President-Comandante Daniel, and Compañera Rosario, Vice President of Nicaragua,
at the 44th Anniversary Celebration of the Triumph of the Sandinista Popular Revolution
July 19th 2023
Address by Rosario
Christ lives in our Blessed and Always Free Nicaragua. Christ Jesus is here, Christ Jesus reigns here, because Love reigns here, and because here there is Peace!
We have reached this 44/19 with so much Song in our Hearts… Our Enlightened Hearts, Ardent Hearts, full of Growing and Mysterious Hope.
44/19… Who could have known…! It seems like it was yesterday… It seems like yesterday that we arrived, enhanced by Luminous Journeys, with the radiant holdall full of the Heroism of a People who stood up, who fought, who armed themselves, who proved their right for History, and who won… A people that overcomes… That’s what we are… And with that Priceless, Unyielding, Eternal, Mystical Brightness, because it is the Light of Spirit, Life and Truth, We continue to Overcome!
Light of Eternity… Light of Dignity… Light of Happiness, serving the Noblest of Causes… Light of Sovereignty and Decorum… Light of Universes and Stars, which from distances not so far bring Music and Miracles via their Cycles.
These Lights are Strengths and Rhythms perfectly understandable for People who are able to read and listen to the clamor, the cadence, the beat, the harmony, of silence, and of masterful symphonies of Dreams and Ideals that they never surrender. That are not sold. That don’t give way. That don’t yield.
Because standing, always firm, never on our knees, we are the Love of Loves, we are banners waving in the wind of all Time. And we are chest and forehead and face and heart held high. Breasts laid bare and alight with all the Seasons vibrating Unlimited Valor, growing Bravery, Ancestral Wisdom, Knowledge, Validity, Wonders and Prophecies mixed in Ways of Being, of the Eternal, that moves and becomes the Beyond.
44/19 and we are everything but we are nothing, we are the faithful gaze, and the immeasurable vision of the Original Heroes, the Warriors who live within us all, the eternal Fighters, Diriangén, Nicarao, Andrés, the Invincibles, because they do not know discouragement, they do not know cowardice, dissimulation, apathy or submission… Those who take on, as we do, Duties, Responsibilities, Challenges, Acclaim and Honor that are protected as we make our way… Glories and Victories that are being worked out, marking the step of Decency, Courage and all that should be the most noble in the human condition.
And it is precisely in formidable Spirituality and Humanity, as a whole, humble, powerful, that we defend the Sublime Gold of our Victorious Suns. Our splendid Alba Dawns our wings thank to Darío, José Dolores, Zeledón, Sandino, Rigoberto, Carlos, Tomás, Daniel, who came into the World like Stars, Galaxies and Universes, solid but light. Like the airs and winds that water all the seeds and germinations… Heroic Souls and Heritages reproducing in the turn of Time, with the obligation to triumph over all miseries.
We are opposed, of course we are opposed to human decrepitude… We are opposed to the decay of the Spirit… We are opposed to decomposition, to the disintegration of the legitimate aspirations of Evolution… How is it possible to understand that absurd chorus of snakes, of treacherous vipers, of fabricators of lies, of denigrators for hire… Of lies and falsehoods… How to understand the professionals of servility, the hit men, mercenaries and murderers who crawl in service to their Masters…?
How to understand those who, in shameless and diabolical pestilences, close themselves to the Cosmos, to the Coexistence of all Vibrations, of all Energies, of all the Colors and Vigor, which make up Strength and Splendor, Glories, Talents and Victories of Peoples who Truly in Truth, awakened Consciousness, We Are Going Forward.
We make our way. We create, and we believe, believing and creating a World of Justice, a Better World, a World for Lucidity, Intelligence, Brotherhood, Sensitivity, Joy… A World that knows and lives out Peace, Harmony, Solidarity, Complementarity, sharing what we have, what we are, and what we want to be: A Better World!
44/19 and it is another and radiant Anniversary of Triumphs that multiply, because they are successes of the Spirit, those souls that take on challenges, because we do take them on, and transcend, because we do transcend profoundly, on this genuine, touching, respectful day of Tribute to those who have made and make possible with their Eternal Brilliance, the daily liberation of our Blessed Nicaragua.
Full of its Luminosity, of its Mysterious Energies, of that intense Universe, everything that our Heroes, our Martyrs leave us, we proclaim: We have overcome, and we will overcome… We continue to overcome pettiness, precariousness, perversion, comfort, selfishness, indifference. Because we insist on changing the lukewarm for the torrid, the dark for the light, with Love permeating everything, because only what is loved prevails.
Guerrilla@s Always… Warriors Always… Fighter@s Always, with no subordination… Victors Always…! Melodies of from the flow of True Life, between the ephemeral and the enduring.
The Dawn, Tomás, is and has ceased to be a Temptation. For one, and many, are the Ways of this New Day…!
Sandino Lives and the Fight Goes On, On, On and On!
Our Sandinista Popular Revolution is enduring because it knows how to make its way, we know how to make our way aware of the ephemeral, of change, of transience, of how transient we all are, and of the eternal, complex, inescapable and inalienable, which is Struggle as the highest of Songs.
The Victories today are more certain than ever. “We are fighting against the Yankee enemy of humanity…! We are fighting the Yankee enemy of humanity…!” And we fought to overcome…! What a privilege! We fight to overcome…!
So complex, so difficult, so hard, so stormy, but also so true and lasting every advance against hatred, against meanness, against evil. Every step towards the Best, and every Stage of Life dedicated to the fight, to generous and immense struggle, in Brother and Sisterhood, Beautiful and Full.
With our Heroes and Martyrs, alive in every challenge, filling us with Courage, Vigor, Vitality and Youth, Let’s Go Forward!
All together we create a Future, from the Sun that illuminates us, that does not set, and that already announces All the New Victories, we greet in that Sun of Triumphs our Companions from the Peoples and Governments of:
Africa: Angola, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria…
From Euro-Asia : Abkhazia, Belarus, Russian Federation, South Ossetia…
From Asia and the Middle East: The Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Sisters and Brothers who represent the Government, the State and the Palestinian People, Always in Struggle…!
Our Brothers and Sisters from Cuba, Victorious Cuba, Revolutionary Cuba, Cuba, so admired, so beloved…! From Honduras, from Mexico, and from that Bolivarian Venezuela, with everyone united, everyone fighting, everyone Victorious!
This Commemoration of 44/19, this Concert, this Joy, this Celebration, this Event, is presided over by Heroic Nicaraguan Families from all over Our Sacred Geography; and our Youth, Divine Treasure, also throughout our Blessed Nicaragua; our National Assembly; our Deputies before the Central American Parliament; the Government Cabinet; the Nicaraguan Army; the National Police; Ministry of the Interior; Pastors and Leaders of Faith; Ambassadors and Heads of Mission to the People and Government of Nicaragua; Leaders of Solidarity of Our America: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the United States,an Immense People; Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, from there our National Hero, Roberto Clemente, to Puerto Rico, Honor and Glory to Roberto Clemente, Hero of Solidarity! Dominican Republic; Spain, Ireland, Italy, Norway, United Kingdom…
And From the United States, that Great People, Academics, Leaders and Communicators in the Great Spirit of the Families of North America.
Also our National, International Communicators, Friends, Sisters and Brothers, Permanent Companions of the Struggle of the Nicaraguan People…
Our Comandante Daniel; Dr. Gustavo Porras, President of the National Assembly; Compañera First Vice-President of the National Assembly, Arling Alonso; Compañera Loria Raquel Dixon, Deputy and Member of the Board, Secretary of the National Assembly; General Julio César Avilés Castillo, Commander-in-Chief of the Nicaraguan Army; Major General Bayardo Rodríguez, Chief of the General Staff of our Army; Major General Marvin Corrales, Inspector General of our Nicaraguan Army…
From our Police, the First Commissioner and Director General, Compañero Francisco Díaz; Advisor to Compañero President for Security Issues, Commissioner General Horacio Rocha; Commissioner General Zhukov Serrano, also Deputy Director of our National Police. And well, there are Compañeras and Compañeros from the Army, from the Military Council, and Compañeras and Comapñeros from the National Police Council; also from the Ministry of the Interior, Brother and Sister Firefighters who always heed the call of Nicaraguan Families…
Dr. Alba Luz Ramos, President of the Supreme Court; Dr. Marvin Aguilar, Vice-President of our Supreme Court; the Doctor and Attorney General of the Republic, Ana Julia Guido, former Guerrilla Fighter; Dr. Wendy Morales, Attorney General of the Republic; the Compañera Magistrate President of the Supreme Electoral Council and Hero, Brenda Rocha; Comandante Lumberto Campbell Hooker, Augusto Sandino Order, and Magistrate of the Supreme Electoral Council; the Compañera Alma Nubia Baltodano, also Augusto Sandino Order, like Brenda, and Magistrate of the Supreme Electoral Council; the President of the National Council of Universities and Rector of the UNAN-Managua, Professor, Doctor Ramona Rodríguez; the Mayor of Managua, Compañera Reyna Rueda; and the Secretary of Organization of the Sandinista Front, Compañero Fidel Moreno Briones.
And among our International Guests, Compañeras and Compañeros, Representatives of their Peoples and Governments: From Abkhazia, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, Comrade Beslan Dzhopua. From Belarus, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic, or Foreign Minister of the Republic Brother Sergey Aleinik, at the head of an important Delegation.
Then, from Burkina Faso our Brother Prime Minister, Apollinaire Joachimson Kyélem De Tambèla. Welcome Brother of the Nation of Thomas Sankara. From Cuba, the Deputy Prime Minister, Brother Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca… Viva Cuba! From Honduras, Deputy Silvia Ayala, Deputy Bartolo Fuentes, Deputy Iris Pineda, and the Minister of Strategic Planning, Comrade Ricardo Salgado.
From the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr. Ibrahim Azizi, Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Policy National Security Committee of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran; Dr. Seyed Ali Aghazadeh, Deputy Chairman of the Defense Committee of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran; also its Director of International Relations, Dr. Mohammadreza Daraibaf.
From the Labor Party of Mexico, which has always accompanied us and is accompanying us now, with a greeting to Professor Anaya, Fellow Deputy Pedro Vásquez González, and Fellow Deputy Jorge Armando Ortiz Rodríguez.
From Mozambique, the Homeland of Zamora Machel, Deputy of the FRELIMO Parliamentary Group, of the FRELIMO Party, of the Mozambique Liberation Front, Brother Alberto Francisco Valoi; Deputy Cacilda Azarias Monjane Matusse, and Brother, also Deputy, José Domingos Manuel. Thank you, friends, everyone, for being here.
From Heroic Palestine, Compañero Rawhi Fatooh, Chairman of the Palestinian National Council, Commissioner of International Relations of the National Movement for the Liberation of Palestine, FATAH, and Former Chairman of the Palestinian Legislative Council. President of Palestine between November 2004 and then 2005; also the President’s Diplomatic Affairs Adviser, Ambassador Abdalnasser Al-Araj.
From the Russian Federation, Compañero Deputy Vladislav Davankov, Deputy Speaker of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation
And from our Sister Venezuela, Comrade Mervin Maldonado, Minister of Youth and Sports; the Deputy Rodbexa Poleo, of the National Assembly of Venezuela, representing of course the PSUV; and the Sister, Dear Compañera Erika Farías, we have known each other for a long time, from the General Directorate of the PSUV.
From the Dominican Republic, our beloved Compañero, indispensable in these Celebrations, and not only in the Celebrations, in all our Battles, Miguel Mejía Abreu, now known as “El Flaco Miguel”, of the United Left Movement (MIU). And from Guatemala, Compañero Pablo Monsanto, with his son Jorge Israel Soto Orantes.
Thank you all, Compañeros and Compañeras, for being here in this Celebration of Triumph and on this day to take on new, greater, Commitments, because the Struggle is the highest of Songs.
To Fidel, to Chávez, to Bolívar, to Martí, to Sandino, Father of our Revolution, to Farabundo, to Morazán, to Zapata, to Villa, to Benito Juárez, to Omar Torrijos Herrera… From the Immensity and even this Immensity we say to you: Here we are… Here We continue straight ahead… We Are Still Overcoming Here… Here We are Songs of Life and Hope… Here We Are insurmountable, unyielding Commitments… Energies do not run out here… Here we are Children of the God of All Triumphs… Here We are the Love of Christ Jesus… Here we are Nation and Freedom… We Are Revolution Here…!
Tomás, today, traitors and cowards do not even become a reference of any History. Because national history is not written with masks or theaters of the absurd. It is not made of iniquities or ignominies. Tomás, today, traitors and cowards lie rotting in the dustbin of history.
After 44 years of so much Struggle and so much Pride for so many Victories, Sandinistas say with immense Pride: We are unconquerable! We are the Unyielding and Faithful Revolution, the Sandinista Popular Revolution. We are the Nicaragua of Dario and Sandino!
We are
F for Insurmountable Strength
S for Sun of Freedom
L for Uncompromising Struggle
N of NOT Backing Down
N of NOT Backing Down
N of NOT Backing Down
With Daniel, with the Frente, the People are President! And in Light, Life and Truth
We are proud to make our way in this New World!
Fight, Fight, Fight
is our Battle Cry
Overcome, Overcome, Overcome
is our Ideal
And to the Cry of a Free Nation or Death
we march to the New Triumphs
of the Revolution!
Always in front!
Always in battle!
Always Further On!
Always victorious!
With Daniel, The Frente
The People-President!
Carlos, Comandante Carlos, here are your Carbines
Shooting Auroras
Always Further On!
Compañer@s, we want to honor a Great Friend, a Compañero, a Comrade, a Brother of our Nicaragua. We met him here in Managua, where he arrived, simple, humble, and then we visited him in Ouagadougou, where we had the honor of sharing memorable hours with him and his People.
We are talking about Burkina Faso… You were with us, Adrian, and David, Davito McFields too, who is here with us. Hugs, David, the Great Poet McFields, Worthy Son of Sandino.
Honor and Glory to Thomas Sankara, Commander of the Burkinabe Revolution, and African Liberation Fighter! A man who believed, who lived, Revolution.
When visiting Nicaragua, he collected these images and experiences that he turned into Speeches and Poems.
As he rightly said then, these Words, which are Eternal, were not the result of poetic inspiration, but of his Revolutionary Commitment. And he said: We must support Nicaragua.
We are here today with your People, your Authorities, 44 years after the Triumph of our Sandinista Popular Revolution. And Always Further On!
We feel him, we live him, we love him, we have admired and respected him, and today it fills us with pride to have the presence of the Prime Minister of his Country, Compañero Apollinaire Joachimson Kyélem De Tambèla, and then we want to remember, live, transcend and continue fighting to win with that deeply spiritual clarity that vibrates in his every word, that has moved between the Times on the Wings of Victories.
Sankara said, as he passed among us: Living Free, hoping only for a Better Future, is not easy when you are a Nicaraguan. That is why the Burkinabé people are singing with you this Poem that was born, not from poetic inspiration, but from the revolutionary commitment to speak their minds. The Poem is called “The Imperialists Will Fall”
From the depths of the scorched earth
the cries of a determined people rise
because every day is a day of struggle,
of combats that announce
to the enemy his fall.
And how heavy is the price that is paid!
How much blood must be shed every day!
The mothers have cried
to their dead children at the front,
the children have buried their parents
with their bare hands!
In this darkness of the Contra,
the babies have lost their satchels and their bottles
and have wielded Kalachnikovs instead
and they have become men.
The white veils of brides
have been stained with blood.
The patriotic priests have seen
the sign of the times.
How difficult it is to live free and be a Nicaraguan!
How sweet it is to die for sister and brothers…
Nicaragua will Overcome!
The people can already read! The people can get heath care!
The people write and cultivate their fields
and find their smiles again!
The Revolution Will Triumph!
The Contra will not pass!
Your Land, Nicaragua, our Land,
you will know, thanks to your genius,
the Real Manna!
Next to Nicaragua will be Burkina!
Because the Revolution is invincible
and the people will reign!
From the depths of the earth,
so, this soft and embalmed earth,
the Fraternal Cries will rise up
of the Symphony Attained!
It is for all these reasons, Compañeras and Compañeros
that I have the honor and Pleasure to bring you here, on behalf of the Burkinabese People
Symbols of their Fierceness for you!
A Free Nation or Death
A Free Nation or Death for We will overcome!
Thomas Sankara
We would like to invite the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, to address the People of Nicaragua on this historic date: 44/19 and Always Further On. Come Compañero Apollinaire here with our Comandante Daniel. Thank you.
Address by Apollinaire Joachimson Kyélem De Tambèla, Prime Minister of Burkina Faso
Thank you very much, Madam Vice President, it is an honor for me to be here in Nicaragua and at this Ceremony. You remember the passing of President Thomas Sankara here in ’86. President Daniel Ortega also went to our capital in ’86, and that remains in our memory.
When I came here, many people told me, if you meet Daniel Ortega, greet him on my behalf, then I greet him on behalf of all Burkinabes. What’s going on with Nicaragua… I leave you with the greetings of my President Ibrahim Traoré and of the People of Burkina Faso. We are united, and that is why the President came to our country in ’86.
For people of my generation, there are things that unite us with Nicaragua, Augusto César Sandino, the Sandinista National Liberation Front and Commander Daniel Ortega.
We have learned to know Nicaragua. When the Liberation Struggle began, I was small, but we followed, day by day, the context of Nicaragua’s Liberation. I went in July of ’79, and when they entered Managua we were happy, people of my age celebrated that.
And then, when Thomas Sankara came to power, Daniel Ortega and the Sandinista Revolution was something happy for us; we as students studied a lot the history of Nicaragua, we followed its evolution. Also with the International Court of Justice, what was happening between Nicaragua and the United States, which supported the “Contra” of Nicaragua. On that point, Nicaragua’s struggle is also that of our people.
Nicaragua is a great country, but the determination of its People is a Hope and an example for others, they have a great Spirit. In such a way, we have also kept that Hope, even after the assassination of our President Thomas Sankara.
Until today, many Revolutionaries have come from Burkina Faso, the only problem between us is the distance; Nicaragua is not a country that is close to ours, but despite that, distance does not count. That is why I am here, and I am here to be the living witness of the Unity between the People of Nicaragua and Burkina Faso.
And when I was coming, the President sent a Letter of Invitation to give to President Ortega so that he could also come to Burkina Faso. I know he does not have the vigor of those years when he was fighting the Somoza Dictatorship, but I know, I am sure that he would love to arrive and honor the grave of our former President Thomas Sankara, and I do hope that he will make that visit, that he will travel to Burkina Faso, and in that way contribute to strengthening our relations.
I have heard that there is a delegation from Venezuela here too, and with the authorization of President Daniel Ortega I want to greet you. I was there last May and we shared many moments and thoughts.
I also noticed that there was a Delegation from Cuba here, and I convey my greetings because we have very close relations with Cuba. President Fidel Castro has been and was a very important person for the Revolution in Africa; we have excellent memories, both of Cuba and of President Fidel Castro.
I also noticed that there is a Delegation from Iran here, and I request you to let me greet the People of Iran. Likewise, for the Russian Federation, we will soon be in St. Petersburg, the Delegation of Burkina Faso.
Mr. President Daniel Ortega, Madam Vice-President, the Message I wish to convey: I salute all the Youth of Nicaragua, you are the Future; I also salute that discipline you have, that Patriotism, that Nationalism, that Joy of living. Your future is here in Nicaragua, it is not anywhere else, therefore, build something here for yourselves and your children in Nicaragua, under the guidance of our Supreme Comandante, President Ortega.
Thank you very much.
Address by Daniel
In November 1986 our Brother Thomas Sankara visited us, we were in the middle of the war, the President of the United States, violating his own American Laws and Rules, violating International Law, had stepped forward, showing his true face. It must be recognized, he was not like others who shield themselves, Reagan was showing his true face, and came to say: I am a Contra. Nothing strange, of course, that Reagan was a Contra, the strange thing would have been had Reagan not been a Contra. And he found our Country, our People in arms, this was a People in arms; Heart, Soul, and Conscience, in arms.
We wanted peace, we fought against the tyranny imposed by the Yankees, because we wanted Peace, we wanted our People to be freed from Extreme Poverty, Illiteracy, which exceeded 60%. And we had to fight against the Governor imposed by the Yankees here in Nicaragua, because Somoza was nothing more than a Governor imposed by the Yankees after he fulfilled his mission of assassinating Sandino, and the Yankees armed him, financed him, he was a brother of the Yankees.
You know that when we use the term Yankee we mean those who have a racist, imperialist attitude, which is not the case with the United States people. That is not the way of the United States people. The United States People have been a People in Solidarity with our Struggle, indisputably given that the weight of the Capitalist System, the weight of the Military Industry, will bend any President, who despite many promises he makes then comes to occupy the Presidency of the United States.
Let’s remember the expectation that Obama created, it seemed that Obama was going to be something different. But it’s the double standard. It was to take a step like the one he took visiting Cuba, but then he stabbed Venezuela; that is to say, it was the moment when Obama dictated that Law, decreeing that Venezuela was a threat to the security of the United States.
Indeed, he arrived loaded with good intentions and his government too, but it’s not because United States Presidents, with exceptions you might expect, especially enjoy invading Nations, destroying Nations, murdering peoples, bombing them, along with NATO, of course. NATO is nothing more than an instrument of the Yankee Empire; Europe is nothing more than an entity at the service of United States imperialism.
But it was Obama who launched those terrible aggressions against Fraternal Peoples, Revolutionary Peoples, Peoples of Solidarity; it is enough to remember our Brother Muammar Gaddafi. We cannot forget Gaddafi, how he, immediately with the Triumph of our Revolution and seeing the aggression that Nicaragua was suffering, showed solidarity with Nicaragua and he gave us unconditional Solidarity.
But Gaddafi was going much more, Gaddafi was a support for his Region, pushing for the Unity of the Arab Peoples; that is, his job was that, to promote the Unity of the Arab Peoples, and to search for how to modernize the Libyan People as well. There, visiting the University, young people studied there, young women studied at the University, he gave them access to the University, naturally with topics that are sensitive because of the weighty Culture those Peoples have and that we have to respect.
But he pushed further on looking for how to open spaces among his own people, and he went so far as I recall, that one day of the many when we met with Gaddafi, he arrived with an escort of women bodyguards, that was unthinkable, and there he was with the women bodyguards. Of course, Imperialism cared little about the progress and well-being that Gaddafi brought with him, that he brought to the Libyan people, and also to the Peoples who are further south in that entire area.
Gaddafi, with the development that he had, with the productive activities that he developed in Libya, with the investments that he promoted, right there in the region the labor force was desperate because they had no work there, further south in the African Continent, and they were continuously looking for ways to migrate to Europe, so Libya became at that moment a retaining wall, because they assimilated that migrant population from other Sister Nations, Families that wanted work and who found it there in Libya.
That is to say, NATO, with the crime it committed in Libya, NATO, that is, Europe, that is, the United States, by destroying the Libyan state, destroyed it, one of the countries with the highest income, where Libyan Families automatically received a percentage just from the sale of oil; that is, of course, they studied, looked for work, but they received an income, because the Oil income allowed Justice to be done.
And they destroyed Libya, they bombed it; I remember the boasting of the woman Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, Bill Clinton’s wife. Note, mind you, I’m talking about the people who are supposed to be nobler, kinder people, more respectful of international law, and Mrs. Hilary Clinton gave statements, jumping up in rage thundering against Libya and against Gaddafi. And how when Gaddafi was killed, because Gaddafi was not one to surrender, he was not one to sell out; and when Gaddafi was assassinated, how that lady jumped for joy, toasting with champagne the assassination of Gaddafi.
But what did they do? They destroyed a state, Libya is destroyed there, and what was a retaining wall for the migration that was heading for Europe, when the Europeans are enemies of migrants; racism reigns there, after they dominated and exploited those Peoples, colonized them, sucked them dry, well, then they no longer wanted to receive people from those Countries who then sought how to go to work in Europe.
So, by assassinating Gaddafi, destroying Libya, the migrants’ retaining wall was broken. And that is why we have seen how migrants to Europe began to multiply, thousands and thousands of migrants, Human beings who are not given any security of entry and who are there on boats looking for where to land, and meanwhile the boats are sinking and the death of thousands of migrants is constantly repeated. Europe should answer for these crimes before the International Organizations, before the Court, that famous Court that they mention so much, they should answer before that Court.
And Rosario told you that, at the time when he was here in Nicaragua, Sankara was led to write the text Rosario just read out. He spoke from the Heart, he spoke from the Soul, and we identified with him immediately. He was the youngest Revolutionary leader in Africa and with enormous authority, with great prestige.
Then we visited him there, we went to his Country, to his Land, Burkina Faso. There we went with Rosario, with Father Miguel d’Escoto, with Lumberto, and David McFields. We were a medium-sized Delegation, let’s say, there were about 10 of us who were in the Delegation, we went to visit Sankara, who had made the gesture of coming to show solidarity with us from such distant Lands to Nicaragua. And we became Brothers, when he came to Nicaragua we became Brothers, and when we met there we also ratified that Brotherhood.
Then, in the midst of the conspiracies that colonialists engage in across the African region, because, of course, the colonialists are constantly moving their contacts, their influences, they have their agitators, to promote coups d’état, to promote terror, assassinations, under those circumstances they murdered our Brother Thomas Sankara.
And his voice, his thought, his encouragement, is still alive, as our Brother the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso has expressed very. And we tell you, that Nicaragua has an immense affection, and a commitment to the battle that it was Sankara’s turn to give at the time, and today you continue to give the battle. Because Sankara, while they did manage to assassinate him physically, but his thought, his ideas, his revolutionary position, his strength, that is still alive in the People of Burkina Faso.
Also I think we should give a big applause here to these compañeras and compañeros, these young people, these artists, they are artists, the fruit of the Sandinista Revolution. These groups have multiplied all over the country carrying the Revolutionary Message; through music, through Singing, that enables the forging of Consciousness in the Youth.
And they are tireless, because they have spent weeks touring the Departments, the Municipalities, they and other groups. Every day commemorating this date throughout the month of July. And today, last night, today, they have not rested, that’s why Darius rightly said: Youth, Divine Treasure…! Youth, Divine Treasure! What a strength, compañeros, what a strength, compañeras. What Vigor!
This is derived, yes, from Conscience, because they are not mercenaries, they are not looking to become millionaires with music… No! The satisfaction for them is to raise Awareness, because they have a Conscience, they have Dignity, they have Loyalty to the Revolution, Loyalty to Sandino, Loyalty to the People.
Beloved Nicaraguan Brothers and Sisters, beloved Nicaraguan Families, since this Event began in all the Municipalities of the country, where you are, in your Neighborhood, in your Region, families, Young People are gathered there, in front of the television, in front of the screens, following this Event that we are broadcasting on a National Network, and also Internationally.
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We have very important issues to address, but before I forget, where is the compañera from Puerto Rico who gave me this baseball? Let’s see, please come forward, those who gave me the baseball. This is a baseball that has the Flag of Puerto Rico and has the number 21, which is the number of Roberto Clemente, this Hero that we have here. The number 21.
They handed me this baseball when I was coming in, and what can I say to you, Young People? Like you, there are thousands of Young People there in Puerto Rico, and thousands of Young People in the United States, and in New York, and in Washington, and in New Orleans, everywhere, who love Puerto Rico and can be sure we accompany them in that struggle, that Puerto Rico will be Free, it will be Independent. Take our embrace, our affection to the youth and the People of Puerto Rico.
————
We have substantive issues there, which we want to share with the Nicaraguan people and with you Sisters and Brothers of Solidarity who are accompanying us, who are visiting us. First, I am going to refer to an issue that for Nicaraguans is an issue of sovereignty.
Let’s have look at how many Heroes, there are thousands of Heroes, but we have formally highlighted as Heroes, something that is not easy, placing them in the Constitution of the Republic of Nicaragua to the Caciques Diriangén and Nicarao, who dealt the first defeat to the Spanish invaders.
It was an operation where the Nicarao Cacique was closer to the area where the Spaniards were already entering our Territory, he had agreed with the Diriangén Cacique, welcoming them, discussing with them why they wanted to seize the lands. Because the conquerors were very clear, these lands were given to us by the king, they said, and here comes Christ, who blesses what the king does, and here is our little sword that puts things in order if what the king says is not fulfilled. In other words, they directly threatened our ancestors with death.
And there was an exchange, a conversation between Nicarao and Gil González, who was the conquistador who was entering Nicaragua here, and part of the plan was that, well, what do they want? Gold, of course, gold. Well, here we have these turkeys, these chickens, we can give them some Gold too. No, we want all the Gold. So what they had there they picked up and gave it to him.
That gave confidence to the conquerors, who then asked who was further on. There was the Cacique Diriangén with his tribe, with his People. “He’s waiting for you there too to take care of him,” Nicarao told them. So the Spanish went there very confident. When they arrived at Diriangén there the ambush was set, although not having the weapons that the Spanish had, with arrows, with spears and with clubs the fighters of Diriangén attacked surrounded them, and in the end made them flee. The first defeat of imperialism, because it was Spanish Imperialism, Imperialism. The first defeat of Imperialism in Nicaragua!
That’s why we have Diriangén, Nicarao, then the Priest Tomás Ruiz, of indigenous origin, a Priest, yes a Priest, but someone who began to fight for Independence. The Spaniards threw him into prison, imprisoned him, held him, until Tomás Ruiz died. Father Tomás Ruiz is a National Hero… A true Christian!
Another Hero, José Dolores and Andrés Castro, were both at the head of the Nicaraguans who defeated the expansionist troops of William Walker, who had imposed himself as President of Nicaragua, when the first law he had dictated was slavery. And the People rebelled, and there the Yankee Empire suffered its first defeat in combat after combat.
Another Nicaraguan also stood out there, a professor, Emmanuel Mongalo, who was decisive in evicting the racist, slave-owning Yankees of William Walker, and he went with a fuse to the fortress where they were holed up and managed to start a fire, a fire such they had to get out and then it was easy to defeat them. Then the American Navy came to rescue William Walker.
But before that, William Walker who was President of Nicaragua, yes, formally he was President of Nicaragua, the Yankee Ambassador was at his Inauguration, and because he was very upset with the defeats he was receiving, he went on to set fire to the City of Granada, he set it on fire and left a sign in English that said: “Granada as here“.
Then, Darío, of course Darío, Rubén Darío, who knew how to denounce the Empire and above all also knew how to really define what is hardest in Life, and he does that in a masterful way Darío, in a poem called “Tarde del Coso”.
There’s a bullfight, there is the barrier, the audience shouting: Another bull! Another bull! The bull is accompanied by the ox, because the ox is occupied later to go and drag out the bulls that are left dead. There goes the ox to drag them out. So, the bull and the ox are talking, and the bull is complaining because he is almost certainly going to die, and remembering that he used to dominate the countryside, how he lived freely with that great strength in the countryside and how now they had him there, already on the verge of death.
The bull complaining to the ox, and in the dialogue, a very rich dialogue, already at the end, when the time has come for the bull to be taken out, the ox says to him: The time has come for you. Then the bull says to him: What could harder than death? And the ox responds to him: Impotence! Impotence! And that goes for everyone. What is harder for a people than the impotence of not being able to rebel, not being able to fight, not being able to defend themselves, even at the risk of death.
Then we have General Benjamín Zeledón, who had to face the Yankee troops in 1912, the American Army that disembarked in Nicaragua, and then in practice that occupation was prolonged, until the General of Free Women and Men, Augusto César Sandino, appeared, who confronted them, stood up to them, and defeated them. They couldn’t defeat him, they had to retreat.
Their goal was to finish with Sandino, he was a bandit, they said, he had to be finished with. And they couldn’t! They brought their military Air Force here against Sandino, but they couldn’t, and in the end they had no choice but to retreat.
And there remained a president who was not a blind instrument of the Yankees, but nor was he Zeledón. He was a president who thought that after the Yankees had left, and since Sandino had fought for the Yankees to leave, then we had to find how to dialogue, negotiate, so that the Country could finally live in peace. And the talks began, and Sandino was traveling from the mountain areas to Managua, and the other Generals were telling him: Don’t go, they’re going to kill you. But Sandino said: There is no other way, if I have fought for peace, and I have no enemies to face right now because they have gone and we have defeated them.
Then, on Sandino’s last trip to Managua, President Sacasa offered him a dinner at the Presidency. Sandino went there with two Generals, President Sacasa was there with his daughter, and when General Sandino left the dinner and heading for the place where he was staying, they were waiting for him. The Yankees had already organized the plan with the Head of the National Guard that they had organized and that was commanded by the Yankees, Somoza. And he murdered Sandino.
And always when listening to that song “The Guerrilla’s Grave, where is it, where is it?”… Well, Somoza insisted on erasing any trace of our General’s bones. That he burned them, that he was thrown into the lake, that he was passed from one side to the other; that is, there are thousands of versions. We have made efforts to find him, but so far it has not been possible to do so…
The most important thing, yes, because there could be Sandino’s bones in a place, in a cemetery, and Sandino’s Thought might be absent, Sandino’s combativeness might be absent. But the important thing here is that, they murdered Sandino, they destroyed the human matter, but they couldn’t destroy Sandino’s Spirit, they couldn’t destroy Sandino’s Soul. They couldn’t destroy it! So, where is he? Where is Sandino? He is in the soul of the Nicaraguan people! He is in the heart of the Nicaraguan people! There is Sandino. What better place! What better place! Fighting a thousand battles! Fighting a thousand battles!
And the wife of our General Sandino, Blanca Stella Arauz, also a Hero.
Then, another Hero is Rigoberto López Pérez, that is a really extraordinary Hero, quite unique, because when one goes to combat one has to go to the combat having a weapon; if the combat is strong one can retreat, and then continue by another way. That is, the Human Being who goes to a combat, he has the advantage that he is not going to commit suicide, but he is going to fight to win, and he is looking for how to arm himself.
Rigoberto left an extraordinary letter to his mother, where he explained to his mother that he has already had in his mind that there is no other way, to begin destroying the Somoza tyranny, than to execute Somoza. And he prepared with other Comrades, Comrades Edwin Castro, Narváez, Cornelio Silva, three Comrades, and he, four, are plotting, seeing where Somoza moves, where he can be executed.
But in all this, well, the other three Compañeros are like Rigoberto’s support force; because Rigoberto’s decision is that he, in order to do it, has to enter only he, and he has already done practices with the revolver, looking for how to hit the points where the bulletproof vest does not reach, because he is starting from the principle that Somoza used bulletproof vest, then he had to look for points, because if he went to the chest, the bulletproof vest would not enter the bullet.
So he prepared himself very well, and he told the mother to understand that he is going to die, he is sure that he is going to die, he is aware that he is going to die, but that it is a step that must be taken, out of Dignity, out of Patriotism, so he writes, he is convinced. In the end he enters a party that was given to Somoza, he carries the revolver, he managed to get in with the revolver, and he is dancing with a young woman, and Rigoberto when he has Somoza sitting in front of him, pulls out the revolver, and the shots were accurate.
The Yankees rushed with Somoza at that moment and took him to the Hospital in Panama, a famous Hospital that exists in Panama, on the Panama Canal, they took him there to see if they could save his life.
Meanwhile, what Rigoberto already knew was going to happen happened, he let all his bullets hit Somoza, and then they fell on him. Of course, at that moment, the fury of Somoza’s escort was so great that they all started parading to shoot at Rigoberto’s corpse. A parade, shooting, shooting, shooting.
So Rigoberto is one of those really extraordinary Heroes, he was a Being from another planet, as the artists, the singers would say. And a National Hero, Rigoberto.
Then, Carlos Fonseca, Carlos who knew how to link Sandino’s Thought to the historical moment that was being lived at that time in Nicaragua, because the guerrilla struggles against Somoza were continuing, and even the name that was put on the Front was discussed. The first actions of the Front were as a National Liberation Front, but then Carlos insisted that we had to start from our roots, from our history, from what Sandino meant within the struggle. And that’s where the Sandinista National Liberation Front was born, thanks to Carlos.
Then, also among the National Heroes there is a Journalist who was of conservative thought but was not an extremist, one might say: Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, Director of a newspaper, the newspaper La Prensa. Compañera Rosario worked with him, was his assistant for years, and when I was imprisoned, my mother went there to talk to Rosario and to talk to him. In that sense he was not a poisoned anti-Sandinista. Then Somoza ordered him to be assassinated, and sought to blame the Frente, because the Frente was already in the battle.
Then we have another National Hero who is Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo. Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo, many of you who have come to the event there in the Plaza, not the Plaza of the Revolution, but in the huge Plaza, where we did the events before the pandemic, and there were hundreds of thousands of people, the Plaza overflowed and the Avenue overflowed. And who accompanied us there, who gave the Message of Blessing? Cardinal Miguel, even though the Vatican did not take kindly to that, and that’s why they then sought how, in the medium term, to remove him, to discharge him, to send him to retirement.
The other National Hero, approved by the National Assembly ahead of December 31st last year. It was coming up to December 31st, which is the date Roberto Clemente died, Clemente died. Clemente was a really extraordinary hero; he was the first to worry about the earthquake in Nicaragua, because he had been in Nicaragua, he had linked up with the Nicaraguan people.
He began to look for how to collect aid there and charter a plane to come with the cargo here to Nicaragua. He could have sent the plane and stayed there with his Family in Puerto Rico, and his Family insisted that he not go, that he send the plane, but that he stay there because it was the End of the Year Holidays. He insisted that no, that he wanted to come and deliver that aid directly to the Families affected by the earthquake. He got on the plane, and then at some time in the flightthe plane got lost on the radar, and Clemente was left in the sea. In a totally extraordinary act of solidarity!
Now, here you know that, at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Nicaragua has always taken territorial disputes, it has taken them to the Court, and Nicaragua abides by what the Court says, that is a Principle.
A number of cases have been brought to the Court to delimit territory with Honduras in the maritime zones; to delimit territory with Costa Rica, on the issue of the San Juan River as well; to delimit territories both in the Caribbean Sea and in the Pacific Sea. Well, I would say that in most cases we have done well there. In the case of the River, the Court made it clear that the River belonged to Nicaragua, but that Costa Rica had the right to navigate it from a certain place. And we fulfilled that.
With Colombia, the situation has been more complicated, because the Islands of San Andrés and Providencia are about 200 kilometers from Nicaragua’s coasts and are about 600, 800 kilometers from the Colombian coasts; that is, they were part of Nicaraguan territory when the divisions occurred as these countries reached Independence.
But, the Caribbean Coast had been disputed by England, and of course the United States also disputed the Coast, and as there was also the Panama Canal, the United States had two options, because they dominated the area, they sent to do the studies with their Navy engineers, they did studies here in Nicaragua, which were presented to the United States Congress.
So there came the studies, from one side and from the other side, and in the end the US Congress decided that the Canal should go through Panama, and the United States imposed a concession on the Government of Nicaragua, imposed a law where Nicaragua could not open any canal works in its territory without the authorization of the United States.
At that time they had rivalries with the Europeans, they did not want the Europeans here either, when they said “America for the Americans”, it was that the Europeans should leave here, because they did not want the Europeans to have these countries under their control as they in the United States did.
Then negotiations came, where in the end this led to Colombia agreeing to hand over Panama, because Panama was part of Colombia, and in return, in the midst of those contradictions with the British, they came to occupy the territories that the British had been occupying on the Caribbean Coast, including also, naturally, San Andrés and Providencia.
So, that remained the case until we started to take the issue to court. Why? Because it was not only the theme of San Andrés and Providencia that should belong to Nicaragua, many of the Nicaraguan Sisters and Brothers that you know were born in San Andrés and Providencia, and they have come here because it is closer to them than going to Colombia.
So, we went to Court to claim, first, our territorial right of sea, that is, the maritime territory that was denied to us, because what was Colombia doing? They have huge warships moving virtually on the Nicaraguan coast and they did not allow Nicaraguan ships to leave even a kilometer or two kilometers beyond their coasts, which goes against the maritime territory rights of any country.
We spent years like this, them with their warships and us fighting in court. In the end, in 2012, the Court ruled and made it clear that Nicaragua had the right to a territorial sea space in the Caribbean Sea of 75,000 square kilometers, that is, Nicaragua is now there in the Caribbean.
When the ruling was given, President Peña Nieto is taking office in Mexico, and we went there to the Inauguration of President Peña Nieto, and the President of Colombia, President Juan Manuel Santos, sends me a message asking if we can meet, I say yes, of course.
We met there at the hotel and started talking; then he tells me – This topic is very complex for us. Uribe was already shouting that this ruling should not be recognized, because you know the Colombian Right WIng is terrible; that this ruling should not be accepted and that the warships had to be kept off the Nicaraguan coasts so that Nicaragua would not enter.
I told President Santos that I understood that it was not easy for him, first because approval would have to pass through the Colombian Congress; compliance with a Court Ruling is not easy, even if it is by right of international law, because political contradictions enter along with political games. And he says to me: It would be good to let some time pass and then we will talk about seeing how we resolve this.
I told him that we were clear that this could not be imposed by force, we did not have the strength to impose it by force, but that we were going to start using that space with the small boats we had, fishing boats and the coastguards we have, which are really small boats next to the huge ships that Colombia has.
Indeed we were doing it there, immediately the Army began to operate with their naval boats, even with boats that did not have the capacity to make a complete tour in the new area that had been awarded by the Court to Nicaragua because it did needed more fuel, so we had to take another boat with enough fuel to cover them both.
And when there were such incursions on our part, the warships appeared and stood in front of our boats, and began to threaten that they would sink our boat if it did not retreat, which was in Colombian territory; and our people did not enter, they retreated. It was like that, a risk, but there was no Colombian compliance with the Court’s ruling.
Then, there was a change of governments in Colombia, and none of them were interested in normalizing relations with Nicaragua, recognizing the Court’s ruling, which is mandatory for any country. So we went to Court again and told the Court that, as Colombia had not complied…, then we demanded more maritime space already on the area that had been assigned to Colombia around the islands of San Andrés and Providencia.
Well, that Trial was much shorter, and this Trial was ruled in favor of Colombia; that is, the Court said that Nicaragua could not be given more maritime space that is over 200 miles affecting Colombian maritime spaces, because there were no precedents or antecedents. Then we naturally accepted the ruling.
And here, pay attention to this, they said: “A great victory for Colombia in The Hague, the Court did not accede to Nicaragua’s claims to expand its Continental Shelf.” This was written on his Twitter account by President Gustavo Petro. And then he says: “We hope with this ruling to close the border dispute and focus on bringing sustainable developments to our Archipelagos” speaking of Providencia and San Andrés.
So, what would we expect from Colombia at the moment? What would we expect? They are recognizing the judgment of the Court, which benefits them, they are recognizing it, and we are abiding by it; but what about the judgment of the Court that benefits us, are they going to abide by it? I say to President Petro: There is no other way but to comply, and there we stayed even, we won one, they won one, and we stayed neve. But we have to comply with the Court’s ruling and for that there have to be signs, because on the other hand there are already former Colombian presidents who are there looking to add fuel to the fire.
I want to remind President Petro, that when we were in the war imposed by the Yankees in the 80s, we worked to form a working group looking for how to ward off aggression, the war of the United States, and there the Contadora Group was formed and there was Colombia, and there we communicated with the Colombian President very well, he did his job, the Foreign Ministers who went to the meetings too; that is, making an effort for Peace in Nicaragua at that time.
Then, we already know the history, in the end we managed to achieve peace, but the war in Colombia remained. Because of our training, of course we had very good relations with the Colombian Guerrillas. I even remember that, in a Peace Initiative that took place, we were not in the Government at that time, but they invited me to participate, because here we had an experience where we had managed to achieve Peace, after a war as heavy as the one we had here where the United States was fully involved.
Then I went to Colombia, to Bogotá, from there they took us to San Vicente del Caguán where the Guerrillas were nearby, there they were making contacts, meetings, and we were there exchanging with them, both with the Delegate of the Colombian Government and with the Comrades of the Guerrilla.
There we met with Comandante Manuel Marulanda Vélez, founder of the FARC, we met with him, we gave the Sandino Order to Comandante Manuel Marulanda, the Colombian Government knew that, but it was within our right. There on the mountain we gave the Sandino Order to Manuel Marulanda.
Then, in the end, no agreement came out, some texts came out, but the process was not consolidated, although this process has managed to gain strength already in recent times. I remember, with President Chávez, of course, they are neighbors of Colombia, they felt all the impact there, so they were interested in promoting Peace in Colombia, and I told him about these episodes, and of course we supported and do support the Peace Process in Colombia.
By this I mean that we have not been Nations outside Peace Processes; and so, we have not been Nations that have had major confrontations in another order, the problems have been over delimitation.
So, if the Court has already ruled in favor of them, and the Court has already ruled in favor of us, then we already have the way out so that we can find a way to translate this into a Decree, an Agreement, where it is clear that Nicaragua already owns, as indeed it is and is exercising Sovereignty in those 75,000 square kilometers that the Court gave to Nicaragua in the Caribbean Sea. So, in the best Spirit of Peace, of Understanding I am sending this message to President Petro.
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Now, I would like to refer to the last meeting, the first after many years that took place in Europe, between CELAC and the European Union. It was a meeting at which Nicaragua naturally, regardless of the European Union thundering against us continuously, the European Parliament speaks barbarities against Nicaragua, against us, and calls for more sanctions against Nicaragua, the European Parliament, and from the European Union too violent voices speak out against Nicaragua, also against Venezuela, even, talking about preventing the arrival of President Nicolás Maduro to the meeting, under the threat that he would be put in prison.
So, we went to the meeting, of course, because we are not about to cut communication with Countries with which we do not share their policies in which they do not respect International Laws, in which they commit abominable crimes, but we want them to respect us, yes. They want to be run Nicaragua and, naturally, according to the Yankees, according to the United States, what they want is to get all the Revolutionary Governments out of Latin America.
And in this meeting the first point that was discussed there, after all, the Europeans in a meeting that of the European Community with CELAC, they wanted to bring the fascist, the Nazi President of Ukraine, to be there at the meeting. The Europeans pushed hard, but most of the CELAC countries did not accept, and they could not get the fascist President of Ukraine seated there.
Then the Europeans insisted on trying to introduce a few paragraphs blaming the Russian Federation for everything that is happening in Ukraine. Logically, we could not accept this, but also, it made no sense in an Agenda between the European Union and CELAC to include those issues, when right there other Countries pointed out to the European Union that since 2009 they had said that from 2020 they were going to deliver 100,000 million dollars for the Environment issue, and that they had delivered an amount in 2020, every year they were going to deliver that amount, and then they did not deliver anything, neither in 2021, nor in 2022, nor in nothing came in 2023.
Then they were asked to account for this, and some CELAC Presidents there said to them: Well, you quickly find billions to give to Ukraine but you cannot take out the money for Peace, for the fight against poverty, to protect the Environment here in our Latin American and Caribbean Region. So, what the EU did was to commit themselves again, they said that now they are going to comply. We’ll see.
We presented a first point there, which has to do with cluster bombs that are prohibited, by the United States itself they are prohibited, the same US rulers have said that those bombs are terrible because then they kill children, they kill people, because the bombs scatter everywhere; it is a bomb that when it explodes releases a lot of little bombs and the little bombs are scattered on the ground. It’s forbidden. The European Union has also banned them. So, the point that we presented, was for a call be made to the United States not to be delivering such bombs to Ukraine. They simply vetoed that point.
Then, we raised the point that has to do with the judgment of the International Court of Justice on Nicaragua, which is a Sentence that is still alive, it was ruled 37 years ago, but the Sentence is still alive, and the United States does not comply with it. So, what are we proposing to them there? Well, that they would accompany a call, an exhortation as they say, for the US to comply with the compensation they owe to Nicaragua, because the Court’s ruling is very clear in this regard, it even speaks of acts of terrorism on the part of the United States in Nicaragua.
I would say these were two points that we raised there and unfortunately they were not accepted… Now, there is a principle in these meetings, agreements have to be taken by consensus. The consensus is that everyone has to be in favor, or someone can abstain at the last minute; but if one opposes, there’s no agreement.
And what did they do? Some European Union officials came and then appeared, accompanied by the President of CELAC, our dear Brother Ralph Gonsalves, for whom we understand how difficult it is to be dealing with the Europeans, and they hold a Press Conference and at the Press Conference they announced that the Agreement has already been reached. And then they come to say also that Nicaragua did not agree. So, there is no agreement right there, those are the rules. But then, why make a big deal about this? Because the European Union is hurting CELAC.
The other point that they did not accept from us there, because you have Venezuela and Nicaragua approving it, and we of course did not hesitate to approve, the Resolution to lift the blockade on Cuba, that is, it’s normal that we support that Resolution, it is an outrage, a crime against humanity, more than 60 years already.
So, we proposed that the Agreement should also be drafted so as to call to cease the policy of aggression, sanctions, against Cuba in the first place, and Venezuela and Nicaragua. They did not agree to mention Venezuela and Nicaragua. So, what do we see there? A European Union that is sowing division in CELAC, and CELAC will now have to make its reflections, make its decisions.
We are going to write of course to our Brother Ralph Gonsalves, because there he, as coordinator, simply could not accept that there was an Agreement, when they themselves later came out saying that Nicaragua had not signed, had not accepted. Even as they were saying that there was an agreement, we rushed to put out a Press Release to announce that Nicaragua had neither signed, nor supported, nor accepted, that therefore what they were saying was invalid.
Of course, what is happening, these commitments that they are acquiring, that they say they are going to give 45,000 million now, that’s what they announced. They used to come here with the cross and the sword, and they came with little mirrors too, so that our indigenous ancestors would get to know the little mirrors and see themselves in the little mirrors.
Now they are coming with promises of billions; in addition, what they have shown just now in their behavior in relation to these Agreements is that they do not comply. And then, when it comes to trade, they always want to have their advantages, they set the rules, their protectionist measures and leave the Latin American and Caribbean Countries at a disadvantage. But in any case, it will be a topic that will have to be discussed further.
And they are now trying to reach Bilateral Agreements with some Countries; hopefully those Countries will do well, we don’t want any Country to do badly. But with the madness they have, putting so much money, putting money into Ukraine, and the damage that the European economy is suffering, the damage that the global economy is suffering, well, we don’t see how what was agreed, what they agreed, which we didn’t sign, at the summit in Brussels, is heading in the right direction.
This is what I wanted to share with you, beloved Nicaraguan Brothers and Sisters, Beloved Solidarity Brothers and Sisters of Fraternal Peoples and Countries, recognizing what the Solidarity of Peoples is, the Solidarity of Peoples is always present there.
I remember when I met Benjamin Linder, an American engineer who came here to the mountain areas in the North, to help the population make wells so that they would have water, and the mercenaries of Ronald Reagan’s Government murdered him, just as they murdered Swiss Brothers, Brothers from other Countries too were murdered; I’m talking about the 80s when the war was hard.
That is to say, the Solidarity of the Peoples is firmly maintained even in the most difficult moments, and we see and feel it every day when you write and defend the Truth of the Peoples, the Truth of the Revolutions, the Truth about Nicaragua. Thank you beloved Brothers and Sisters, thank you beloved compañeras and compañeros.
Remarks by Rosario, Vice President of Nicaragua,
after the Act of the 44th Anniversary of the Sandinista Popular Revolution
July 19th 2023
Good evening. Here, happy and grateful to the God of All Victories, because we are here, eager to fight and to continue building the Better Nicaragua that we all want; to continue developing all the Social Programs, the Housing Programs, the Programs of communications for us: Roads, Bridges, Highways; Health; Education. Everything we have been doing with so much love, so much commitment, so much dedication, and we will keep doing with more and more energy, because our People deserve it.
Today and every July 19th we feel more and more committed, because this People of ours is a Glorious, a Heroic People, a Formidable People, a Victorious People, because it is a People living from the Spirit, from Faith, and from Love.
That is why we say: Christ Jesus lives here, we live with Christ in our Heart, and that is Love, and it is with Love and for Love, Christian, Socialist and in Solidarity, that we work and serve this Great People of ours, which is the Hero, which is the Protagonist, which is the Owner of All our Victories, Thank You.