The Cathedral of León, Nicaragua—Photo by Margarita Díaz

By Kerry Golden

The turmoil resulting from the unrest that began on April 16, 2018, has turned Nicaragua into a country marred by violence, torture, extrajudicial killings and lack of respect for human rights. What began as a protest by university students in response to the government’s refusal to handle forest fires that erupted in the areas of the Indio Maiz Biological Reserve, one of the country’s most protected areas, has resulted in violence and death for the Nicaraguan people.

Shortly after the first protest erupted, the government announced its plan to cut pensions by 5 percent, while increasing workers’ social security contributions by 0.75 percent, thus eliciting more protest. Just three days after the initial protest, the death toll began as two civilians and a police officer were killed in street fighting. Since then, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, has reported as many as 320 people may have been killed, while more than 600 people have been imprisoned by the government. However, the people of Nicaragua are not taking these harsh tactics lightly: a widespread call for President Daniel Ortega’s resignation has ensued.

To try to put an end to the unrest, the Catholic Church agreed to mediate a type of dialogue between President Ortega and other negotiators back in May of 2018.

In the face of unrest, political repression and government censorship in their hometown of Leon, Oscar Aragón and Arjuna Salvatierra have each taken a stance, but in contrasting ways.

Aragón, 43, lives with his wife, Eira and daughter, Irela. When he was younger, he studied medicine. However, Aragón always felt being an orthopedic physician’s assistant was not his true calling.

photo by Rachael Durand

“I soon realized that my contribution to Nicaragua was education. And I had, let’s say, a vision or a desire, or something within that I could contribute more with,” Aragón said.

This desire prompted Aragón to open an educational institution called Alianza Americana in 2001. The organization, which began as an English-language program, has now evolved into an institution that uses four pillars as its foundational basis: leadership, entrepreneurship skills, health and education.    

Working both full-time and part-time jobs was difficult, but to Aragón, worth the effort.

“It was hard,” Aragón said. “I discovered that was my true passion and I wanted to serve my country better in education because education for me is a key component in development.”  

The recent violence in Nicaragua has done little to scare off Aragón. Despite the large numbers fleeing to Costa Rica for asylum, Aragón decided to stay in his country and continue his quest to educate his people.

“When you have that clear vision, you always stay positive and you always have that drive, that energy that drives you to keep the vision that I have in my mind,” Aragón said. “It allows me to move forward, no matter the size of the mountain or the giants you need to defeat.”

However, not everyone in Nicaragua has reacted to its government’s excessive use of force and repression in the same manner as Aragón.

Arjuna Salvatierra is one of the many Nicaraguans who have fled the violence, seeking refuge in Costa Rica. When the protests and violence began, 19-year-old Salvatierra turned to his guitar and began writing about what he was feeling.

photo by Rachael Durand

Salvatierra wrote and performed songs such as “Fuerza Nicaragua,” which means “Nicaragua strength,” in clubs around León. However, rather than spread a feeling of pride and hope among the people of Nicaragua, as Salvatierra intended, his music made him a target of the government. He learned the government was looking for him and had to go into hiding.

“When I would go home I would stay for three or four days, without going out,” he said. “But then I would go out at night, in the middle of the  night. We could [go out] every night, because we already knew [the surveillance] routine.”

For Salvatierra, his songs were his voice and he viewed them as a form of public expression.

“You can think things, [but] you can’t speak publicly unless you have someone who supports you, [someone] that has some kind of position of power to support you,” Salvatierra said.   

Salvatierra has been separated from his family for the past seven months. He fled to Costa Rica on a student visa because he knew remaining in his home would put his family in danger.

Since arriving in Costa Rica, Salvatierra has been unable to go home as his family in León lives too close to the Sandinista headquarters. For the time being, he plans to stay in Costa Rica and pursue his dream of making music.

Initially, he had no plans to go to Costa Rica, he said, but the situation became unsustainable when he realized he couldn’t even go home. His mother was worried, he said.

“If I go to my house it’s like 80 percent of sure that they are going to search [for] me,” Salvatierra said.  

Salvatierra was able to get into music school, giving him purpose, which sets him apart from many of the others who have escaped the turmoil in his country. Although separated from his family, he uses his music as a means of communicating the injustices and suffering of his people. In this way, the memory of those who lost their lives will live on and serve to educate and direct the future.    

Although he’s physically safe, Salvatierra is emotionally wounded.

“When things started to get really bad, I became very anxious,” he said. “I was experiencing some very complex emotions and I started to consume a lot of things, and some of my friends would give me Clonazepam...this was normal. This was every day. People started drinking a lot after this happened.”

Today, Salvatierra continues his education as a student. He arrived in Costa Rica with little money and depends on his mother sending whatever she can. He only calls his mother from time to time out of fear of the government tracking him. He still has friends both in prison and in hiding. Salvatierra has no immediate plans to return to Nicaragua.  

However, Salvatierra’s freedom has not come without a cost. For freedom has cost him not only contact with his family and friends, it has also taken from him the security and comfort most 19- year-olds gain from having a support system. Unable to share his gift of music with his family, Salvatierra shares his music with those around him. Knowing that at this moment he will never be able to share his music with the world under the name Arjuna Salvatierra for fear of being found, he continues to share his music with only those around him. With this in mind, one may say Salvatierra is still not completely free.  

At a restaurant in Ciudad Colón, before picking up his guitar and singing a song called “La Ráfaga,” Arjuna addressed his audience.

“If you can, if you feel, just try to do something better for you and your family,” he said.

Two men, one country, two different means of escape. For Oscar Aragón, remaining in Nicaragua to educate the people of his country allows him to not only escape the turmoil, but gives him a voice in how his country develops. For Arjuna Salvatierra, the choice was not his. However, through his music he has not only escaped, has also found his voice, a voice that will write and sing songs that capture the fear and sadness of the Nicaraguan people and the love he has for the family he left behind.