Marlen Chow | |
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 Chow in 2018 |
Marlen Chow is a Nicaraguan feminist and sociologist.
Marlen Chow | |
|---|---|
| Chow in 2018 |
Marlen Chow is a Nicaraguan feminist and sociologist.
Marlen Auxiliadora Chow Cruz was born circa 1948 in Alamikamba, Prinzapolka, on the North Caribbean Coast, to a Nicaraguan mother and Chinese father. [1] She was baptized as Egda Rosa, but the name proved difficult for her father to pronounce, so her parents changed it to Marlen as a version of Mayling. [1] Growing up, she wanted to be a pilot or a missionary nun. [1]
Chow attended National Autonomous University of Nicaragua at León where she studied economics and first became involved in activism, participating in advocacy for student aid. [2]
During the Nicaraguan Revolution, she was a guerrilla fighting for the Sandinista National Liberation Front. [3] Following the fall of the Somoza dictatorship, in the early 1980s she was director of the fine arts section of the Ministry of Culture in the FSLN government, where she emphasized a diversity of aesthetic practices, saying: “The revolutionary process doesn’t demand a unified theme. Diverse styles do exist.” [4]
Chow has a master’s degree in Public health. [2]
Chow is part of the Autonomous Women’s Movement (MAM) and a critic of President Daniel Ortega. [5] In 2008 her home was bulgarized with her computer stolen and books and papers on feminist subjects and opposition groups were disturbed, but other books and valuables like televisions and cameras were untouched, causing her to regard it as an act of intimidation. [5]
During the Nicaraguan protests touched off in April 2018, Chow was arrested by the FSLN in October and identified herself, on impulse, as part of the “Pico Rojo”, meaning lipstick, [3] recalling the poet Claribel Alegría, who once founded the Association of Pico Rojo Nicaraguan Women. [6] Red lipstick became a symbol of protest with men and women alike posting photographs of themselves wearing red lipstick with the hashtag #SoyPicoRojo. [3]
José Daniel Ortega Saavedra is a Nicaraguan politician who has been President of Nicaragua since 2007. Previously he was leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, first as coordinator (1979–1985) of the Junta of National Reconstruction, and then as President of Nicaragua (1985–1990). During his first term, he implemented policies to achieve leftist reforms across Nicaragua. In later years, Ortega's left-wing radical politics cooled significantly, leading him to pursue pro-business policies and even rapprochement with the Catholic Church. However, in 2022, Ortega resumed repression of the Church, and has imprisoned prelate Rolando José Álvarez Lagos.
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The 2018 Nicaraguan protests began on 18 April 2018 following a move by the government of Daniel Ortega to reform social security. Following the deaths of protesters, demonstrations intensified and grew into a large anti-Ortega movement seeking his removal from office.
Leticia Herrera Sánchez is a Nicaraguan politician and former guerrilla leader. She was one of the first women commanders of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) against the dictatorial government of Anastasio Somoza in Nicaragua from 1974 to 1979.
Petrona Hernández López, born Maria de la Cruz, better known as Amanda Aguilar, was a revolutionary from Nicaragua.
Human rights in Nicaragua refer to personable, political and social rights granted to every human in Nicaragua. Nicaragua derives its understanding of human rights from the Constitution of Nicaragua and international law. Nicaragua is a member state of the United Nations which states that fundamental human rights, such as freedom from slavery and freedom of expression, are enabled for all human beings without discrimination.
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Vilma Núñez de Escorcia is a Nicaraguan lawyer and human-rights activist. Born to a single mother, she developed an early concern for social justice. As an undergraduate studying law at National Autonomous University of Nicaragua in León, she met future senior government officials Carlos Tünnerman and Sergio Ramírez, and became one of the survivors of the 23 July 1959 student massacre by the Somoza National Guard. She joined the Sandinista National Liberation Front around 1975 and in 1979 was imprisoned and tortured by the Somoza regime. She was freed days before the FSLN insurrection succeeded on 19 July 1979. When they took power, she served as vice-president of the Supreme Court of Justice, then as director of the National Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.
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