Nicaraguan who fought under Sandino dies at 111

(Photo: Canal 19, Nicaragua)

MANAGUA, January 18, 2016 (EFE) Hector Gaitan, a railway telegraph operator who fought under Nicaragua’s national hero Augusto Cesar Sandino and the Salvadoran leader Farabundo Marti, died on Monday, his family said. He was 111.

Gaitan died from causes related to his old age, “surrounded by his family,” son Hector Gaitan told reporters.

(Public domain)

The father of 36 children, of whom 26 still live, Gaitan died in Sabana Grande on the outskirts of Managua, in an old station of Nicaragua’s defunct railroad system, where he worked for more than 60 years, and which in 1993 by government decree he made over into his home, his family said.

Gaitan, born in the northern city of Ocotal, recounted his experiences fighting alongside Sandino and Marti during an interview with EFE in 2014.

In the interview he said the secret of his longevity was not drinking alcohol, having just one wife at a time, being honest, not getting into problems and enjoying what he had.