Dodanim Yared Castilblanco

“He opened a road to change”

Murdered in Estelí on May 30, 2018

Luis Amado Castilblanco Rodríguez, the father of Dodanim Yared, says his son was studying agro-industrial engineering and had put his knowledge into practice when he built a pasture grass shredder and ovens to dry seeds, smoke cheese and make bread. “He was very likable and had all kinds of friends, as well as natural leadership skills. Every day friends would come to visit him and ask for advice. He was very smart and learned all by himself, inventing things and being very creative. He wanted to prepare himself more and continue studying.”

Dodanim was 26 years old and had two children, a 10-month-old girl and a 6-year-old boy. His dream was to raise his children and teach them.

His mother. Aura Blandón, describes Dodanim as “affectionate and very respectful. He always told the truth, liked justice and rejected violence. He liked to be fair and liked to help others without expecting anything in exchange. He was a good father, a good husband, a good son, a good neighbor and a good friend.”

His wife, Jackeline Judith Mairena, agrees that “he was very sociable and talked to everyone. He was friends with everyone, and was very happy.”

His sister Magali describes Dodanim as multifaceted, a good brother and a loving father. He was into sports, and gave taekwondo classes to children. “He was also very creative,” Magali underscores. “He was working on a project to create small businesses and help develop the country’s economy. He was a doer; he wasn’t very expressive but he acted. He won prizes and wherever he went he changed things; he was a leader. He opened a new road and joined together with the other young people against injustice.”

She adds that Dodanim knew the young people killed on April 20 in Estelí, and their deaths outraged him. It was why he got involved in the blue and white marches, including the one on May 30 when he was killed in the area of Los Arbolitos and El Mesón. She remembers that the march was to end with a cultural event in the Samuel Meza Library, and the attacks by pro-government mobs and anti-riot police began late in the afternoon.

Facts

Dodanim Jared Castilblanco was shot in the chest with a .22 rifle at about 5:00 in the afternoon on May 30, 2018, while participating in an anti-government march in Estelí, which started at El Rosario Church and ended at the municipal library. When the demonstrators were passing in front of the General Tax Offices (DGI), they were intercepted by armed groups coming out of that government building and by other pro-government activists who came out of the Municipal Government office. Gravely wounded, Dodanim was taken by his friends to the Red Cross and from there to the Adventist Hospital, where he was not treated. He was then taken to the San Juan de Dios Hospital, where he died during surgery.