In July, people of Nicaraguan, Cuban and Salvadoran origin commemorate historical events that evoke the struggle and heroism of those who staged social movements for the liberation and the construction of a just society.
In Nicaragua, on July 19, 1979, the Sandinista National Liberation Front (Frente Sandinista para la Liberación Nacional, FSLN) triumphantly entered the country’s capital city, Managua, after revolting against the dictatorship of General Anastasio Somoza Debayle, the last link of an oligarchic dynasty of 45 years.
Meanwhile, the Cuban people remember that on July 26, 1953, professionals and college students, led by Fidel Castro, were thrown against the Moncada barracks in Santiago de Cuba, an event that is considered a prelude to the 1959 revolution. The barracks became the Centro Escolar 26 de Julio, to further the education of Cuban people.
Finally, for Salvadorans, July 30, 1975 represents the date on which the resistance of the student and academic movement at the University of El Salvador occurred, against the military intervention of the then dictator, Colonel Arturo Armando Molina. An escalation of abuses and massacres against civilians would become the uprising of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, FMLN) in 1980.
These three events make this month the heroic July (‘Julio heroico’), reminiscent of those who fought for a better world: “They sowed the sun and love, and today we defend life, (and) the burning harvest of the revolution,” said Nicaraguan songwriter Carlos Mejía Godoy and Los de Palacagüina, in a song with a homonymous title.
—Translation Verónica Henao Posada