Cinemaattic, in collaboration with Scottish Solidarity with Nicaragua, is proud you bring you the film Operación Guardabarranco, directed by Wilfredo Miranda Aburto. Since 2018, hundreds of Nicaraguans have become political prisoners for speaking out against a violent and repressive dictatorship, and have been deprived of their homes, jobs, savings, pensions and freedom. This film depicts how in February 2023 the authoritarian Nicaraguan government led by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo deported 222 political prisoners to the United States. It then proceeded to strip them of their Nicaraguan citizenship, making their return home impossible. The documentary contains powerful testimonies that describe their incarceration, release, and attempts to rebuild their lives in exile. This film captures authoritarianism in action and the ways in which people maintain their dignity and sense of belonging in the face of violent dispossession. It speaks to the ways in which we fight back against the violation of human rights and the role of international solidarity.
The screening will be followed by a Q and A with Irving Larios, a former Nicaraguan political prisoner who was one of the 222 and is now living in exile in Spain. It will be held on the 8th anniversary of popular rebellion against the regime that was brutally repressed by the dictatorship.
📅 Sunday 19th April
🕢 4pm
📍 Kelvin Hall Screening Room, 1445 Argyle St, Glasgow G3 8AW
This venue is wheelchair accessible.
FREE ENTRY – ADVANCED BOOKING RECOMMENDED
About Irving:
Irving Larios Sánchez is a Nicaraguan political activist whose activism began in 1976 as a leader of the student movement that opposed the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza. During the Sandinista revolution in the 1980s, he headed the Latin American section of the Sandinista National Liberation Front’s (FSLN) International Relations Department, establishing relationships with political parties and social networks across the continent. In 1994, he broke with the FSLN due to political differences with Daniel Ortega’s leadership of the party. In 1996, he earned a master’s degree in public policy and development from the University of Barcelona, and in 1999, he founded the Institute for Research and Social Action (INGES), an organization that implemented development projects in Nicaragua. From 2007 to 2011, he acted as president of the Nicaraguan Federation of NGOs. In 2018, following the popular uprising against the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, he became part of the emerging opposition. He repeatedly denounced the regime’s human rights violations, and as a result on 20 September 2021 he was arrested and became a political prisoner. He was then falsely convicted of undermining national sovereignty. He spent 507 days in prison and was released on February 9, 2023, and deported to the United States as part of a group of 222 political prisoners. He had all his assets confiscated and was stripped of his citizenship, rendering him stateless. He managed to secure Spanish citizenship and now lives in Barcelona, where continues to fight for the liberation of Nicaragua, the restoration of democracy, and the defence of human rights, including those of Nicaraguans in exile.