Posthumous Tribute
to Coleen Littlejohn
at the National University
“Casimiro Sotelo Montenegro”
October 28, 2026
Master of Ceremony
Good morning beloved Compañer@s. Today we are convening to pay Tribute to the Life and recognize the Legacy and the True Truths of Compañera Coleen Littlejohn; to that Legacy which we welcome as our Cultural and Social Heritage, of Brother and Sisterhood among the Peoples of the World, as a Testimony of Human Greatness, as a Living Example in our permanent Battle for Peace and the Common Good.
Fraternal Greetings of Solidarity to the Family of Compañera Coleen, her son Javier Gutiérrez Littlejohn; her sister Brenda Littlejohn, and of course, her brother-in-law Greg; Friends and other Relatives who honor us with their presence.
To Compañero Gustavo Porras and to the Board of Directors of the National Assembly; the Councils of Directors and Working Groups of the country’s People President universities and private universities.
"Today we highlight the departure precisely to another plane, to a higher plane of Life, of beloved Compañera Coleen Littlejohn, a faithful sister of our Blessed Nicaragua, Nicaraguan herself, by the Grace of God.” Compañera Rosario Murillo.
As a gesture of fraternal Love we invite you to place flowers in honor of the Life to whom we are not saying goodbye to today, we leave her here, among us, among our best Life experiences, among our inheritances of formidable Humanity.
Compañera Dania Hernández, Rector of the Casimiro Sotelo Montenegro National University, will offer a Salute and Remembrance of the Life, Legacy and Sisterhood of Compañera Coleen. We receive her.
Address by Compañera Dania Torres
Rector of the National University
“Casimiro Sotelo Montenegro”
Good morning, Compañero Javier Gutiérrez; good morning, Compañera, Sister of our Compañera Coleen, Brenda Littlejohn; her brother-in-law Greg; family and friends who are with us today; distinguished Authorities; Doctor Gustavo Porras; Members of the University Community.
Today is a day when we pay tribute to our Sister, our Compañera, Coleen Littlejohn. We come together with great Respect, Gratitude and Recognition, to pay Tribute to the memory of Coleen, a Woman who made Brother and Sisterhood and Solidarity, Fundamental Values of Life.
Her bond with Nicaragua represents a significant expression of those Values; her Solidarity with the Revolutionary Cause of our General Sandino and her commitment to the Ideals of Justice, Dignity and Sovereignty, are part of a trajectory that invites us to reflect on Human Greatness, the Value of Ideals that transcend borders, and the importance of Cooperation between Peoples, for the benefit of the Common Good.
As our Co-President, Compañera Rosario Murillo, expressed "We recognize in Coleen a Beautiful Legacy of Luminous Greatness, of Love, of Life and of those True Truths which are manifested in the coherence between those who feel, believe and do for others. A legacy that endures in the actions carried out, the bonds built and the Hopes shared.”
For the University Community, this Tribute represents an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of integral formation, social awareness and commitment to the development of our People.
We recognize that education reaches its greatest meaning when Knowledge is accompanied by Human Values and the will to build the Common Good. That purpose, is the Memory of our Compañera Coleen, inviting us to continue promoting Solidarity, responsibility and respect for Human Dignity among the new generations.
To her relatives, friends and all the people who feel her absence, we express our solidarity and our most sincere Condolences. We hope this meeting will provide them with accompaniment and serenity, and that the shared memories will help them find strength in the face of the pain of her departure.
On behalf of our University, we honor her Memory with gratitude and recognition.
Today I am going to share with you a little bit of our Compañera's Life, so we can get to know some of the moments that marked her personal and professional history, from her early formative years; the paths she traveled and the bonds she built throughout her life.
Coleen Littlejohn was born on October 13th 1953, in the United States, the daughter of an English mother and an American father; she was the eldest of five siblings. She grew up in Massena, New York with her family.
In 1975 he graduated in History, 2 years later he obtained a Master's Degree in Economics, and began her history, her professional career, always at the service of other, whereby she worked in Community Development processes, in Colombia, in Chile.
These experiences allowed her to get closer to Latin American realities and to strengthen her commitment to communities, entering into a dynamic of Solidarity, always with commitment; that same Solidarity brought her to Nicaragua in 1980, where our Revolution, our Sandinista Popular Revolution, had recently triumphed. A country that would become her home for most of her life.
She worked as an advisor on External Cooperation and directed the Nicaragua Network Solidarity Group in Nicaragua, focusing on human development and health.
In 1988 she founded CAPRI, an organization dedicated to improving living conditions, promoting education and strengthening the most vulnerable communities. With this work he was shaping a leadership committed to generating significant changes in the lives of others.
She lived with all intensity the conflicts generated by the war of aggression in the 80s. She also led efforts to mitigate the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998.
Coleen's leadership led her to take on important international responsibilities.
Her story was also marked by love for her family, mother of our Compañero Javier Gutiérrez, with whom she maintained a very close and loving bond and with her entire Family.
After more than four decades living in Nicaragua and working for our country, for the development of our country; in 2022 she adopted Nicaraguan nationality, a reflection of the deep bond she had built with our country.
Her legacy will remain in our family, in her family, in her friendships and the communities with which he shared experiences and projects. Her life leaves us the testimony of a woman who put her convictions into practice and found a home in Nicaragua, a place of permanence and commitment.
To remember Coleen is to honor a Life that transcended borders, and to recognize the value of Solidarity, Cooperation and Brother and Sisterhood among Peoples, as well as the importance of the Ideals of Freedom, Self-Determination and Common Well-being that inspired her career.
Compañeras and Compañeros, our condolences, the entire University Community is with the family. Thank you very much.
Master of Ceremony
On behalf of our Government of Nicaragua and on behalf of our People President, Compañero Gustavo Porras, President of the National Assembly, will posthumously present the Rubén Darío Cultural Independence Order. Her son, Javier Gutiérrez Littlejohn, receives this Order.
Address by Dr. Gustavo Porras
President of the National Assembly
Good morning, Brother Clifford Javier; Brenda, Greg, Dania, all the Brothers and Sister who are here, the Members of the Board of Directors.
I have the honor to convey the greeting of Comandante Daniel, from Compañera Rosario, to a Militant of Love.
Coleen is a Militant of Love, and it is precisely because, as expressed by some of the feelings conveyed to her by her friends, Brothers and Sisters, she will live in our Hearts. And that is what these transformation processes guarantee, for they are based on Love and the desire for Peace, the example of all our Brothers and Sisters, and Coleen was that.
I’ll read Presidential Agreement No. 144-2026.
“TO COLEEN
ORDER OF CULTURAL INDEPENDENCE
RUBÉN DARÍO
THE CO-PRESIDENCY OF THE REPUBLIC,
CONSIDERING :
Coleen Littlejohn, a United States citizen by birth but a Universal Citizen as a Permanent Defender of the Rights of the Human Community;
That Compañera Coleen Littlejohn gave her Life to the Struggle for a World of Peace, Justice, True Truths and Brother and Sisterhood;
That our People President recognizes in her human qualities a Militant of the Cause of Love, who from that trench fought, together with the Nicaraguan People, the great Battles of Faith, Hope and Solidarity;
HAS DECIDED TO AWARD
The Order of Cultural Independence Rubén Darío, with which the People President of this Blessed and Forever Free Nicaragua, recognizes the Merits, Qualities and Excellences of the Warriors of Spirituality and Life as a Human Family deserves;
By awarding this Decoration which bears the Exalted name of Rubén Darío, we are also recognizing the Bravery, Courage and Strength of the Combatants for Peace and Good in the World, who Wage Essential Battles for Life and the Human Rights of Everyone.
Managua, October 27th 2026
Daniel Ortega Saavedra, Co-President of the Republic of Nicaragua; Rosario Murillo Zambrana, Co-President of the Republic of Nicaragua.”
Coleen will always live in us, in our Hearts, in our Actions for Love, Peace and Justice.
Compañera Coleen Littlejohn...
Present, Present, Present!
Thank you
Master of Ceremony
Now we offer space to Compañero Javier Gutiérrez Littlejohn, representing the Family of Compañera Coleen. We listen to him.
Address by Compañero Javier Gutiérrez Littlejohn
Good morning. Thank you very much. Before starting, it is important to emphasize that Coleen arrived in 1980, to a Free Nicaragua, and moved to another Plane of Life in 2026, also in a Free Nicaragua. Let us start with that comment.
Coleen arrived in Nicaragua in 1980, at a time of Historic Transition, after decades of destruction by Somocismo. Upon arriving, months later she fell in love with the Sandinista Popular Revolution and begian to work actively with the new government, working with the International Fund for Reconstruction, at that time it was called FIR.
With the aggression of the imperial war directed towards Nicaragua, the blockades and the financing of the counterrevolution, he decided to use her Intelligence, her Knowledge, to let the US People know what was really happening in this country.
Then she dedicated herself 100% to International Solidarity, especially at that time with the US People, for the aggression that we were experiencing, since at that time that was her nationality, her Country.
There she worked deeply with the Nicaragua Network, bringing delegations from the United States to come here and learn the realities, the True Truths of what was happening.
In the year 1990, despite the neoliberal restrictions, she began an organization called CAPRI, which was dedicated to working with the most vulnerable communities throughout Nicaragua, on health issues, on education issues.
Then she went to the World Bank, where at that time the policies were basically what Nicaragua what needed were more studies, more paperwork; but thanks especially to her role in that organization, she was key in deciding that the funds were no longer going to be for studies, meaning that only the people who wrote the studies would benefit, but that those funds were to be used to build schools, build roads, build water Sanitation, build electricity for the country.
Such that the real economy was not clicking on YouTube, or printing money, but simply that the real economy was in real production, Infrastructure, Water, Electricity, Sanitation, Agriculture, Livestock, that this would strengthen the future of Nicaragua.
Coleen, my mother, was one of the most important links between International Solidarity and the Nicaraguan Government already when, starting in 2007, this government showed the world that there could be free healthcare here, free universities here.
My mother was in love with this country, the country that adopted her, and it is an honor for me to receive this Posthumous Order.
I only ask for two more minutes, to thank the Women Health Workers who were with my mother until the last moment, especially Dr. Sonia Castro; Dr. Nelson Padilla, from the Solidarity Hospital; Dr. Gámez, from the Solidarity Hospital; my compañero and friend Jessy Reyes, who is present here; my compañera and friend Doris Chevez, who is also present here. And a big salute and thanks to the Co-Presidents of the Republic of Nicaragua, Compañero Comandante Daniel Ortega, Compañera Rosario Murillo.
I repeat, Coleen, she lived in a Free Nicaragua, and she is here with us still in a Free Nicaragua. Thank you very much.
Master of Ceremony
Likewise, we will hear words offered by his brother-in-law Greg.
Compañero Javier Gutiérrez Littlejohn
He is going to speak for Brenda, my mom's sister, because it's very difficult for her right now.
Greg Brousseau
It's an honor to be here with you today. Thank you all for coming to celebrate my Sister Coleen's life. My family thanks you for your sympathy.
Nicaragua welcomed and embraced Coleen over 40 years and we feel the same, embraced by Nicaragua. We met Coleen as a mother and a sister, today we see another part of her life, the part that brought Happiness to the Nicaraguan People.
We want to say that we are proud of her son Javier, for his sacrifice of taking care of his mother in her last moment. She may have been born in the United States, but we are clear that she was Nicaraguan.
Thank you very much.
Master of Ceremony
In this way let us pay Posthumous Tribute by standing up and, with loud applause, recognize the Legacy of Light, of Life and True Truths of Com Coleen Littlejohn.
Our Fraternal and Revolutionary Embrace for the whole Family, of course.
Honor and Glory to Compañera Littlejohn!
We Go Onward, Always Further On!
To Victory always!
Thank you very much, Compañeras and Compañeros, our cordial appreciation to all the Family and Friends present.
