State repression, the police state and a deep human rights, social, political and economic crisis have pushed tens of thousands of Nicaraguans to leave their country in the last four years. In an attempt to quell the massive citizen protests, the Ortega Murillo regime unleashed a brutal state repression that, in 2018 alone, left at least 355 dead, thousands injured, and hundreds of political prisoners.
In this context, those who were fully involved in the protests throughout the country had to go into exile so as not to end up in jail and in the face of strong police siege and by supporters of the ruling party towards them and their families. From 2018 to date, dozens of civic, political and religious leaders, journalists, human rights defenders, businessmen and artists have been forced into exile under spurious laws created by the regime to criminalize their actions and demands for democracy, justice and freedom.
In this special issue about the CONFIDENTIAL 300 Podcast, we present you an episode about the Nicaraguan civic resistance. We talked to Brenda Merlo (@womanlyrandom) a digital content creator based in Chicago, Illinois, USA; Mariángeles Delgado, architect and member of Sé Humano, the campaign for the liberation and rights of political prisoners in Nicaragua, who went into exile in Costa Rica; and Luis Blandón, member of the Renovating Democratic Union (Unamos), a refugee in Spain.
The three Nicaraguans tell how the 2018 civic insurrection changed their lives, why they had to leave their country after the persecution, they talk about their commitment to civic resistance and their work as defenders of human rights and pro-democracy from the places where they are
The interviewees also narrate the pain of having left their homeland by force, the emotional weight of starting a new life in a strange place and that of continuing to be connected with Nicaragua and with what is happening in the country, but they also share the reasons for which it is worth continuing to be involved in the civic struggle.
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