Nahiroby Olivas, Levis Rugama, Yarithza Mairena and Byron Estrada are four of the student leaders who were at the forefront of the anti-government protests in 2018, and who are currently in exile. Despite being far from their homeland, the four young men have not abandoned their commitment to freedom and justice in Nicaragua.
“I continue to contribute in a personal way, doing my bit. Our fight is fair. Our fight is for Nicaragua, ”says Rugama. “I am going to maintain my stance demanding freedom, democracy and justice for Nicaragua,” says Olivas. “I don’t want to be far away from my country, I want to go back and contribute as much as I can,” says Mairena. “We continue fighting for the country,” emphasizes Estrada.
CONFIDENTIAL He spoke with them about his role in the student movement, his exile, his personal goals and his commitment to the country.
Olivas, in the USA: “I did not want to be incarcerated again”
Nahiroby Olivas, along with other students, including Byron Estrada and Amaya Coppens, became leaders of civic resistance in the city of León.
On August 25, 2018, he was arrested along with other student leaders in León, and he remained in prison for ten months. After being released, he was unable to resume his studies in Nicaragua due to the siege. In December 2019, he decided to go into exile.
“I was thinking about it because I was very scared; I felt that my life was in danger, ”explains the released prisoner, who also feared for his family.
Nahiroby’s first destination was the United States, where he stayed for a month and a half, and in early 2020, he moved to Colombia to study Political Science.
At the beginning of this year, the Colombian government did not authorize the renewal of his visa, running the risk of being deported to Nicaragua. Olivas decided to return to the United States on July 11, but was denied entry.
“They told me that I was not eligible to enter because of a clause that had my visa that I had to return two years after having left for the last time, and I was only one year old,” he explains.
Olivas turned himself in to the US authorities after requesting political asylum. He spent three months in an immigration detention center and was released earlier this month.
“For the moment I am going to continue my English course. I aspire to go back to study and finally finish a degree. That is my dream ”, he assures enthusiastically.
Rugama, in Canada: “I did not want a life of persecution”
At the age of 18, he began his activism by weaving networks of local leaderships and denouncing through social networks.
His fight for the defense of student rights began when he was a teenager. “At my school I was also very active and critical of the manipulative system,” he recalls.
In 2017, he participated in the demonstrations that denounced the electoral fraud perpetrated by the FSLN during the 2016 elections. For his involvement, the National Police accused him of “threatening the peace.” “I had to leave for Costa Rica, but then the FSLN was forced to drop the charges against me,” he adds.
He returned from exile in February 2018, and after the protests in April, he played an outstanding role in motivating the UNAN student body to organize, earning the nickname of “chancellor.”
In 2018, he was arrested and spent six months in La Modelo prison. In 2020, Rugama left Nicaragua and today is living his second exile in Canada.
“My rights had been taken away from me, but I was also going through an emotional crisis caused by post-traumatic stress and the harsh situations that I went through in prison and on the street in 2018. I had to give myself some time to get away from all that insecure environment”, exposes on his reasons for exile.
Like Olivas, Rugama aspires to resume his university studies in Canada. “I am finishing my English courses and then I am envisioning going back to university with many more tools,” he says.
Mairena, in Costa Rica: “I am giving myself the time to heal”
Yarithza Mairena comes from a working family, and she always dreamed of having a university degree. “For me, having that title was giving my family pride,” he says. Mairena was expelled from UNAN-Managua and was unable to complete her degree in Political Science. He was only five classes away from graduation.
After the university protests in April 2018, her identification with the student body motivated her to join them. He promoted the organizational work within the UNAN and other university campuses.
Due to her belligerence in the defense of University Autonomy, she became one of the student leaders with the greatest recognition at the national level. “UNEN does not represent us,” he yelled loudly at a student conference on May 7, 2018.
In retaliation, she was imprisoned for seven months by the dictatorship in August 2018. After being released from prison in March 2019, she created the National Union of Political Prisoners and Prisoners of Nicaragua (UPPN) along with other released prisoners, where she continues to collaborate. This year, he went into exile in neighboring Costa Rica.
“I think that exile is an opportunity to improve my emotional situation in a slightly safer space and it is also an opportunity to continue my projects,” he says.
He works to continue his studies at the University of Costa Rica. His priority is to train as a professional and a person, “to recover a little of what the regime took from him.”
Estrada, in the United States: “The best decision was to leave Nicaragua”
“For The hardest thing that the dictatorship took from the youth was life; being able to go to university, hug your family, be at home, in your homeland, “says the young man expelled from UNAN.
During 2018, Estrada “was one of the representatives of the Faculty of Dentistry of the León University Movement, and acted as a spokesperson to raise his voice against injustices.”
Estrada was arrested on August 25, 2018 and released in June 2019. This year he entered the United States irregularly to try to rebuild his life. “The decision was immediate. The decision was: you have to go now, grab your backpack and leave the country like any other Nicaraguan citizen, ”he says while recalling that hard moment.
After spending a month and a half in an immigration detention center, he was released, and this month he managed to complete a course as a dental assistant with the support of the organization Solidaridad sin Fronteras. “I was able to pass the course, I was able to pass the exams. Now I have my license as a dental assistant and with it, because I am going to take the second step to become a dental hygienist ”, he says.
Estrada is a member of the Nicaraguan Political Youth organization, from where he continues to denounce the crisis in Nicaragua internationally.
