"My Neighbors Have Threatened Me With Jail"

I stopped participating in party activities starting in 2015 when I realized there was no room in the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) for anyone but Daniel Ortega, Rosario Murillo and their family. Although they were always contacting me to do things, I chose to distance myself from all party activity, although some of my brothers continued to be involved with the FSLN.

In 2018, two of my sons joined the protests. One of them was a university student at the time and participated in the roadblocks in Jinotepe. The other was a high school student and a minor, and he just went to take a look at the protests and participated in some marches.

Although I did not actually participate in any demonstrations, from that moment on, I fell in disgrace with the fanatics of the regime in my neighborhood. Putting up a Nicaraguan flag in my house was my only way of protesting, and it became the reason why, some time later, I started receiving shouted threats that I'd be jailed. 

Our life changed in 2018. My oldest son went into exile in Costa Rica and now works in a call center. The younger one studies in Nicaragua at a private university, but tries not to get involved in anything political.

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My brothers are still supporters of the regime, although they are also disappointed in the party. One of my nieces went to the United States on humanitarian parole, although her mother still works for the government.  

We went back to our lives, but the truth is that nothing is the same. I avoid talking to people from the neighborhood because for me, politics is now a taboo subject. I avoid it for our safety and because I feel that nothing is going to change based on what I can talk about with others.

I've been excluded from being notified of municipal works in my neighborhood. For example, I wasn't included in the sewage project being developed in Jinotepe. I guess somehow I am considered a traitor or a coup leader.

This article was published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by our staff. To get the most relevant news from our English coverage delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Dispatch.