The year that has not stopped marking April

The year that has not stopped marking April

This revival was not for ideologies, but for the country and against a common adversary: ​​the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship. No one has prepared us or funded

We have all asked for changes, but we have never thought of demanding them, living them and writing them. April a month that brought a lot of warmth: the yellow of the cañafístula and the tunes of revolution. There were many who criticized my generation for staying on devices, mobile phones or social networks, but hardly anyone predicted that we would silently accumulate all the social discontent of the eleven years of Daniel Ortega's authoritarianism, plus the fatigues decades of the eighties and nineties.

We started on April 10 shouting an alert before the fire that destroyed our Indio Maíz biological reserve. For the most part, we were foreigners who, for the first time, tested the taste of seedlings and the sap of slogans. Without realizing it, we marked the beginning of the end by demanding that the Ortega government act. This represented April 18, when the obligation to repeal Decree 03-2018 of the Social Security Act. Already on April 19, the national cry was the same today: go!

Before April, we had, on one side, a Nicaragua plunged into apathy, sequestered in appearances and with a conformism that allowed others to accumulate power and create a nepotist and criminal dictatorship: the dictatorship of Ortega -Murillo. On the other hand, we had another Nicaragua represented by peasants, feminists, LGBTIQ groups, political activists, among others, who fought their spaces against this dictatorship. They are known to have prepared the ground for our arrival in April.

Some youth experienced a social disappointment, everything seemed to be more similar and we lacked references. Nobody thought for us because no one represented the feeling of youth. Even, it seemed we did not believe in ourselves. There were few oases, like the clbadrooms of the University of Central America, where we lightened our idealism and refashioned our country, if only on the blackboard. All this changed and before the evil there was a solution: the uprising, do not allow the abuse of power.

At the dawn of April, we met the best of Nicaragua: the determination of a rooted social change, an overflowing solidarity, the historical courage of this popular fighter and the only one in the world. efficiency of working together, despite the fact that they were "scattered". We also knew the worst: the repressive and deadly arm of the dictatorship and its operators, the blindness of fanaticism and hypocrisy.

On a day-to-day basis, in each community or village, we have changed the way we resolve the conflict, through civic and peaceful resistance, because we believe that the success of the nonviolent struggle lies in the fact that it is more inclusive. of people sharing the same interests. We did not believe in violence, so even though it was more complex, we did not want to repeat the mistakes of the past. Youth is the first to want peace!

While we were involved in the different forms of protest, carrying the blue and white flags, we realized the power we have to fight a regime that was stunning, after a month and a half of daily mobilizations. We started to have unfortunate references. First our heroes, those killed by the dictatorship. Today, their names are kept in our memories or on the walls of Masaya, Jinotepe, Leon, Estelí and the Caribbean coast. Others are alive, but without freedom, imprisoned without being able to smell the sun, nothing hotter than "El Infiernillo" or the iced cement of "La Esperanza". Others use the cbadock and call it Báez, Álvarez or Mata. Some gave water as street vendors, or were in trenches and trenches, which only carry the urge to return and their backpacks.

During these almost twelve months of struggle, we realized that changing the reality would cost more. In addition, we have done a good exercise as a society, monitoring and participating in the process of building a nascent democracy, guaranteeing our human rights and demanding justice. We have won victories and advances, which are not the product of chance or royalty, but the sum of the efforts of young men and women thrown to the streets, losing the fear of demanding that road, which is also the slogan. that we have all already drawn.

We have the challenge and the opportunity to make a real change. Therefore, we must follow a difficult path, which goes through the struggle that will free the transition from dictatorship to democracy, the democratic transition itself and the long-awaited consolidation of democracy that we all want. We are emerging from the crisis of the Ortega-Murillo regime, as well as the dictatorial scheme that allows us to rebuild the state. Given this, a common agenda that draws red lines such as: not to allow Daniel Ortega to govern from below, that politics is not privatized by the elites and that, even in the midst of differences, unit persists. All this to establish in Nicaragua a political, social and economic model that represents, listens and operates in a heterogeneous way, given that April has made possible a spring of political actors and social spaces to reflect.

The dream is to preserve social gains for a more inclusive and prosperous citizenship, the presence of institutions and equal opportunities. That the young people who gave everything, even if they had nothing, should be rewarded. First of all, it is to ensure that we close the cycle and that it will never happen again, we are convinced that truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition allow us to honor the inheritance of this eternal April in 40 years.

Needless to say, because of his stubbornness and brutality, Ortega managed to get Nicaragua to unite against him. This time, his "divide and conquer" does not work. This fight does not concern who did more or less, since we all contributed regardless of age, social position, schooling or origin. It is exciting to see that believers marched with non-believers, others who participated in the revolution with those who were in the counter-revolution. This revival was not for ideologies, but for the country and against a common adversary: ​​the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship. No one has prepared us, nor has anyone funded us. We have only decided to change the present and the future of our beloved Nicaragua, attached to the blue and white flag that represents us with a banner of freedom, justice and democracy.

The future belongs to all, we want a Nicaragua in which we are not murdered for thinking differently. That's why it's time for the decent Sandinista to leave the ship. They must not continue to support crimes against humanity, those who are not stained with blood, it is time to react to the internal structure. It is not necessary to approach "El Carmen" to see the weakness of the diet. It is only held by the arms, and the fear of seeing the uniform is palpable, we all know that it is a corpse and that we will soon attend his funeral.

We are inspired by the humility of Nicaragua. For the memory of our heroes, the legacy of their families, the steadfastness and dignity of the kidnapped politicians, the courage of all those who are forced to exile, the resistance and the insistence of the general population and because we all have trouble breathing, we will never stop fighting.

We will not go anywhere if we do not go together. United, we will triumph and without unity, no victory.

* University student. Member of the Alliance of Nicaraguan Universities (AUN) within the Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy.