Barricaded behind the main gate of the Fundación Familia Padre Fabretto in San José de Cusmapa, in the department of Madriz, a group of residents sing with broken voices: “Mother of God intercede before Jesus…. Father Fabretto you always live”. It is the way they found to prevent the authorities of the Ministry of Education (Mined) and the National Police from taking over the facilities where the Salesian priest, who dedicated his life to educating the most disadvantaged communities in Nicaragua, is buried.
The Padre Fabretto Family was canceled and confiscated by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo on February 2, for alleged failure to register with the Ministry of the Interior (Migob). This situation left more than 40,000 children and adolescents unprotected who were integrated into initial, primary and vocational technical education programs, according to information available on the foundation’s website.
This Friday the residents of the municipality arrived at one of the Fabretto children’s homes at 6:00 am, they closed all the gates and when the Police tried to enter the facilities they were not allowed. Until now, the place remains taken over by the population and, according to sources in the place, a tense atmosphere prevails.
“Long live Father Fabretto, long live! We are Fabretto! Christ reigns always, always, always!”the parents shouted from inside the school, according to a video they shared on social networks from inside the center.
According to journalistic versions of the area, some 200 people remain inside the study center, while an unspecified number would have been prevented from entering due to the presence of the Nicaraguan Police.
NGO cancellation
The Padre Fabretto Family is an organization founded in 1963 to perpetuate the work that the Italian-born priest Rafael María Fabretto (1920-1990) did for the poor during his years of service in Nicaragua.
At the time of being cancelled, the foundation served eight educational centers “Fabretto”and more than 140 public primary schools in disadvantaged rural and urban communities, according to the NGO.
Last February 2, “Fabretto” joined the list of nearly a hundred NGOs canceled in Nicaragua, since the massive protests against President Daniel Ortega in 2018. Among the closed NGOs are six private universities that were recently absorbed by the State, whose authorities took possession of their venues yesterday Thursday.
With their protest, the parents of San José de Cusmapa refuse to allow “Fabretto” suffer the same fate as the universities.
The Padre Fabretto Educational Center in San José de Cusmapa benefited some 2,500 poor students, who, in addition to their formal studies, had services that are not always found in the state education system, such as a computer lab, a library, a vegetable garden and a health center. early stimulation.
It also includes food safety and nutrition, technical and vocational education, community development, and parent-teacher training, as well as student cooperatives.
With information from Efe
