Nora Astorga

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Nora Astorga (1982)

Nora Astorga Gadea (* circa 1948 ; † February 14, 1988 ) was an underground fighter in the 1979 Nicaraguan Revolution , lawyer, politician, judge and from 1986 to 1988 Nicaragua's ambassador to the United Nations .

Youth and education

Astorga grew up as the eldest child of an upper-middle-class religious family in Managua . The father was a timber exporter and rancher and had connections with the ruling Somoza family . In her youth she was a devout Catholic and often took part in charity drives in the poor areas of Managua. In 1967, to the chagrin of her family, she announced that she would not support Anastasio Somoza Debayle in the upcoming presidential election , but his opponent, Fernando Agüero . For her personal safety and to "straighten her head", her family sent her to the United States, where she studied medicine from 1967 to 1969. However, Astorga gave up this study because she interfered with the dissection of animals in lectures. About her time in Washington, DC , she said: “What impressed me most about the United States was the social contrasts and above all the racism . I have never encountered racism of this kind in Nicaragua ... During this time my political awareness arose. "

Revolutionary

“You can't export revolutions like Coca-Cola or paperbacks or the like ... You don't make them domestically and send them away. Revolutions are made in a country when the conditions for a change process are given in that country. "

Astorga returned to Nicaragua in 1969 and studied law at the Universidad Centroamericana in Managua. During this time she made contact with the Sandinista. From 1969 to 1973 she was responsible for the procurement of conspiratorial housing and for the transport of the leader Oscar Turcios.

At the age of 22, Astorga married Jorge Jenkins, a student activist. The two spent the following year in Italy; Jenkins studied anthropology and Astorga studied financial law and computer programming. They had two children and separated after five years. During this time Astorga led a double life as a mother and lawyer for one of the largest construction companies in Nicaragua while secretly supporting the Sandinista.

After Pedro Chamorro's murder on January 10, 1978, Astorga decided to join the Sandinista armed struggle against the Somoza regime. Chamorro (1924–1978) was a journalist and editor of La Prensa newspaper - the country's only major opposition newspaper during the long reign of the Somoza family - and husband of Violeta Barrios de Chamorro , Nicaragua's president from 1990 to 1996. Astorga said about her decision : "I finally realized that armed struggle was the only solution, that a rifle could not be met with a flower, that we were in the streets, but if this power was not organized we would not achieve much," said she. "For me it was the moment of conviction: either I took up arms with all my might or I wouldn't change anything at all."

Astorga became famous for her involvement in the unsuccessful kidnapping and murder of General Reynaldo Pérez Vega (nicknamed "El Perro" (the dog)). Pérez Vega was deputy commander of the Somozas National Guard and also worked for the CIA . On March 8, 1978, Astorga lured the general to her Managua apartment by giving him hope of a sexual encounter that he had long been after. The plan was to kidnap the general and blackmail imprisoned Sandinista people to be released. The three Sandinista who were hiding in Astorga's apartment, however, could not overwhelm the general, as the latter defended himself unexpectedly. He was killed in the altercation. He was later found with his throat cut and wrapped in a Sandinista flag.

As a result, Astorga was searched nationwide and she found refuge with the Sandinista in the primeval forests. In the national opposition newspaper La Prensa she was shown in camouflage clothing with an AK-47 . During her time underground, Astorga became pregnant with her third child; Father was José María Alvarado, a leading Sandinista. As the fifth child, she later adopted the son of a friend who was killed during the revolution.

Deputy Minister of Justice and UN Ambassador

After the Sandinista took power in Nicaragua in July 1979, Astorga was appointed the country's deputy minister of justice. In this capacity she was responsible for the judicial proceedings against approximately 7,500 members of the Somozas National Guard.

In 1984 she was to become Nicaraguan Ambassador to the United States, but was turned down by the Reagan administration for her involvement in the General Vegas murder.

Astorga was then appointed her country's deputy ambassador to the United Nations (UN). From March 1984 she was Nicaragua's Ambassador to the UN until her death in 1988. She was instrumental in the UN's acceptance of the judgment of the International Court of Justice , which stated that the US's support for the Contras was illegal.

Early death

Nora Astorga was awarded the title Heroine of the Fatherland and the Revolution and the Order of Carlos Fonseca in July 1987 , the highest distinction in Nicaragua at the time. On February 14, 1988, “La Norita”, as she was also known, died of cervical cancer in Managua at the age of 39 .

In the mural of the Visitación in Casa Ave Maria in Managua, Astorga is depicted as one of the Twelve Apostles. In addition, a district ( barrio ) in the city is named after her.

literature

  • Patricia Daniel: No Other Reality, the Life and Times of Nora Astorga. CAM: Bangor [UK] 1998.
  • Margaret Randall and Lynda Yanz: Sandino's Daughters: Testimonies of Nicaraguan Women in Struggle. Rutgers University Press, 1995.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Wolfgang Saxon: Nora Astorga, a Sandinista Hero And Delegate to UN, Dies at 39 . In: New York Times , February 15, 1988. Retrieved October 15, 2007. 
  2. ↑ a b c Nora Astorga In Her Own Words . In: Envío , Central American University (UCA), April 1988. Retrieved October 15, 2007. 
  3. ^ Houghton Mifflin Company: The Houghton Mifflin Dictionary of Biography . Houghton Mifflin, 2003, ISBN 061825210X , p. 76.
  4. ↑ Nora and the Dog . In: TIME , April 2, 1984. Retrieved October 15, 2007. 
  5. ↑ Mahan, Sue; Griset, Pamala L .: Terrorism in perspective . Sage Publications, 2003, ISBN 0-7619-2404-3 , p. 176 (Retrieved October 15, 2007).
  6. ↑ Margaret Randall: 5 . In: Todas estamos despiertas: Testimonios de la mujer Nicaragüense de hoy ( Spanish ), ISBN 9682310113 , p. 167: “Nora Astorga -Militante Sandinista, abogada, madre de tres niños -es la fisical especial de justicia encargada de enjuciar a los más de 7500 somocistas que se enfrentan a la justicia popular. "
  7. ↑ 800 Attend Mass for Nicaraguan . In: New York Times . Retrieved October 16, 2007. “In 1984, the United States refused to accept Miss Astorga as Nicaragua's Ambassador to Washington, citing her role during the Sandinista revolution in luring a Nicaraguan general who had worked with the Central Intelligence Agency to her bedroom, where he was killed by assailants who had hid there. She later maintained that the operation was an attempted kidnapping that went wrong when a struggle developed. " 
  8. ↑ Nora Astorga , MADRE.org. Archived from the original on August 3, 2007. Retrieved October 16, 2007. 
personal data
SURNAME Astorga, Nora
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Astorga Gadea, Nora
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Nicaraguan guerrilla fighter during the 1979 revolution, ambassador
DATE OF BIRTH around 1948
DATE OF DEATH February 14, 1988