The student leaders Max Jerez and Lesther Alemán stated that the exile imposed on the group of political prisoners of the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship on February 9 is only a reflection that “they could not break us.” They assure that they will continue to denounce the human rights situation in Nicaragua.
«We are more Nicaraguan than ever! Faced with the confinement, burial, and exile offered by the Ortega regime, we Nicaraguans cry out for life, freedom, and dignity. We were born and will die in Nicaragua. It is our country: the country of all Nicaraguans. Ortega does not own Nicaragua and his exile will go down in history just like his dictatorship,” said the university leader and member of the Nicaraguan University Alliance (AUN) through his Twitter account.
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For his part, Max Jerez, also a member of AUN, said that despite Ortega’s action of stripping them of their Nicaraguan nationality, political prisoners are “more unique than the pinol! There’s no giving up here. They had to banish us, because never break us. We will return to Nicaragua to recover the freedoms of all the people of Nicaragua,” he said.
«Nicaraguanity is carried in the soul, in the body… We are Nicaraguans! The exile that the Ortega regime imposed on us is temporary. They said we would never get out of their cells, now they say we will never return to Nicaragua. The “never” of the dictatorship are temporary,” added Jerez.
AUN reiterates that they will continue to demand from the dictatorship the freedom of the 38 political prisoners who are still held captive in the regime’s torture prisons. “We raise our voice especially for Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, a great pastor and friend who is in the cells of the regime. Nicaragua is made for freedom and we know that we will continue to see the hand of God act, which is also manifested in all Nicaraguans who work for peace and justice,” the organization reported.
The student organization stressed that “today is a new day for Nicaragua and we can say with much more force that there is STILL hope!”
The exiled political prisoners represent more than 80% of those detained by the regime. They were transferred from the different Nicaraguan prisons and the Judicial Assistance Directorate (DAJ) in Managua to the Augusto C. Sandino International Airport this Thursday, February 9, to board a flight to Washington where they arrived that same afternoon.