Nicaraguan Exiles in New York Demand Freedom for the Political Prisoners

A group of Nicaraguans living in New York joined the call of the Blue and White National Unity to sing songs in a sit-in that took place Saturday March 30th in Times Square.

The demonstrators joined the “national sit-in” to loudly shout songs alluding to the struggle for freedom in Nicaragua. The demonstrators approached passers-by to tell them about the repression that is currently being experienced in Nicaragua by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.

A relative of Marcelo Mayorga, murdered by paramilitaries in the city of Masaya, expressed “we don’t want more murders, we don’t want more socialism, we don’t want more communism, we come from that country where we were sold that lie, we want a democratic country, we need democracy, we need freedom of expression, we need our political prisoners freed.”

“Ortega, wake up, your time has passed, Nicaragua is not your farm and the Nicaraguans are not your pawns, we want freedom,” he insisted.

In the sit-in another participant showed the marks on his body that were left when he was beaten by the police when he was arrested months before.

When asked about her participation in the protest, one of the demonstrators made a “call to the Nicaraguans to continue resisting, part of this struggle is the resistance in Nicaragua as well as outside, the Nicaraguan diaspora has to continue speaking out. We want the sanctions to continue because it is the only way that this criminal Government can understand. We are also here to continue demanding the immediate liberation of the political prisoners.”

At the end of the sit-in the organizers reported that more activities will be taking place in New York City to “keep the spark lit for the freedom of Nicaragua.” Then they sang their country’s National Anthem, considered subversive by the Ortega government.

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