Throughout the day of May 30, the resistance to the Ortega-Murillo regime showed that it has reserves and is alive. Four years after the Mother’s Day Massacre, there were protests, marches, meetings and recitals. The ISL, with expressions all over the world, displayed an internationalist action of commitment to the cause of the freedom of political prisoners, and support for the International Commission that will travel to Central America in a few weeks.
By Mariano Rosa
It was “mothers” day. 2018. A massive call, it was meant to chisten the Mothers of April, the embryonic collective that emerged from the unity of the relatives of the young people that were murdered by the repression of the regime in the days of the revolt, the previous month. The appointment was made at the Jean Paul Genie roundabout in Managua. Thousands of protesters: entire families, huge contingents of college students: the “mother of all marches” as it was called. Some calculations spoke of 500 thousand people. Others, almost a million. Everyone agreed that it was a true human tide. The government organized a squalid official rally. Suddenly, as the massive columns headed down the road to Masaya, the first shots rang out. Snipers with war rifles fired bursts into the crowd. There were headshots. The first victims were killed and dozens wounded. The stampede was total, and the dispersion of the historic protest was chaotic: universities and shopping centers served as shelters. The balance sheet of deaths and injuries was another breaking point of the regime with the student youth and thousands of families in Nicaragua. The caricature of an anti-imperialist or leftist government was definitively buried for anyone who wanted to see it. Shooting against your defenseless people is cowardly. It’s what bloodthirsty dictators do.
The Mothers from there, the Mothers from here: many stories and a single cause
The day of “memory, truth and justice” began on Sunday 29, in San Jose with the Mothers of April in exile, marching and bravely displaying all their dignity in Costa Rica. With the Articulation of Social Movements and other groups supporting them, they took to the streets with their banners and demands for trial and punishment. But the activity of AMA (Mothers of April Association) did not stop there. A bimodal, international meeting between Argentina, Nicaragua (clandestine) and Costa Rica, was an event full of political learning, integrity and emotions. The Mothers of April, one by one, gave harrowing testimony of what they experienced, of the murders, of the disappearances, of the brutal regime. Mothers, sisters, brave women. More alive and empowered than ever. The Mothers “from here”, those from the South American Cone, the others, the emblematic ones taught in their own way. Elia Espen, Norita Cortiñas from Mothers of Plaza de Mayo (Founding Line), accompanied by Pablo Vasco from CADHU-MST and the Memory, Truth and Justice Meeting, described the process of building the human rights movement in Argentina. At the same time, they ratified their total condemnation of the FSLN regime and their support for the AMA’s struggle, making themselves available for everything they may need. A historical encounter.
Protest in San Jose, artistic tribute and special program on Costa Rican TV
Obviously, the Ortega-Murillo regime has dispatched provocateurs that operate in the shadows of anonymity in Costa Rica. In fact, the morning of the 30th began with the headquarters of the PRT (Revolutionary Workers Party), vandalized by unknown assailants. That aggression took place a few hours before the protest called by the PRT and the OSR at the Nicaraguan embassy in San Jose. Of course, nothing stopped the fierce militancy of that fraternal organization of the ISL and the protest took place! The repudiation was expressed at the doors of the representation of the regime in Costa Rican lands. But the day continued with more activities of the Committee of Support for the International Commission in Costa Rica. At the initiative of young people from the Articulation and Alternativa Anticapitalista, a music recital in homage to the Mothers of April and in support of the International Commission presented, in the form of songs, militant artists from Chile, Argentina and Central America, who said “present” on this day. And at the end of the day, Roger Martínez of the Unity Congress of Free Nicaraguans, dedicated a special program that he hosts on Tica Vision to promote the preparation of the International Commission that will travel to the region next July. In short: an intense activity of the Regional Committee on the day of the 30th.
The International Socialist League: day of visibility and promotion of the International Commission
The ISL is fully committed to promoting the International Commission of Parliamentarians and Human Rights Figures that will travel to Costa Rica on July 6. Along this path, it has become a fundamental animator of each activity that is emerging to promote the fight for the freedom of political prisoners, and in particular now, with the Commission’s trip. Today its sections across the world disseminated posters, videos and protested as part of the May 30 day of action, promoting what is gradually becoming a confluence towards an International Movement for the Freedom of Political Prisoners of the FSLN dictatorship. From Ukraine, to the Spanish State, from France to Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Colombia, Argentina and many other countries that made their contribution of internationalist and militant commitment today. Now, it is time to continue multiplying efforts in the task of expanding the Commission to more parliamentarians and leaders, and in a few days begin to add significant adhesions to the support of a concrete, practical action on the battleground for the health and freedom of those locked up in the Ortega-Murillo prisons. No dictatorship lasts a hundred years. The Nicaraguan people are not defeated, they are not alone. It is our cause. Let’s go all the way.
At the time of publication of this article, hundreds of photos and videos of the campaign continue to arrive, which have been published on social networks and show the scope of the campaign. For reasons of space it is not possible to add all of them to this publication.