Address by Comandante Daniel, Nicaragua’s Co-President in the Central Event
Celebrating the 47th Anniversary of the Sandinista Popular Revolution
19 de Julio del 2026
Good evening, beloved Brothers and Sisters who inhabit this Heroic Patriotic Nation of Sandino.
This event is currently being presided over by the President... The People President!
Compañera Rosario, Co-President, presides; Compañero Army General Julio César Avilés Castillo presides over the General Command of the Military Forces of the Nicaraguan Army. And it is the whole of Nicaragua that presides, because in all the Municipalities and Departments, of our country, Nicaraguans are there, which is what gives rise to, I would even say, formally establishing in the Constitution, the principle that the one who presides over the Presidency is the People President, the Youth President, the Workers President, the Peasants President.
Because, how much grief and how much blood it has meant for our People to reach this 47th Anniversary; how much grief, how much blood has it cost the People of Nicaragua to reach this 47th Anniversary, having gone through earlier Heroic Struggles, such as those waged by the Nicaraguan People in San Jacinto, where peasants and workers, led by General Estrada, fought, and where stood out the heroism of Andrés Castro who threw that stone and brought down the enemy.
How much grief, how much blood, how much wealth was stolen from this country during the occupation of the US troops, sent to murder Sandino. But Sandino fought, gave battle and they could not make him surrender. Yes, for several years the US troops even used aviation against the humble troops of General Sandino’s Army in Defense of National Sovereignty; barefoot peasants, others with their caites, with their sandals, but with great strength.
They sent their aviation to bomb, to strafe with their aviation to make the Army in Defense of National Sovereignty surrender. But General Sandino and his army did not surrender. Those were years of combat! And we Nicaraguans must always keep this in mind, the youth must keep it in mind, because the diabolical beasts are always seeking to dominate the world’s Peoples, to steal the wealth those Peoples have.
We have a very clear example, there in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, where Chávez, we had him with us here, a Brother, after all, he died and another President who gave continuity to those relations with Nicaragua and Latin America, President Nicolás, continued as President of Venezuela.
And what did they do with all their might? They went and stormed the Presidential Residence where Nicolás was with his wife Cilia; they killed all the bodyguards who were there, most of them were Cubans, and they took him to put him in a prison in the United States. Look what a monstrosity, a monstrosity.
Who are the people who have the capacity to practice these monstrosities? Those who, in the service of the great powers, ask them to do the same with Cuba, Fidel's Cuba, Raúl's Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel's Cuba, Brothers, Comrades. They have been blockaded for more than 60 years, but they have resisted.
Ah, but then there are Cubans living in the United States, who ask the American government to invade Cuba militarily and to take prisoner, as they took Nicolás, to take prisoner the Comandante of the Revolution, Army General Raúl Castro.
Our respect, our embrace, our greeting to the People of Cuba, to Raúl, and to Miguel Díaz-Canel, as well as for the People of Bolívar; and for the President who is being held prisoner there in the United States, and for his wife, our solidarity and our affection.
And there is no International Body that cares.
There are also some sell-outs here, the same ones who sold the nation to the North American troops. When there was a war between Liberals and Conservatives, the Liberals were advancing, they were advancing, led by Moncada, but then others began asking the Yankees to come with their troops to defend them, otherwise, the Liberals were going to take over Nicaragua.
And so it turned out, but in fact the United States troops came to create the conditions that would allow them to dominate Nicaragua, and even murder Sandino. Because Sandino of course, who was a Liberal, when he saw the betrayal by Moncada, the Liberals’ leader, Sandino did not accept it and organized the Army in Defense of National Sovereignty.
That's why, as the Heroic Comandante, Ernesto Che Guevara, used to say, the Imperialists of the Earth, not only the Yankee Empire, because there are empires elsewhere, you can't believe even the least bit like that, not even the least bit like that can you believe from them.
Here how very much it has cost us to defend the Revolution... So many battles! First, the battle fought in the time of General Estrada, when Andrés Castro struck down the Yankee with a stone and they had to retreat; then, the battle Sandino fought, whom they could not defeat, but what they did was invite him to sign an Agreement, an Armistice, a Peace Agreement, whereby Sandino was then going to stop the combat and the Country was going to live in Peace.
And since Sandino wanted peace, in the end he accepted. But what did that mean? It meant that General Sandino was invited, so when he had spent over a week, two weeks of meetings, Sandino was coming down from the mountains so they were meeting here in the self-same Presidential Residence, when the President was another Liberal, Sacasa.
So, there he was invited to a dinner. He arrived at the dinner, at the Presidential Residence, the President was there, the President's daughter was there, several Ministers were there; but the Yankees had by then made Somoza Head of the National Guard. So it was a trap they set for Sandino, because when he went to the dinner, there, quietly, they had already prepared Sandino's murder.
When he came down from the Presidency, he was detained by Somoza's Guards, who at that very time were being directed and managed by the United States Ambassador to Nicaragua, who was the person who gave Somoza directions, and in that way they captured Sandino. And the President's daughter came to speak for him, but they ignored her, and they shot him with two other Compañeros.
They were murdered and their corpses were disappeared, thinking in that way that people would forget about Sandino, but they didn't realize that, because Sandino had fought that battle and because he was murdered in that way, then the country’s Youth, led by Comandante Carlos, founded the Sandinista National Liberation Front, inspired, indeed, by Sandino's example and unwilling to fall into a similar trap.
And thanks to Comandante Carlos and other Brothers like Tomás, like Colonel Santos López who had fought in the Sandino Army, the Sandinista National Liberation Front managed to consolidate, develop, and finally managed to defeat the Dictatorship, even though the dictatorship was supported by the US Government, was financed by the US Government, was completely at the service of the United States.
But well, they fixed their choices so that already in any election they knew who was going to get elected, and that it had to always be a somocista, ready to kneel before the yanquis; otherwise, they wouldn't get elected. And so governments that they called Liberal came about; but they were really governments put in place by the Yankees, and managed by Somoza.
Meanwhile, the Sandinista Front began its battle, the struggle began, the combat began, in difficult conditions, in which that song fits well: "Don't give up my Compa, don't be a faint of heart, for the Nation needs your valor and your courage.” And that is what the Patriotic Nation needs in these times, from the country’s Youth and People, a People and a Youth that stands fast.
Because do not believe just because there is no war we are at Peace... No! Others live conspiring away, organizing, looking for how to organize political parties, so that in an election they are supposed to take part in, then those parties win the elections. And this is the objective of the narrative that political parties put in place by the Yankees, put in place by the Somocistas, will once again reach the government... Never! Never! Never!
We have been making enormous efforts here so that the Country is at Peace, but let's remember how in 2018, when we had agreements with the business people, with the somocista business people, we had a great agreement there for Peace, and the agreement was taking its course, but suddenly came the stab in the back, they organized the coup attempt, using funds from the United States to recruit young people and adults, preparing them, training them, arming them, so as to overthrow the legitimate Government of the Sandinista Front.
They tried. The blood of young people, adults, women, children flowed here, blood was spilled, and in the end there was no other way except to respond to them with the force of the People's anger. When they had paralyzed the country, after they had put roadblocks everywhere; then there was no other way but for the Police, along with the Volunteer Police, along with young people, to set out and clear those roadblocks. And there was not one roadblock left.
Oh, but then there were the complaints, lamenting, after they had murdered people, after they had destroyed schools, for they had burned down schools...
So, here we have to keep working to continue developing activities that benefit the impoverished, housing for the impoverished, land for peasant families, free schools.
Here from the Triumph, and from the Triumph we had after the coup attempt, here we had already decreed by law that education was free, that it could not be charged for, neither Primary, nor Secondary, nor University education. And we are building more Schools, with all the latest technologies.
But there they are, keeping a low profile, wanting to win elections so to make money via the public school system. But they can forget about that, there will be no elections like that again here, no more elections via which they can try cheating their way to government so as cheat their way to taking power.
And we are going to work, with the National Assembly and with the corresponding organizations, on the laws, because we have to make laws that put up a wall, a barrier, to the coup mongers, to the quislings, so that no matter how much money the Yankees give them, they will not prevail. They will not prevail!
They won't be able to!
We salute the Diplomatic Corps present at this Event. Let's have applause, compañeras and compañeros, please. And for the other Special Guests there, Businessmen, etc., who are in Patriotic Work.
And tonight we want, once again, to ratify the commitment we have to Peace. Let's not allow ourselves to be provoked, because they may want to provoke us so that we fall into that provocation, and that's where violence comes from. But if there is a provocation, immediately one should go to the Authorities, to the Police, so that those who are trying to provoke violence, destruction, death, are captured, and then prosecuted, as has had to be done for several months.
Then they come out lamenting, they come out complaining, from the United States they come out complaining that poor innocent people are being detained, when really they are scoundrels, when they are really criminals, when they are murderers, and even with the evidence of those murders, they still don't understand.
That is why, defending Peace is a fundamental task so as to guarantee the continuity of Employment, of Public Works, of Hospitals, of Universities, of Housing, of all the Projects we are developing and will continue to develop, even if the Devil himself gets in front of us. We'll make the Sign of the Cross to the devil, we'll show him the Cross, and he'll run away.
And we are in this Plaza which bears the name of Juan Pablo who came to Nicaragua, and recently, the Cardinal was meeting with His Holiness the Pope, the new Pope, who has shown great strength to denounce those who want to oppress the world’s Peoples. And we say to the Holy Father: Thank you, Thank You,
Thank You, for your Blessings!