This Sunday the 11th of December, various communities in Nicaragua will be remembering the life of a National Hero of Nicaragua; Gaspar García Laviana; a Catholic Priest turned soldier who died on this day in 1978. Gaspar was at the Southern Front (“Frente Sur”) in Cárdenas, Rivas, while fighting for the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). It was a little more than six months before the success of the “Peoples Revolution” on July 19th 1979.
Many visitors and new residents of Nicaragua will recognize the name Gaspar García Laviana from churches, parks, schools, hospitals, health centers etc. This is especially so in the areas of San Juan del Sur and Tola where Gaspar worked as a Priest, as well as in Cárdenas where he was killed.
Gaspar García Laviana; Priest, Missionary and Guerrilla
Gaspar was born on November 8, 1941 in San Martín del Rey Aurelio in the Principality of Asturias, Spain. After high school he studied Philosophy and Theology and was then ordained as a Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSH) priest. In 1969, Gaspar was sent to Nicaragua by the congregation of his MSH church in Tuilla, Asturias. He began working in San Juan del Sur and Tola in the Department of Rivas, on the Pacific Coast.
In those days, with the country under the control of the Somoza family, Gaspar saw poverty and injustice at every turn in the rural, peasant communities he served in. It was difficult for Gaspar as a person that was so sensitive to the suffering of others.
Gaspar’s leaning towards a “Liberation Theology” highlighted his own desires to liberate the oppressed and also mirrored his natural concerns for the poor. However, Gaspar also recognized the reality of those enforcing the will of the government, namely Somoza’s National Guard.
As a result of Gaspar’s work in the communities, he became more and more involved in sociopolitical activities trying to help the “Campesinos” (peasant/farmers) with their daily struggles. His criticism and complaints caught the attention of the National Guard as well as political figures and legal authorities.
He was now a marked man with Somoza’s National Security Service following him and verifying his activities.
At the end of 1977 and after wrestling with his conscience, Gasper returned to Spain to give up his priesthood and visit his family. He then promptly returned to Nicaragua to join the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN).
Gaspar died on December 11, 1978 close to the border with Costa Rica near the Mena River, in the Municipality of Cárdenas, Nicaragua.
National Hero
On the 43rd anniversary of his death last year, 2021, “The Priest and Guerrilla Fighter Gaspar García Laviana was named a National Hero of Nicaragua” by presidential decree Number 23-2021.
Amazon Books – Gaspar!: A Spanish Poet/Priest in the Nicaraguan Revolution (English and Spanish Edition) Paperback – January 1, 1994
