Since April, hundreds of young people have occupied the Polytechnical University of Nicaragua, turning it into a hub of student resistance. They have been living off of donated food, turning classrooms into makeshift hospital rooms, and enduring violent nighttime raids by government forces. “It was really a surprise when they started to shoot us, torture us, repress us,” Lesther says. “We’re scared. We don’t want violence. We want peace, but we want freedom.” Students have taken over another university, demanding Ortega and his wife step down, and have come under attack by pro-government gunmen and police.

For its part, the government has continued to downplay the protests, with the First Lady (and vice president) describing protesters as “vampires” and “small groups kidnapping the country” on state media.

But rather than deterring dissent, ongoing state repression and denial has inflamed Nicaraguans and could pave the way for Ortega and his allies’ exit. The government had started a dialogue, mediated by the Catholic Church, with the protesters, who have been demanding a transitional government and justice for those killed. Students and other opposition groups say they want to discuss a path toward democracy and justice, while the government has called their demands a roadmap for a coup d’état.

Another of the more visible leaders, 25-year-old chemical engineering student Victor Cuadras, sternly addressed lawmakers in last Monday’s talks, saying, “All of you are accomplices and you’re here for economic interests…but you are all guilty, and the people know it. Please understand you all will not fit in Daniel Ortega’s plane [when he flees].”

Due to international pressure, the Nicaraguan government has recently consented to allow a group of international independent experts to investigate the violence and killings.

The Catholic Church first suspended the talks due to a lack of progress and then once again following a massacre of at least 11 people on Nicaragua’s Mother’s Day, saying there would be no dialogue as long as the government continued to repress protest and murder its own people. Despite losing significant support from the once-loyal Catholic Church and private sector, Ortega has shown no signs of caving, and both sides appear to be digging in their heels.

Students, farmers, and other protesters have stayed in the streets despite recent bloody confrontations with state forces and set up roadblocks around the country. They say will remain until Ortega and his wife resign.

Just a little over a month ago, Victor, Lesther, and the other students who were at the negotiating table with the president were not involved in politics. “It was all spontaneous chance I ended up a leader. But I saw three of my classmates killed — that affects someone,” Victor tells Teen Vogue. “A revolution is a lot of work, and we all have different roles. But you can’t just sit at home with a well-paying job or whatever. You have to fight for your beliefs.”

Since becoming some of the movement’s most recognizable faces, Victor says he gets daily death threats. Members of Victor’s family are now in hiding, and he says he receives over a hundred menacing messages and phone calls a day. Lesther has been living in a safehouse.

As pro-government militias and police continue to attack protesters and the number of dead, injured, and disappeared continues to climb, the students are preparing themselves for a long, violent road ahead. But the attacks and threats will do nothing to stop Victor or the other students leading the charge. “We lost fear a long time ago, and now we see only two options: We back down and die as cowards, or we keep going until he steps down, even if we die fighting,” he says.

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