Message of President-Comandante Daniel
on the 88th Anniversary of the Passing to Immortality
of the General of Free Women and Men, Augusto C. Sandino
February 21st 2022
Beloved Nicaraguan Brothers and Sisters, beloved Families of this Free Land, of Dario and Sandino.
Our beloved Brother Arnoldo Guillén left us here this testimony. Here is the testimony of our History. From Carlos, the son of Sandino. Of Sandino, the son of Zeledón. Of Zeledón, the son of Andrés Castro and José Dolores Estrada, and both children of Diriangén. There they are always at the forefront of our Nation, of our People, of our Youth. They lead the struggles that the Nicaraguan people continue to wage today, simply to let us live in Peace. That is our Struggle!
For us to be allowed to live in Peace to continue developing all the tasks, all the programs, all the projects designed to generate employment, to eradicate Poverty, to multiply health services, to multiply education services, in the cities, in the countryside, from the urban areas to the mountains, from the urban populations to the Miskito, Ramas, Mayagnas, Creole communities, so that we can all live with greater tranquility, developing the creativity of all we Nicaraguans that today are proliferating in all kinds of creative initiatives.
In all the different economic, social and cultural activities, our People is present, the humble People, the working People, full of enthusiasm, full of joy, full of strength, full of dignity. Dignity. Defending the right to Peace in Nicaragua is to defend the right to Dignity, of respect for the Dignity of Nicaraguans, because we do not seek confrontation with anyone.
All our heroes, throughout history, confronted those who came to invade us, those who came to try to take away our right to Freedom. And after the Spaniards, who was it who permanently invaded Nicaragua, constantly invaded Nicaragua? The different governments of the United States of America. Constantly. And they continue to have interventionist, interfering governments which multiply violence and war in the world.
Just recently, they had to withdraw from Afghanistan, defeated, indeed defeated. They spent years there, occupying Afghanistan, murdering entire families. They launched drones, seeking out those who resisted in Afghanistan, and on one occasion it turned out that they had bombed a humble house where a wedding was being celebrated, and they had committed murder there, as they committed the murder elsewhere, of hundreds, thousands of Human Beings.
On this day in which we are paying homage to our General of Free Men and Women, on the 88th Anniversary of that day in which, fighting for Peace, our General Sandino was assassinated.
He was fighting for Peace which is why he had come down from Las Segovias and had suspended armed activities, so as to seek a Peace Agreement, because at that time the Yankee troops had also withdrawn from Nicaragua, who had not been able to defeat our General with his heroic Army in Defense of National Sovereignty.
And they assassinated him. We all know the story of the assassination, which reminds us of the last supper of Christ. Here the last supper was offered to General Sandino by the President who was signing the Peace with him, and then when Sandino left the supper they captured him and assassinated him with other compañeros, with his other Sandinista brothers.
So we tell our People that our commitment is to the ideals of our heroes, of our martyrs. Take note that none of them undertook higher studies, neither philosophical, nor political, nor anything of the sort, in order to take their decision to defend their Nation. Why? Because their consciousness was one of Patriotic Love . And thus a current of thought, a sense, a discovery of values, of Sandinista ideology was forged in our Nation, accompanied too by the words, the poetry of Darío, and this is the inheritance that we all have to continue defending.
And thus we say to Sandino, here with Colonel Santos López who was with him in the Army of Defense and who was also here in Managua, we must continue to defend it.
He was one of the Army of Defense who was here in Managua that night when they assassinated our General, and when the military armed by the Yankees here assaulted the house where Colonel Santos Lopez was staying, they wounded him, but he defended himself and managed to escape, and then later along the way he met Carlos, he met Tomas.
Here are our brothers, heirs of Sandinista thought, who knew how to raise Sandino's flag, so that our People could proudly wave our blue and white flag. And it is with that same spirit that we continue striving, with that same spirit that our producers grow food, our teachers provide education, our Youth receive training, our fishermen, our brothers and sister in the Army and the Police who protect the Security, the Sovereignty of our country, such that we have stability and do not face situations that other countries unfortunately are facing, where drug trafficking and organized crime have taken over those countries.
I'll mention just one, it is not a small country, it is an economic power, a large country: the United States of America. Drug trafficking has taken over the United States of America; that is where the largest consumers are. And in terms of production, Colombia; Colombia is a narco-State.
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And in the United States the drug penetrates through the seaports, it penetrates by aviation, it also penetrates via border crossings; they even organized, officers of the United States Army, drug transit operations from other continents where they occupy those other countries, so as to take it to the great North American market. That is where the demand is, and then they contaminate all those other countries in transit.
And we cannot fail to mention Colombia, a country that is a narco-State, where social leaders and workers are murdered every day. It is really striking the way in which our Colombian brothers and sisters are murdered, to whom we give our Solidarity, to our Colombian brothers and sisters.
This is a day on which there has been much expectation in the world. Why? Because the great powers that possess atomic weapons are coming and continue to conspire seeking to become the masters of the World. NATO, which disrupted and destroyed the State of Libya, one of the most prosperous, most developed States in North Africa, a State where Gaddhafi had opened the doors of education, of employment to women, in an area where there are still many restrictions linked to fundamentalist religious practices, and many restrictions against women's rights, because they were forbidden to go to Universities, they were forbidden to drive, and there are still places where there are thousands of prohibitions against women.
And Gaddhafi opened those doors, he even set an example by appointing an security escort of women, something that was scandalous for the most conservative forces in the region, which have always been subordinated to American policy and to the interests of European countries, who, where they see interests, where they see big capital, hence see no violation of human rights. In that case, they become blind, deaf and dumb.
And the Presidents of the United States come and are received with much honor there, in those economically powerful States, with immense wealth, but there is not a word from the United States against those powerful States, because they do big business with them. Because imperialism, capitalism has no Soul, has no feelings, has nothing but greed, greed and more greed accumulating capital at the cost of hunger and suffering of millions of human beings in our Planet, at the cost of interventions, of destroying States, invading Iraq.
And there's a long list we could make of invasions here in Latin America, of brutal aggression such as the blockade they maintain against Cuba, a criminal blockade, a violation of human rights. And right there they have the luxury of occupying, by force, part of Cuban territory where they have a military base and in that military base they have a torture center where there are no human rights organizations questioning the brutal practices of torture on the part of the North American rulers. Not to mention the murders, the crimes committed in the United States of America itself.
I was telling you that this has been a day in which we have all been at work, busy, with all kinds of tasks here, without stopping our daily work, but alert to what could happen in Ukraine.
In Ukraine, in 2014, the Europeans together with the Yankees were already stoking in Ukraine, a counterrevolution. Just like they did here, they were continually promoting acts of terrorism, crimes, destabilizing actions against an elected government; an elected government that had very good relations with Russia. Let us remember that Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union and it was normal for them to have such good relations, and besides in Ukraine the Russian population is very large.
So there NATO, the Europeans, the Yankees conspired to overthrow that government. And in the end they resorted to terrorism, multiplying the terrorism that we saw here ourselves, they multiplied it there in acts of terrorism, and the international campaign of defamation against the government, until finally the coup d'état took place.
And then the government was taken over by political forces subordinate to United States and European Imperialism, who think now it is time for Europe and the United States to liquidate Russia, without realizing that there are great changes in the World, that now there are other great powers in the World, that there is the People's Republic of China, another great power, and the one with the greatest economic development in the World right now, and that there is a front striving in defense of Sovereignty, of Self-Determination of the world's Peoples who are against sanctions.
There is China, the People's Republic of China, there is Russia, Belarus, a number of countries that are continuously under attack, against whom they apply what they call sanctions, which are mechanisms of economic aggression like those against Cuba. And there too Venezuela. Venezuela, the Venezuelan people are resisting with the same strength with which the people of Fidel, the people of Raul, with Diaz-Canel at their head, have resisted.
Here the People of Bolivar, the People of Chávez, with Nicolás at the head, also fighting this battle, fighting the battle, and winning elections in an unequal struggle, with a brutal blockade, and in the midst of that blockade, pushing ahead with great energy, with great courage, advancing in all fields, in all directions, economically, socially, culturally, in the fight against Poverty. They continue with their programs even in the midst of the most difficult situations.
Just as here we continue with our programs in spite of the multiplication of aggression due to so-called sanctions. Here not one of our programs has been stopped, nor in April 2018 was a single program stopped. Hospitals, schools, highways, roads continued to be built, they were inaugurated in the midst of the terrorism encouraged and practiced here by the imperialists of the Earth and the traitors, the Judases. If Christ had Judas, among our Peoples too there are many Judases and Cains.
Recently, in the midst of the accusations from NATO led by the Yankees, of getting ready to launch themselves against Russia, if Russia invaded Ukraine, alleging that Russia had already taken the decision to invade Ukraine, then, there were many contacts, many meetings, many efforts to avoid a war, because when talking about a war there, Europeans and the Yankees should forget that there might be any winners.
In such a war, there are no winners, they unquestionably lose, everyone loses, the whole world loses, Humanity loses, because it is a war between great powers, and just by announcing that there are tensions, that there may be a war, that there may be military action between those countries, or much greater sanctions, the world economy is immediately affected and the big traders, the owners of big capital who manage their funds in the stock exchanges see the stock exchanges fall.
In other words, all the values that were going up, as soon as the threat of war appears and a war destroys the possibilities for the markets to continue developing as they have been, then Stock Exchange values go down. That is to say, they have already damaged the global economy and thus damaged our Economies too.
Why has the cost of fuel increased? Because of this situation. To the extent that this threat exists then oil production is affected, and countries that are able to find ways to monopolize and those with capacity to convert oil into fuel see the opportunity to earn more, so then fuel prices go up and energy prices go up.
There is already damage to the economy in Europe, in the United States, in Canada... Canada, yes, where they brutally repress their population that protests, that go out to protest, they repress them, and they have always supported the US ruling .
In other words, there's an expectation of what is going to happen, and if there is a war, Humanity simply loses out, and people are hoping that once the leaders of those hegemonic powers who want to defeat Russia see those risks, well, that they try and reach an understanding, an agreement.
President Putin has taken a step today, whereby what he has done is to recognize a couple of Republics which since coup in 2014, when the coup took place in 2014, these Republics bordering Russia did not recognize the coup government and they created their own governments there, they set up their governments, they took on that fight, they have engaged in that battle. They have written to us, sending us messages explaining why they are waging this battle, this struggle.
This battle, this struggle and meanwhile Ukrainian troops are looking for ways to overcome them, to liquidate them, to murder them; there have been thousands of deaths there over all these years.
So, taking into account that there are Russian populations there, the majority of the population in those provinces is Russian; then, what President Putin has done is to recognize those governments, because they have their governments, despite the aggression by the Ukrainian army, they have not been able to defeat them. So he has recognized these governments, and of course this also implies military support so that these governments have security.
Earlier, they had evacuated the population of their cities to neighboring cities in Russia, foreseeing a war where the first victims would be the inhabitants of these provinces.
In the end Russia took this step and the reactions are already coming, and it is a step which hopefully will create the conditions for an understanding, because what Russia is asking for is security and this security can be achieved on the basis of agreements which already existed and which the Europeans and the United States have failed to comply with and have continued encircling and threatening Russia.
So, thank God war did not break out, Russia did not invade with its troops, because it was said that Russian troops were going to enter Ukraine and that a much more serious situation would then come about. Let's hope that the European countries and the United States understand that this is the moment to seek an understanding, a firm agreement that will provide security to Russia, bearing in mind that these are different times.
This is something similar to what happened in Nicaragua in the 80's, where we had a blockade, we had military aggression, a war by the United States, and along our borders with Costa Rica, with Honduras there were bases, bases of forces, organized, trained by the United States, and their military base in Honduras which is still there, accompanying their aggression and their war against Nicaragua.
And U.S. Armed Forces terrorism specialists mined our ports, dynamited the fuel tanks in those ports; in other words, aggression! Logically, we had no choice but to defend ourselves in our territory, and on one occasion we had no choice but to undertake an operation hitting them there in the bases they had in Honduras.
Bakc then Yankee airplanes were taking off to come and attack us Nicaraguans who were simply defending ourselves from an aggression. So true is it that we were acting in self-defense that the International Court of Justice in The Hague condemned the United States for terrorism against Nicaragua.
It condemned the United States for terrorism against Nicaragua!
So, this decision taken today by President Putin opens up the possibility that the situation will not have a more serious outcome. Why? Because Ukraine is being used to provoke Russia, Ukraine wants to join NATO, and if it gets into NATO, well, that's as good as starting a war with Russia. And that explains why Russia is acting now in the way it has, it's simply defending itself.
And the step that President Putin took today to recognize those provinces, which are provinces that are populated by Russian citizens; I am sure that if they submit it to an election or a referendum like the one they did in Crimea, I am sure that the people there will vote for even annexing their territory to Russia, which is what Crimea did: It went back to the situation it was in before the fall of the Soviet Union. Why? Because it is a population that is a Russian population and is not subject to the dictates of NATO, the European Union and the United States.
May God enlighten the minds of the US Leaders, of President Biden, who will be listening to many proposals there. More than one madman there will certainly be saying let's throw some atomic bombs at these Russians, and they forget that the Russians also have atomic bombs, and imagine what the world would be like with atomic bombs flying from one side to the other.
May they see reason and not provoke a hecatomb on Planet Earth, which is already suffering a hecatomb because of the damage to Nature, the damage to the environment, the ecological damage which also translates into global warming, and may we really join forces with all the world's countries, both developing countries and developed countries.
May the United States and other powerful countries learn to respect small countries, and join efforts to put an end to Poverty, hunger, misery, lack of health, lack of education; may other pandemics not find our countries in deplorable conditions, may they not find developed countries in deplorable conditions, because this pandemic has also found developed countries at a loss about what to do.
We, thank God that we have never stopped building hospitals, building Health Posts, and continue to do so, and we will continue to do so. We have fought the battle against the pandemic well. And our recognition on this day to all the health workers, to the doctors, to the nurses, who have worked tirelessly and continue working tirelessly and all who are out there in the neighborhoods vaccinating all Nicaraguans, who are out there in the countryside vaccinating all Nicaraguans.
Long Live Peace!
Long Live Love!
Sandino Lives on, the Struggle continues!
A Free Nation or Death!
Long Live Blessed and Forever Free Nicaragua!
Remarks by Rosario, Vice President of Nicaragua,
after the Commemoration of the 88th Anniversary of the Passing to Immortality
of the General of Free Women and Men, Augusto C. Sandino
February 21st, 2021
A very good evening, beloved Families of our Blessed, Dignified Nation.... Always with Dignity ! Because we are full of Faith, because we are full of Love... Love for Nicaragua, Nicaragua's Dignity.
We know how to Always Go Further in this world that unfortunately is full of selfishness. Here the Nicaraguan People know how to put down selfishness, vanity, and to make our way with common sense, with sister and brotherhood, not for the convenience of anyon e in particular, but out of Love, out of Faith, out of Christianity and Solidarity.
And always on anniversaries like this, our Hearts are filled with Strength and Memories, assimilating more and more those Sublime, Supreme Messages, that the Great Heroes have bequeathed us, our National Heroes, our Patriotic Heroes, from whom we learn every day, because from Other Planes of Life they strengthen us, they help us achieve that infinite spiritual force that allows us to transcend... To recognize how things stand and transcend them. Recognize the terrain of hatred for example, and transcend it with Love. To recognize the terrain of evil, of perversion, of perversity, and to move beyond them with Love, leaving behind those toxic moments, those poisonous feelings that might otherwise demoralize and depress us.
But this People of ours, full of Spiritual Strength, of so much learning gained through centuries of struggle, we are not demoralized by reality, because they are human realities. On the contrary, we learn from our ancestral, traditional, religious, Christian values, to fight with Love, and to trust, to have Hope, to know that God is greater.... God is bigger than all of us, and He gives us here, in this Nicaragua that is so special, so Sacred, He gives us what we lack and what we need to overcome, always with Love.
And I want to send a warm embrace to Blanca Segovia. A day like today is hard for her, but she is such a strong woman, so brave, who teaches us so much. She has in her the great Spirit of her father, of the Army in Defense of National Sovereignty, that Army of Light, Life and Truth. In her are those supreme and sublime values that motivated simple men, Men of the People, simple women, Women of the People, to give themselves, to live for the Nation, to give Life and to receive Life, Eternal Life, out of Patriotic Love.
They are special beings who carry their mission to serve with Love to the ultimate consequences. That is why I always say that this is a Sacred, Mysterious and Miraculous Country. Here God has given us a Rubén, God has given us a Sandino and his heroic feat admired the world over.
Sandino, the Sandinista struggle with the Army in Defense of National Sovereignty, that drove out the interventionists, that drove out the invaders from these Lands that are ours, that are Sacred.
It has given us Heroes here, a great many, most of them anonymous, throughout centuries and decades of unwavering struggle, because here we neither surrender, nor sell out.... Unwavering struggle ! And it has been the People, human beings, Women and Men of the People, who have given us their great lessons.
So, today, February 21, we say: Always Further On ! Sandino, Life, Light and Truth ! And so we make our way, with that heroic example and with those extraordinary, formidable, profoundly spiritual teachings, onward and all together, because the future is ours.
Because here we are working to create a different reality in cultural, spiritual, and material terms; more houses, more highways, roads, more employment, more schooling, more health care, everything that is needed so that in our neighborhood, in our Communities, in our region, we feel content, confident, secure, hopeful, joyful, because we are on the road of a victorious fight against Poverty, all of us together, with the strength of a People that overcomes!
A warm embrace to All.... And Compañeras, Compañeros, onward, because the future is ours ! Thank you.