Miriam Matus was one of the popular figures of the 2018 protests. Her last years were plagued by chronic illnesses.
HAVANA TIMES – Miriam del Socorro Matus, popularly known as “Doña Coquito” or “the vandal grandmother”, passed away at the age of 84, on Tuesday, February 20. Doña Coquito became a symbol of civic protest in May 2018 when she gave away water to the mothers of those murdered and political prisoners outside the Nuestra Señora de Fátima Seminary, where the failed National Dialogue took place.
“I remember arriving at that place and suddenly realizing that I had only managed to earn 16 córdobas, so I reflected, saw the pain of those women who were under the sun, and that’s why I started giving them my water,” said Doña Coquito in an interview with Niú magazine.
Her last years were plagued by the chronic illnesses she suffered from, which limited her quality of life. Doña Coquito was diabetic, hypertensive, and suffered from heart problems. La Prensa newspaper reported that according to her family the elderly woman died at the Fernando Velez Paiz Hospital due to a heart attack. She had been referred there after a deterioration in her condition. Her death has caused sadness among those who knew her.
In September 2018, Doña Coquito was arrested while participating in one of the last marches organized in Nicaragua after the imposition of the
