Nicaragua has lost one of its most prominent intellectuals and tireless fighter for democracy. The academic Carlos Tünnermann died this Wednesday at the age of 90 in a hospital in Managua, his relatives have confirmed. Tünnermann was Minister of Education during the Sandinista revolution and was later appointed by the revolutionary Government Junta as ambassador to Washington, in a move to improve arid relations between the Sandinistas and the United States. Following Daniel Ortega's return to power in 2007, Tünnermann became a critical voice against the regime, accusing Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, of not “respecting any law” and imposing an authoritarian system. In Nicaragua.
Carlos Tünnermann Bernheim was born in Managua on May 10, 1933. He was a writer, lawyer and pedagogue, but he also stood out as a diplomat and saw politics as a form of public service and a peaceful tool to recover democracy, crushed by decades of despotism. somoza Tünnermann Bernheim was a member of the so-called Group of Twelve, intellectuals, writers and academics who supported the Sandinista revolution. Also part of that group was the writer Sergio Ramírez, winner of the Cervanes Prize, and who would become vice president of the Central American country. “As a member of the Group of Twelve, I did my part to end the disgraceful dynastic dictatorship of the Somozas, which had taken over the country, transforming it into a family fiefdom. I shared in good faith, with many Nicaraguans, the ideal of a Revolution that would allow us to build a more just and supportive society,” he wrote in
Memories of a Citizen
, his autobiography.
The academic was appointed Minister of Education by the Governing Board of the Sandinista revolution, occupying a position that allowed him to carry out a transformation in a topic that he was passionate about: pedagogy. One of his great achievements during that period was to promote the National Literacy Crusade together with the priest Fernando Cardenal, brother of the poet Ernesto Cardenal, and who would replace him in office. That literacy campaign obtained recognition from UNESCO and raised sympathies in half the world for the revolution, since it managed to reduce illiteracy from 50% to 13%, according to official data. He had also stood out as rector of the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN) and was a promoter and defender of university autonomy.
Tünnermann Bernheim left the ministry to occupy a crucial position: the head of the Nicaraguan embassy in Washington. For the Sandinista Government, it was a priority to improve relations with the United States, which exerted strong pressure against the Sandinistas, to the point of financing and training the so-called contra, the guerrilla that sought to remove the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) from power. It was 1984 and the civil war in Nicaragua was at its peak, while the country suffered from shortages, power outages and the constant fear of an external invasion. Daniel Ortega, then president, described Tünnermann's appointment as “a new effort” by the Government to normalize its relations with the White House. Ortega said that he intended to demonstrate to the people and Congress of the United States “the will” to achieve peace in Central America, and added that Tünnermann was the ideal person for that company, because “she has carried out her work responsibly, applying in the educational field the lines of the revolution.” Washington, which had denied
approval
to Nora Astorga, vice minister of Foreign Affairs, could not reject an academic with Tünnermann's credentials.
Despite his efforts to save the revolution, the academic followed the path of other intellectuals such as Ernesto Cardenal, who ended up regretting the drift of that process that brought with it so much sympathy. “Unfortunately, at a certain point, the purpose of building a more just and supportive society was frustrated, distorting the most important undertaking undertaken so far by the Nicaraguan people. I think that perhaps we did not live up to the demands of a Revolution that was truly original, democratic, participatory, equitable and humanistic, firmly rooted in the best of our own identity,” he wrote in his memoirs.
Tünnermann joined academic life and research into history, another of his great passions, but he was never totally removed from politics. He was always an active voice in analyzes and discussions carried out by the Nicaraguan media, and was very critical of Ortega's authoritarian drift after his return to power in 2007. He harshly criticized the president's new strategy of appointing his wife, Rosario Murillo, and their children in key government positions and as advisors. “The vice of nepotism is part of the Nicaraguan political culture, a backward culture. “The leaders see power as a patrimonial thing, and they see no harm in their own relatives taking advantage of that,” he said and accused Ortega of “not respecting any law.”
When massive demonstrations broke out in 2018 against Ortega, who had already become an authoritarian, Tünnermann was part of the so-called Civic Alliance, an organization made up of intellectuals, feminists, priests, students and farmers that sought to negotiate with the Government a peaceful solution to the political crisis. . Ortega had ordered the demonstrations to be drowned in blood with a repression that left more than 365 dead. Human rights organizations accused the regime of committing crimes against humanity. With the failure of the negotiations and the impossibility of forming a common front against the Government, the academic resigned from the Alliance, but remained an active voice against the regime. Perhaps because of his past service, his political commitment and his intellectual weight, Ortega did not undertake reprisals against Tünnermann, as he did against those who criticized him, among them the writer Ramírez, exiled in Spain. “I was fortunate to see almost all of my youthful dreams come true. And if they were not fully fulfilled, at least those dreams gave meaning to my vigil,” the academic stated in his memoirs.
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