2023 closed leaving mourning and pain in 148 families of Nicaraguan migrants who in search of a better life and opportunity for work went out to the United States in order to reach the American dream, as a result of Nicaragua’s socio-political and economic crisis, under the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
Nicaraguan migrants lost their lives during the journey or once on American soil, many had months to reach that dream, which very early on became a nightmare for their families, as they lived moments of uncertainty, pain and bureaucracy to be able to repatriate the bodies of their relatives to their home country.
José Ramón Ruiz, 37, Roberto López and Edgar Iván Guandique Gutiérrez, 66, lost their lives between December 25 and 28 in different circumstances, reported the Texas Nicaraguan Community (TNC) organization, with these cases occurring in 2023 a total of 152 deceased Nicaraguan migrants are reported, but the independent count carried out by LA PRENSA shows a figure of 148 deaths.
More disastrous months and causes
According to the count of this Journal, the most fatal months where the most deaths of Nicaraguan migrants were recorded were June with 20 cases, August with 28, September with 19 deaths and October with 22.
Among the main causes of the deaths are road accidents and heart attacks, 51 and 36 deaths respectively; followed by unknown situations, murders, health problems, suicide and femicide.
Likewise, the states of Americans where migrants perished the most are: California, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Indiana and North Carolina.
Thirteen deaths in December
Edgar Ivan Guandique Gutiérrez was originally from Masaya and died at Key West Hospital, Miami, where relatives told TNC, he attended a gastritis problem and applied some medicine to him, causing pressure to rise and causing him to have a heart attack on December 28.
While Roberto López, originally from Masatepe, the cause of the death is unknown. Migrant José Ramón Ruiz died on December 25 of a cardiac arrest, and was 16 months old to have migrated to the U.S. U.S.
On December 24, in the morning, Normal Alfredo Blandón Rugama, 38, lost his life. According to the TNC report, the Nicaraguan suffered from asthma and was found dead in his room. The preliminary report indicated that Blandón Rugama died of a heart attack.
On the same day, on Christmas Eve, Stanley Ezequiel Bravo Canales, 35, originally from Managua, lost his life in circumstances not yet clear. The young man had emigrated to the United States a year ago and resided in Santa Ana, California.
Raquel Centeno Arauz, from the community of Pavona Arriba, San Sebastian de Yalí, in Jinotega, 23, died on December 18, two days after suffering a traffic accident in Reno, Nevada, which left her in a delicate state.
On December 13, Eufemia Mendoza Martínez, 55, perished from cancer in the colon, according to information she received TNC from her relatives. The migrant was originally from Managua and had 15 months to arrive in California, United States.
Nicaraguan migrant Jerry Antonio Centeno, 29, originally from Estelí, was found dead in a morgue in Virginia, after having been missing since December 7, when he left for work.
Eddin Antonio Matey Díaz, 30, originally from the San Jerónimo community of the municipality of Murra, in Nueva Segovia, died on December 4 in a traffic accident on the roads of Louisiana, United States.
On December 3, Milton Ariel Acevedo Domínguez, 37, lost his life as a result of a heart attack at his apartment in Pittsburgh, California. The Nicaraguan migrant was originally from Diriomo, Granada, and had only five months of arriving on U.S. territory through the humanitarian strike, which allowed him to be in that country legally for a period of two years.
Nicaraguan Juliana Navarrete, 26, was shot in the head by her ex-partar on December 1 outside her apartment in Atlanta, Georgia. The killer of the young jinotegan, according to TNC, is identified as William Ruiz Mairena, 31, also of Nicaraguan origin, who after committing the crime committed suicide with the same weapon with which he shot Navarrete.
Donald Rodriguez, 35, originally from León, committed suicide on December 1 in his apartment in Austin, Texas. The Nicaraguan had two years of emigrating to U.S. territory, but decided to end his life by hanging on a rope after entering depression for family reasons.
This article has been translated from the original which first appeared in La Prensani