Suyén Barahona

Suyén Barahona Cuan is a Nicaraguan activist. She is president of the Democratic Renewal Union party (Unamos), an opposition group that is the successor to the Sandinista Renovation Movement. She is also a member of the Blue and White National Unity opposition group that formed following the outbreak of anti-government protests in April 2018. In June 2021, she was arrested alongside other opposition figures and pre-candidates for president in the 2021 Nicaraguan general election.

Suyén Barahona
Barahona in 2018
Born
Suyén Barahona Cuan
NationalityNicaragua
TitlePresident
Term2017-present
PredecessorAna Margarita Vijil
Political partyDemocratic Renewal Union

Biography

Barahona has a degree in international relations.[1] She is an advocate for feminist and environmental causes,[1] and in 2017 she was elected president of the Democratic Renewal Union party (Unamos, successor to the Sandinista Renovation Movement after its legal status was revoked).[2] She was active in the demonstrations calling for justice for those killed and imprisoned since the protests that began in April 2018 and the ensuing bloody government crackdown.[2] She and her predecessor at MRS Ana Margarita Vijil were both arrested at a protest on Camino de Oriente in Managua in October 2018 and held overnight.[3]

Barahona has since joined the Blue and White National Unity opposition group (UNAB) and the National Coalition of opposition groups, both of which emerged in the wake of the 2018 events.[2]

As president of Unamos, in February 2021 she went to court to challenge the constitutionality of Law 1042, known as the “Gag Law” which the FSLN-controlled legislature passed in October 2020, granting the government sweeping power to suppress dissidence online as “cybercrime”.[4]

On June 13, 2021, Barahona was among a wave of arrests by the government of Daniel Ortega of opposition pre-candidates for president in the November election as well as other opposition figures and civic leaders.[5] She left a video that said, “If you are watching this video, it is because the Police have raided my house and kidnapped me as they have done with others.”[6] Arrested the same day were Unamos members Dora María Téllez and Ana Margarita Vijil and Unamos vice-president Hugo Torres Jiménez. Torres and Téllez were former Sandinistas and major figures in the revolution that toppled the Somoza dictatorship.[5] They are being investigated under controversial Law 1055, passed in December 2020, which allows the government to detain anyone it designates as a “traitor to the homeland”.[5]

Barahona is married to César Dubois and has one son.[7]

References
  1. Inestroza, Eva (2021-06-23). "Estos son los 20 nicaragüenses detenidos por el régimen de Ortega, en 25 días". La Prensa (in Spanish). Archived from the original on June 23, 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
  2. "Quiénes son los 20 detenidos por el régimen orteguista en Nicaragua". Confidencial (in Spanish). 2021-06-16. Archived from the original on 2021-06-23. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  3. Álvarez, Leonor (2018-10-16). "El orteguismo se ensaña con las principales figuras del MRS". La Prensa (in Spanish). Archived from the original on October 16, 2018. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  4. Álvarez, Leonor (2021-02-16). "Unamos interpone recurso por inconstitucionalidad contra la "Ley Mordaza" ante el poder judicial". La Prensa (in Spanish). Archived from the original on February 16, 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  5. "Nicaragua arrests 5 more opposition leaders in crackdown". AP NEWS. 2021-06-13. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
  6. Cid, Amalia del. "11 Opositores Encarcelados En Las Últimas Semanas; Estos Son Sus Breves Perfiles." Archived 2021-06-23 at the Wayback Machine La Prensa, June 14, 2021, via ProQuest.
  7. Baltodano, Isela; Shiffman, Geovanny (2021-06-24). "El trauma de los niños y las niñas que vieron cómo la Policía orteguista se llevó a sus padres". La Prensa (in Spanish). Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
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