How was the savage repression of students in 2018? Why is the Ortega regime waging a crusade against the universities? What are the effects of the exodus of students and teachers that has taken place? How is life in Nicaraguan universities today? What future does Nicaraguan higher education have? These and other questions are answered by these #VocesDeNicaragua.
East journalistic specialin which 10 media outlets from Nicaragua and connectcollects the voices of 30 people including students, teachers, experts in the education sector and thinkers who talk about how the repression of the education system was experienced since 2018, when thousands of Nicaraguans, with an outstanding participation of the student population, organized massive protests against the current government.
Voices from the academy on the official crackdown of 2018.
“What I remember most about the terrible repression of 2018 was the attack with weapons of war that the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship perpetrated on the facilities of the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua on July 14, a university where I also studied. Attack in which two young people died of gunshots to the head: one of them inside the parish and the other bled to death on a barricade,” recalls sociologist Haydee Castillo, director of the Las Segovias Leadership Institute, now in exile.
Professors and students talk about the attack of the Daniel Ortega Government against university independence.
The higher education system in Nicaragua has been affected, among other reasons, because many professors and students decided to emigrate because of the repression. “I went into exile because they threatened me with death and told me that if I continued to support my university students and if I remained entrenched, my life and that of my family were in danger,” says Claudia Espinales, a former professor at the Polytechnic University (UPOLI).
Amid the violence, many young talents preferred to leave the country.
In this scenario, the future of education in Nicaragua is uncertain. “I cannot imagine a future from the outlawing of universities, the unjust expulsion of certain kids and because since before 2018 certain repressions had been experienced against people who thought differently from the Ortega-Murillo regime. There is no clear future for universities and even less so for future professionals. People are being trained who are going to be at the service and at the whim of others,” says a student from the Central American University, who speaks on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
Students recount the uncertainty and tension with which Nicaraguan universities live today.
If you are interested in knowing more testimonies of the educational tragedy in Nicaragua, Enter the multimedia special here.
#VocesDeNicaragua is a journalistic special in which they participated CONFIDENTIAL, 100% News, the magnifying glass, IP Nicaragua, Office 505, divergent, Reliable sources, Nicaragua Investigates, local wave, the press and CONNECTAS with the aim of giving a voice to the Nicaraguan population that has lived through some of the most acute aspects of the repression and breaking the generalized information veto in the country.
