Ceremony of the XXVIII Graduation of the Military Academy of the Army of Nicaragua
December 11, 2023
Address by Daniel
Nicaraguan brothers and sisters, Families of this Free and Sovereign Nation. In the Month of December, a Month full of Spiritual, Ethical Life and Joy, the Month in which we Nicaraguans commemorate the Immaculate Conception, as the Christian People that we are, recognizing in Christ the Values People demand in these difficult times.
Christ was born in December, and he gave himself completely to visiting the poor, bringing Inspiration as well as Spiritual and Material Health, to the impoverished.
In this Month of December we are sharing these days with our People, and we have managed to share them in Peace which is a fundamental Principle: Peace! If there is peace, we can work. If there is peace, all our Celebrations can be held. If there is peace, the health of Nicaraguan Families can be ensured. If there is Peace, then too our country’s young People can graduate, both those who are finishing their classes on their graduation and their families joyfully celebrating their graduation from Primary School and also the girls and boys who will then attend Secondary School, and the Secondary School boys and girls who are going on either to Technical Careers or to University.
It is precisely in this Month of December that we have the graduation of young people committing themselves to the Nation, to the People, to Peace. Today these young people are graduating, including 4 students who are graduating in a Specialization which of course demands a lot of effort, a lot of discipline, a lot of dedication.
And of the 57 new graduating Officers of our People's Army, of the Army of Diriangén, of Adiact, of Nicarao, the Army of Andrés Castro and of General José Dolores Estrada, the Army of General Benjamín Zeledón, who was the first to confront the troops of the Yankee Army invading our Territory.
Yes the first battle was against Walker, and Yankee expansionism; but the one who first faced the United States Army was General Benjamin Zeledón, who in giving his Life, transferred his Courage and Conscience, to a boy from Niquinohomo, who was right there when the Yankees dragged Zeledón through the streets, there the Spirit of Zeledón merged with the Spirit of Sandino.
As I was telling you, there are 57 young people graduating here, 24 of them studied for 6 years in a Sister City, the City of Lenin, who led the first People's Revolution in the World. There are 24 here who were students in the Russian Federation, a nation with which we have excellent relations, 24, who indeed passed an acid test, because training in the Russian Federation is undoubtedly an excellent but also rigorous training that demands a lot of willingness and a great deal of discipline on the part of students.
And we should emphasize how many students from different countries there were in that graduation, how many students there were from the Russian Federation itself and in that graduation, where three young Nicaraguan Officers obtained the Red Diploma, that is, the Distinction, the Recognition, for their Excellence, for their Performance.
The other 32 young compañeras and compañeros completed their studies here in our Nation also subject to great rigor and great discipline.
Today we have presented awards to the brother compañeros who excelled at the Academy of the Russian Federation, and also to the brothers and sisters who excelled here in the Academy of Nicaragua. Here we present three of them, two compañeros and a compañera, Compañeros from working families in humble towns.
The compañera Guadalupe Juárez is originally from El Realejo, there in Chinandega. I remarked to her how this little port of El Realejo, which is a historic port, is one of the hottest of places; it is a little port where the heat is always up around 40ºC, there in that hot area in the West, between Chinandega and León.
A town, indeed where, on the occasions we have visited, we have found a commitment to the Nation, a commitment to the Struggle for Dignity, for Sovereignty, a commitment to our General Sandino, a commitment to the Red and Black Flag that rescued the Blue and White Flag, which was humiliated, dragged through the mud. And yes, as the song says so well, it was Sandino with the Red and Black Flag who rescued the Blue and White Flag.
Our greetings, our recognition to all the families of these young people who are graduating. The mothers of all of them are no doubt here, mothers are always present, along with the fathers, brothers and sisters, the families, who come to accompany them at a moment when they have proudly joined and studied to guarantee the defense of Peace.
And on behalf of our People, we can tell you that Nicaragua’s People, Nicaragua’s families, recognize in you the willingness to fight on behalf the People, where we all come from, we all come from the People, and the Army, as they say, is nothing else but the People in uniform.
You have dedicated this Graduation to our Heroine, Blanca Stella Aráuz Pineda, who was the compañera of our General Sandino, and she died giving birth to a baby girl of our General Sandino, Blanquita Segovia, who until recently accompanied us physically, and now accompanies us with the same Strength she maintained at all times.
And on a day like today, exactly 45 years ago, an extraordinary Priest, Gaspar García Laviana, gave his life for this Patriotic Nation, for the Revolution. Gaspar came from Spain and as a Good Disciple of Christ he gave himself over to the Poor, he gave himself to the Peasants, he gave himself to the Sandinista National Liberation Front, and he left his Letter of Christian Commitment, explaining why he joined the Sandinista Front; and finally he left his blood, he left his example, to contribute to the Victory of the Nicaraguan People, to contribute to the Victory of the Sandinista National Liberation Front... Gaspar!
Well then, greetings to Compañera Rosario, Vice President of the Republic; to Army General Julio César Avilés Castillo, Commander-in-Chief of the Nicaraguan Army; to Major General Bayardo Ramón Rodríguez Ruiz, Chief of the General Staff of the Army; to Inspector General, Major Marvin Elías Corrales Rodríguez; to the Director General of the National Police, First Commissioner Francisco Javier Díaz Madriz.
To the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Nicaragua, Compañera Rosa Adelina Barahona Castro; to our beloved Brother, Minister Advisor to the President of the Republic on Security Issues, Commissioner General Horacio Rocha; to the Rector of the Defense University of Nicaragua “May 4th”, May 4th, our Day of National Dignity, Brigadier General Manuel Geovani Guevara Rocha; to the Director of the Higher Center for Military Studies “General of Division José Dolores Estrada Vado”, Colonel Nelson José Villegas; to the Second Chief of the General Staff, Brigadier General Spiro Bassi Aguilar.
To the Corps of Generals and Superior Officers, Members of the Military Council of the Nicaraguan Army; to the Members of the National Police Headquarters; to the Defense, Military, Naval, Air Attachés and Adjuncts accredited in the Republic of Nicaragua; to the graduate Lieutenant of Corvette and his much valued relatives;
To the family of Blanca Stella Aráuz Pineda, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren who are accompanying us. And our greetings to Walter who for health reasons cannot accompany us. Greetings, Walter, you are always present here!
To the President and Technical Secretaries of the National Council of Universities; to the President and Vice President of the National Council of Evaluation and Accreditation of Universities; to the Academic Authorities of the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua and the American University (UAM). Welcome Fellow Members of the Academic Authorities! Former Directors of the Teaching Staff of the Higher Center for Military Studies "Division General José Dolores Estrada Vado"; Sisters and Brothers all, Compañeros and Compañeras all.
We are going to conclude with the Swearing-in: Graduating Officers, do you solemnly swear before God, the Nation, our National Heroes, and in their Honor, to respect and obey the Constitution and the Laws, to defend at the cost of one's Life, if necessary, the Rights, the Freedoms of the People, the Independence, Self-Determination, Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity of our Nation, as well as to serve the Nation with Honor and Loyalty, to fulfill the orders issued by the High Command, to respect the Laws and Regulations governing the Military Career and Life, and faithfully and conscientiously fulfill the Duties of the Positions conferred on you and the Missions that your Commanders assign to you?
Graduating Officers
"Yes, We Swear!"
Daniel
If you do so, may the Nation and the Institution reward you, and if not, may they accuse you.
Long live the Graduating Officers
of the Nicaraguan Army!
Long live your Relatives!
Long live your teachers!
Long live the Nicaraguan Army!
Sandino Lives... The Struggle Continues!
For the Nation and Freedom!
For the Nation and Freedom!
For the Nation and Freedom!
Remarks by Rosario, Vice President of Nicaragua,
after the Ceremony of the XXVIII Graduation of the Military Academy of the Army of Nicaragua
December 11, 2023
Journalist Juan Cortez
Good evening, Compañera, how are you?
Remarks by Rosario
A very good evening. How are you doing...? All is well, all is good in this Blessed Nation, of Commemoration, of Celebration, from one Commemoration to another...!
Thank God, for so many Heroes who illuminate this Blessed Nation and the Paths of our Nation, a Nation in Freedom and Peace, a Nation with Work with Security, advancing, prosperous.
We thank God, because we are a People of Faith, a Christian People, and a People who take the path of Love for our Neighbor, which is what can be seen everywhere, how Love gladdens the Heart. Everywhere we see that people of all ages are happy.
What pride knowing we are part of the Joy that gives us, on the one hand Peace, but above all Faith, our Faith in God, in Christian Solidarity and in Sister and Brotherhood, in our Belief in Fraternity and today that we are adding new Soldiers, graduating to serve the Nation, 57 outstanding young men and women who today have completed their studies in the Military Sciences, and are going forward in the service of Love of our Neighbor, of Christian Solidarity, Sandinista, Revolutionary and Evolutionary. To serve the people is to serve God!
I especially want to congratulate the 4 women compañeras, Heroic Women, because for them it’s not just the decision to study that complex career. For a woman it is even more complex, because for us, we think about being a Mother, having children, and how we have to share all the experience of Life, as Mothers, Compañeras, Wives, taking care of our children, strengthening the development of Values, in both boys and girls, as well as serving the Nation, with Pride, in the Nicaraguan Army.
We know how much sacrifice and how much heroic decision there is in that determination to be part of the Army, and above all, we repeat, especially for the women compañeras. For us, each of these Events, Activities and Days are moments that we value, treating them as Events and Moments of National Dignity.
Here we are, the People of our Native Chiefs; the People of our Andrés Castro, Symbol of National Dignity; of José Dolores; of Benjamín Zeledón, the Combatant who transferred to Sandino the Love of the Nation and its defense, the decision to defend the Nation against the invaders, a decision that we all have in our Hearts, a decision that does not change. It never wavers!
We love our Nicaragua and we defend it with all that we are, with everything we have, and that makes us stronger, more dignified, greater, and more joyful too. Because to serve the Nation is to live, serving Humanity and its Values, Love for the Family, the Community, Fraternity, is to live, and that gives us Joy.
So, I also congratulate the Mothers and Fathers, the Grandmothers and Grandfathers, the extended families of each one of these compañeras and compañeros. We know the Pride they feel, and we also know how they have been able to sustain, emotionally, each of these young people, because throughout the years of study it is Family Love that sustains us, and keeps us safe.
Much affection for everyone, and also for the Community, the Neighborhood where they live, because everywhere a new advance is celebrated as one more achievement of Peace, one more mark of progress, one more achievement of the Nation, in Peace; one more advance and achievement for a People making its way under a Sun that illuminates us, through Our Lord God, and that never sets !
So here we are, ready for more work tomorrow, how privileged we feel working to serve our People and its Families, and above all to change, as we have been changing Nicaragua, for the Better, despite the destructive, criminal, obstructive attempts, which we know all too well, of vandals and terrorists. Despite all that, we have been able, not just to overcome, but to transcend, and we are well able to transcend that plague which cannot touch us, because our Heart, Soul, our Spirit, is beyond the reach of their wretchedness.
The Nicaraguan people are beyond their misery, the Nicaraguan People are Great. Honor and glory to our people! And beyond all that insignificance and wretchedness, we prevail, the Brave and Worthy People of this Nicaragua that we love so much. This Nicaragua for everyone. A Nation for all Nicaraguans of Good Will.
A warm embrace compañeras and compañeros. We continue Going Forward, Always Further as our General said, and that is our Motto... Always Further On, which means we are able to transcend all circumstances and continue fighting out of Love so as to overcome and prevail, the Love that Can Achieve Anything, the Love that Overcomes Everything!
Thank you, compañeras and compañeros.