XXIX Graduation Ceremony of Cadets of the Nicaraguan Army
of the “May 4th” University of Defense of Nicaragua
December 9th 2024
Address by Daniel
Nicaraguan brothers and sisters, Families of this Patriotic Nation, of Darío, of Sandino, of Germán Pomares; of this Nation whose People have known since the dawn of Independence how to defend their Sovereignty and Self-determination since the time the Spanish Empire was in retreat, and then the expansionists, the imperialists, fell.
How much we appreciate Peace, how much we love Peace, because we know what damage of the pain, war and suffering can cause to an entire People, and to all Economies; but unfortunately the world lives on fire, lives in war, where reason does not predominate, understanding does not predominate, but what predominates is the desire to seize the wealth of Peoples.
That has been the History of Humanity, and we still see wars; Nations with 13 years of war, like Syria, 13 years of war, and now it seems that there will be no more war, but they had not finished talking about Peace before they already are bombing again in Syria; its neighbors bombing there, the Government of Israel, and also the US Aviation bombing.
And why this bombing, why if President Bashar al-Assad has already left? He's already gone. That seemed to be the problem. But no, what happens is that a war has been imposed to seize that immense territory which is in a strategic area, and that's why there were 13 years of war, and the great powers involved there, arming some, arming others, so that they fight and kill each other.
God must want peace to come to Syria now, God must want it, but unfortunately, lamentablly, the diabolical attitude of those who continue to dispute over lands that belong to other Peoples weighs more heavily.
On a day like today, December 9th 1976, we were in struggle, we were at war, in the People's war, in 1976 a very dear compañero fell, a boy, a young man, Rufo Marín; he came from a family of fighters in the Army of General Sandino, Rufo Marín; he fell in the Department of Matagalpa, in Las Cumbres.
And on a day like today, December 9th also, but then in that other war imposed on us after the Triumph; on December 9th 1980, Comrade Otilio García, originally from La Paz Centro, León Department, fell in action.
Wars that were imposed on us! Our plans were dedicated at that time to Literacy, to building Hospitals, to building Schools, Roads and Highways, but war was imposed on us by the Imperialists of the Earth. A war that lasted 10 years, from 1980 to 1990, 10 years of war! In the end, Peace won through, and finally the People again resumed the Government, 16 years after some other governments.
And on December 9th 1978, really, the good news was the Declaration of strengthening Unity. It was a moment when we were already moving towards Victory, and it was the time to affirm Unity, reaffirm Unity, proclaim Unity. And that's what we did that day, December 9th 1978, when Victory was just around the corner.
And, too, today is a date that we have to praise and recognize, because in the Struggle for the Independence of the Peoples of Our America, of Spanish America, which was subjected to the Kings of Spain; involving, so many Battles, how many Battles.
And you see, there was the struggle for Independence here, but for the Spanish Kingdom Central America was no longer the strategic point, and that explains why Central America achieved Independence in the year 1821.
For the great battle was taking place in South America, and the future of the Central American Peoples also depended on that great battle, because if the Spanish Kingdom managed to defeat the army of Bolivar's Liberators, then it could consolidate its Empire, its Power, and easily launch itself against Central America, even more so when only recently after the Independence of Central America there were already tendencies wanting to make the Viceroyalty of Mexico, a Spanish Viceroy, that of Iturbide, they wanted to include Central America, that is to say, for it to continue under Spanish power.
Bolívar was at the forefront of the Battle of Junín, on August 6th 1824, another the great battles already being fought, and it was a Battle for the Independence of the Countries and Peoples, the gigantic Peoples, in the South of Our America.
This battle was taking place in Peru. Why? Because the Battle of Bolívar was for the Unity of the Peoples of Latin America. That is why Sandino took up Bolivar's Proposal to unite all the Peoples of America, because united we would be stronger said Bolivar, and that objective even led him to convene a Congress.
Then Sandino, later, in the mountains, wrote and also sent to the Presidents of Latin America his Proposal for the Unity of all the Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Bolívar achieved, in that battle, the victory against the Spanish Royalist troops. This was a strategic battle; that is, if Bolívar had not achieved that Victory, the definitive Victory of the Army of the Liberators would have been more complicated.
After that Victory, on August 6th 1824, that is, 200 years and some months ago, then Bolívar gave the command of the Army to General Sucre, giving him the command of the Liberating Army to fight the definitive Battle.
Already the Liberating Army has been fighting for years, for years and years and years, and on December 9th a day like today, in the year 1824, exactly 200 years, 1824-2024, 200 years ago today, the Miracle occurred. Because the Spanish forces were there with all their might and they knew that this battle would be decisive: The Battle of Ayacucho.
In that Battle of Ayacucho, where General Sucre was at the front, maneuvering, and on the other side was the Viceroy, a Viceroy of La Cerna at the head of the Spanish troops, making enveloping movements to try to encircle and defeat the Liberating Army.
In that Battle, a bloody Battle, the Liberating Army of Bolívar achieved, with General Antonio José de Sucre, General of Division, a General with great ability, with great leadership ability, a great strategist, who knew how to maneuver. When the Spaniards already believed they had him surrounded and trapped, he did not move, and the Spaniards were waiting for him to move while they advanced, he did not move, but waited, waited, waited, and when the Spaniards were already at the shore, then he fell on them.
A bloody battle, and finally, the Spaniards were defeated , the Spanish Empire was defeated in America. The great strategic defeat of the Spanish Empire in America was the Battle of Ayacucho, the one that made it possible to consolidate the independence of all our Peoples.
And on this date, on this day, our greeting to the Venezuelan People, to the Bolivarian People, the Land of Bolivar, the Land of Chavez, who continued the Battle of Bolivar, which today commemorates this 200th Anniversary.
Our greetings, our congratulations, to our Brother Nicolás Maduro, Legitimate President of Venezuela, for that presentation he made, a Master Class really, where he went over the moment when the Spaniards applied the same strategy that they did when they arrived in these lands.
The first thing they did against the great Empires of the Indigenous Peoples in the South and in Mexico, the Inca Empire, the Aztec Empire in Mexico, Great Empires, the first thing they did was to seek how to divide them, and then confront them.
Divide them, confront them, arm them, and in that way, although the Inca Empire, the Aztec Empire had gigantic armies with which they could have given battle, although of course they did not have the weapons that the Spanish had, which were far superior, because they already mastered gunpowder, they had rifles; here the battle took place with bows, arrows, spears, and above all with a lot of courage, with a great deal of courage.
So what they did was to start dividing them, splitting them, dividing them, and in order to start dividing them, they also first looked for how to attract, paying indigenous people to serve as translators, to gradually to win over, to co-opt people. That was a work of intelligence in order to divide the Indigenous Peoples and make them confront each other, and in those conditions they took over those great Nations.
But, well, the People always give the Battle, and the Liberators come out of the People, and Bolivar came out of the People raising that Banner which seemed something totally absurd, utopian something that was not possible. And Bolívar was giving Battle and was touring all those Nations, all those Countries. On horseback, fighting the battle! That is, a Heroic Deed exalting the Peoples, the Fighters, who then joined the Liberation Army.
Faced with the division that the Conquistadors had provoked to dominate all those Peoples, then there was the Unity of the Combatants, led by Bolívar in Venezuela, those of Colombia, those of Peru; that is, they were uniting, those from Bolivia were uniting, and they formed the Liberation Army.
It is there and is always present in the struggle of our Peoples, that Example must be present, since it is part of our history.
Division destroys Peoples, Unity strengthens Peoples, and Unity gives the force to defeat even empires, as the Spanish Empire was defeated on a day like today.
And our Greeting, our Fraternal Embrace for all the Peoples who are commemorating this Heroic Date today, and especially to those that took part in that Liberation Army that caused the defeat of the Spanish Empire; the representative of the Spanish Empire even had to sign the surrender there, a definitive surrender and definitive withdrawal. The defeat was so great, the defeat was so decisive, that really, Spain had no choice but to withdraw from these lands.
The challenge for our Peoples remains the same, that is, to fight for Peace, to fight for Peace when so much pain, so much war, so much destruction are currently taking place in the world.
That is why we insist that we are committed to Peace, and we call for Peace to those who have in their hands the Power to promote war, to make wars, to drop Atomic Bombs, and likewise have the power to promote Peace.
War, at the end of the day, and history has shown it powerfully, very forcefully, in the end Victory belongs to the Peoples.
Like the Vietnam experience, how many young Americans died in Vietnam, how many died. And in the end, Vietnam managed to expel the American troops. We do not forget the image of the US Embassy when the helicopters were landing there in Saigon, to take off the personnel because the Revolutionary Forces of Vietnam were already advancing, and people were hanging from the helicopter, one and another, they were fleeing.
In other words, it was a humiliation for a power like the United States. Why? Because really they care very little when United States youth go to give their lives for causes that are not just causes, nor are they causes that bring benefit to the US People, on the contrary, they bring pain, pain and more pain, also to the Peoples they attack and invade.
That is why, in the face of these events in Syria, we are skeptical, because there they are; that is to say, they had not finished entering when the Government of Israel is already beginning to take Syrian territory, and to make sure that they get them out of us, it also starts bombing.
And the US aviation also started bombing where there are these groups twhich they now call terrorists, but whom they were arming before. And one of those bosses who is there right now, who entered Damascus triumphantly, but the United States government had earlier offered a reward of 10 million dollars for whoever delivered him alive or dead. And there he has entered triumphantly, already announcing that everything that is the most radical fundamentalist religion be imposed in Syria.
But there are other groups that think differently, that is to say, this is a country that is totally drawn and quartered, divided. That's why I said earlier only a miracle will help. But even though we are skeptical, we of course join the calls for Peace made by many Peoples and Organizations in the World.
Beloved Brothers and Sisters, Compañera Rosario, Army General Julio César Avilés; Chief of Staff, Major General Bayardo Ramón Rodríguez; Inspector General of the Army, Major General Marvin Elías Corrales; Minister of Defense, Compañera Rosa Adelina Barahona Castro.
Director General of the Police, First Commissioner Francisco Javier Díaz; Minister Adviser to the President of the Republic for Security Affairs, Commissioner General Horacio Sebastián Rocha López; Deputy Director General of the National Police, Commissioner General Zhukov Serrano Pérez; Rector of the Defense University of Nicaragua "4 de Mayo“, Brigadier General Manuel Geovanny Guevara Rocha; Director of the Higher Center for Military Studies ”General of Division José Dolores Estrada Vado", Colonel Santos Darío Vanegas Lanzas.
Brothers and sister, Compañeros and Compañeras of the Corps of Generals and Senior Officers, Members of the Military Council of the Nicaraguan Army; President and Executive Director of the National Council of Universities; President and Vice President of the National Evaluation and Accreditation Council; Academic Authorities of the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua and the American University.
Rector of the University of Police Sciences “Leonel Rugama"; former Directors and Faculty from the Higher Center for Military Studies "General of Division José Dolores Estrada Vado"; Military, Naval, Air Defense Attachés and Adjuncts, and Heads of accredited Military Missions in the Republic of Nicaragua; Graduating Corvette Lieutenants and their much valued Relatives; Nicaraguan Brothers and Sisters all.
There are 38 Officers, Lieutenants, who come from the People and return with this new formation to fight for Peace, they return to the People as Lieutenants, as Officers of the Nicaraguan Army.
In the name of the People of Nicaragua we are going to swear them in:
"Do you solemnly swear, before God, before the Nation, before our National Heroes and for 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 to faithfully and conscientiously fulfill the Duties of the positions conferred on you and the Missions that your Commanders designate for you?”
Cadets
Yes, We Swear!
Daniel
If you do so, may the Nation and the Institution reward you, and if not, may they indict you.
We recognize and thank the Professors, the Rector of the University, for their dedication in the formation of these Young People, these 38 Young people who have shown commitment, commitment to Peace, to the Defense of Peace, to the Defense of the Sovereignty of the Nation, of the Territorial Integrity of the Nation.
And our embrace, our Affection for all your Families of you, Young Lieutenants, and in particular for the Family of the Graduate from the Sister Republic of Honduras, Honduras the Land of Morazán, who fought for Central American Unity.
He told me that his Family was here, so, welcome! this is also your Land, this is your Nation, Nicaragua is the Patriotic Nation of Unity and of Peace! Central America, Land of Peace and Unity.
Onward, Onward, and not one step back, defending these Principles, defending these Values!
Long live the Army of Nicaragua!
Long live Comandante Germán Pomares Ordóñez!
Long live General José Dolores Estrada!
Long live Andrés Castro!
Long live General Augusto César Sandino!
And Long live Blessed and Forever Free Nicaragua!
Remarks by Rosario, Vice President of Nicaragua, after the XXIX Graduation of Officers
from the Higher Center for Military Studies "General José Dolores Estrada Vado”
December 11, 2023
Good evening, Compañeras and Compañeros; Beloved Families. This is another achievement, another Step Forward for the People-President, another Step Forward for the Honor, Courage and Glory of the People of Nicaragua.
We feel proud, we always say this and will not stop saying it, because this People of ours is Great. Each step we take forward costs us so very much? And we are giving our all in that because we love our Blessed Patriotic Nation, and because we know too that every Step Forward leads us along Blessed Paths to the Future, Future Paths that God offers as a Miracle, as something Prodigious, along which we must make our way every day.
And Compañeras and Compañeros, our embrace to all Nicaragua's Mothers, because we know what it means for a Mother, for a Father, as responsible parents, what it means for a Family, to see their children graduating and getting ahead.
How important it is to have what we call Human Security, to have a job and the hope of working in order to prosper. To have Peace, first of all, which allows us to work and prosper; to have Health, to have Education, which gives us more Strength of Victories, and so many Tremendous Programs that signify the Good Life that Nicaraguans want.
For this reason, Human Security gives us the Certainty of a Present that is already Better, and of the Future which we are building in Union with the Strength of that Union. And it is with Human Security that We Go Onward. For Human Security is Joy, the Joy that Families feel when we are moving onward.
Today I was looking at an illustrated Bulletin sent to us by the Ministry of the Interior, Vice Minister Luis Cañas, to whom I must acknowledge the enormous efforts he makes together with María Amelia. He sent us a Photo Gallery of Baccalaureate Graduations in the Penitentiaries.
Someone sremarked how absurd for people in Penitentiaries to received the Presidential Baccalaureate Bonus. But now when we see the photos, where even a Woman baccalaureate student in the Penitentiary, who is probably celebrating with her husband and her child. And so many others who graduated from every school in the country's Penitentiary System today, and thus are moving onward.
If that is not to ensure the Rights of Everyone, even those People who are in prison forging a new opportunity in Life, then what is...? That's what it means to be Christian, to recognize that everyone has rights, without excluding anyone.
Next year, God willing, they will also start studying at Online Universities, Women and Men who are in prison; Agricultural University, Technical and Technological Centers. That's tremendous! That is to live fulfilling the mandate of Our Prince of Peace and Love, Christ Jesus: To live as Brothers and Sisters, to love each other and to respect Everyone's Rights.
And really, I think it is necessary to be grateful, to give thanks to God, because in this chaotic World, a World where, as Comandante Daniel was saying, greed, greed and selfishness replace the Peace that should be the Common Good of Humanity, for us in this World to have, to live in a Country that is moving onward, with great humility, with high hopes, with high expectations and with a great deal of Work and Effort, with a great Sense of Mission. And what is the mission? To defeat poverty, which is the enemy of the people. That poverty imposed on us... After all, by those who think they own the whole world.
To be, then, in a small country that defies what seems to be normal, because it seems that conflicts and wars are normal, and that for one part to impose on another is normal, miracles have happened in this small country. Here we are strengthening each other in the commitment to live as Christians, to live as Brothers and Sisters, to live as Family, to live as Community, and to give recognition all of us Nicaraguans by the Grace of God...! May God Bless you!
A Country with a Miraculous, Phenomenal, Marvelous People. A Nicaragua that shines, shines out, radiant with the Miracles we receive and with the Miracles that make us great by giving us more Strength of Spirit to Continue Overcoming, overcoming Deadly Sins like gluttony. And when I say gluttony I don't mean eating more than necessary, I mean the gluttony that exists in the world, to dominate more, impose more, for some to eat better than others, as in the tale of Little Red Riding Hood; like wolves. No!
Here we are forging Nation and Unity, with a Government where the People are President and shine out, and we make protagonists all the Women, Men, Young People above all, Older Adults, Grandparents, we shine out in the Present having faith in and creating the Future.
To talk about Nicaragua is to talk about God's Love for Humanity, and then also to talk about the Duty we have, each of us, to Love our Neighbor, to love each other, and from that Love to deepen these Proposals that are Liberating us.
Freeing ourselves from Misery, and striving for Peace to be every day, in our Hearts, in our Homes, in our Families, in our Communities and in our Nicaragua Forever Blessed, Blessed, Sovereign, Loving and Free. Always Further On, that is our Motto every day, to go on advancing, advancing in times of Victories.
To all Mothers, to all Families a big, warm, huge embrace... United in Victories! Thank you, Compañeras and Compañeros.