraguan opponents who have reacted to the achievement achieved by academic Castro, this graduation symbolizes the resistance and at the same time perseverance of the exiles, banished Nicaraguans who resist the arbitrariness of the Managua regime.
The journalist and former Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Arturo McFields, described Castro’s achievement as “excellent news.”
«Excellent news. Another Nicaraguan who achieves his dreams despite exile and the Ortega Murillo dictatorship. Today Douglas Castro graduates from the University of Oxford.
The Ortega-Murillo tyranny has ordered the closure and confiscation of the assets of 33 universities and has arbitrarily expelled at least 150 young people from the universities.
