Act of Commemoration on the 50th Anniversary of the 1972 Earthquake in Managua
December 23, 2022
Introductory address by Rosario
Good afternoon to the beloved families of our Blessed and Always Free Nicaragua!
Beloved Families of Managua, so much fills our hearts on a day like today, when as believers we celebrate Life, the Life of so many Brothers who left for another plane of existence, but are with us, because Life is precisely a continuous rebirth. And how blessed we feel, how strengthened, because Life has given so much to us, to the People of Nicaragua, to Nicaragua's Families.
We have learned at every time and under every circumstance to strive, with all our energy, with all our Heart, with that Vigor and that Glory that marks us, as Rubén pointed out to us... Striving to overcome, to transcend. Always, under any circumstances, no matter how difficult, we know how to fight and we know how to overcome.
Those terrible moments left us with that feeling, at that moment, at that time, of total helplessness. If one felt anything, it was helplessness, not knowing who to count on, because we had no government, or brothers or sisters in Solidarity, in the first moments, and that always happens when we are facing tragedies; in the first moments we are all sisters and brothers, and then time goes by and we are no longer so sisterly and fraternal.
I remember how in the early days we all looked for where to go, to relatives' houses, to friends' houses, and soon, little, relatively little, the signs began: "We are operating”, and that phrase “we are operating" meant that people had come back, because they had to come to work, and because also one, after a certain time, reacts
Solidarity and more in those times was quite strange, rare, momentary, ephemeral. After all, everything in life is ephemeral, and we learn that too. And that does not mean that we should not struggle, because change is the essence of Life, and Life, as we said, is a continuous rebirth.
Every day we remember, we evoke, we form ourselves with learning, with memories, with memories, and every day we also hear of sad news, we know joys, we share our sorrows, we share our joys.
Who could have told us, a day or so ago at this hour, that our beloved Blanca was no longer going to be on this Plane with us? Who could have told us? That's right. And yesterday we talked on the phone with her, Daniel talked, I talked; we talked and she sounded so strong, and I don't forget, I think it's her message for all of us: We have no other choice... We have to keep making our way! A message of Strength, of Faith, of Love: We have to keep making our way!
And she went to that other Plane of Life, together with so many Nicaraguans, 50 years after the Earthquake, and we know, indeed, that just as those brothers and sisters are with us, our beloved Blanca remains with us, striving so as to continue to overcome. A woman of exemplary strength, inspiring, formidable!
We have something to celebrate every day and in this case it is to celebrate his Life, and to celebrate her coherence, that loyalty with which she knew how to follow the legacy of her father, and of her mother, both Heroes, and she too, Heroine of these hard, but true, and by true, deeply evolutionary struggles.
So, Compañer@s, here we are after so many experiences, and at all times willing to put our Heart in everything we do.
We want to greet especially, with a sincere embrace, all the Families of Managua, in this different time when there is no helplessness, because we know sister and brotherhood, Solidarity and Support, we support and help each other, and we have a model that allows us to unite together so as to continue overcoming difficulties, in all circumstances.
And we greet each other, the entire Government Cabinet, the Government Institutions, the Media are here, telling the truths of every day, the Truths of the Life of our People and the progress of our People.
Here we are with the country's Youth, the Youth who walk with Hope in these times that are of Victories and for the builders of new Victories.
We greet especially here presiding, Compañero Dr. Gustavo Porras, President of the National Assembly, and the bloc of legislators who accompany us in this Commemoration.
Also to General Julio César Avilés representing, as Head of the Army, our entire Army; to General Marvin Corrales, the Inspector, and to the other Comrades from the Military Council who are with us too.
To the First Commissioner General Francisco Díaz; to the Compañero Minister, Advisor to the President for Security Issues, Commissioner General Horacio Rocha, and to the brothers and sisters of our National Police.
To Compañera María Amelia Coronel, Minister of the Interior. To Dr. Guillermo González, of course, who with his tenacious work, with his dedication, with his attention to detail, has been building with families all over the Country an inspiring Model of participation and Citizen Power, with which we face any eventuality. And that is not a part-time job, it involves work every single day, so that every day we know we can learn more so as to protect Life better.
To the Mayor of Managua, Compañera Reyna Rueda, and, of course, to our Comandante Daniel, who is here with us all.
We keep progressing straight ahead...! And we continue directly, advancing in the construction of that Future which together We All believe in, and it is only Together that We are can Go Forward... Advancing with Daniel!
Embraces, Compañer@s...!
I remembered, as I came here, a phrase, a headline that moved me a lot all those years ago, in the following year, in March of the year after the earthquake, in 1973: In just 30 seconds (but it was less), in 30 seconds, only Hiroshima and Managua!
We were destroyed, but never defeated, and this is how we advance!
Address by Daniel
The 50th Anniversary of that terrible disaster where Nature destroyed our capital city, Managua. Thousands of Nicaraguan brothers and sisters, adults, the elderly, young people, children, boys and girls, all perished in that terrible earthquake.
Rosario experienced it at first hand, here in Managua, here in the San Antonio Neighborhood, which was one of the most affected areas, where she lived with her family, and she had a child of more than 1 year old, in a two-story house. Rosario's mother, to protect the child, took him downstairs, but the house collapsed and a child died there, a baby; that is, not just newborn children, but other children who may have been be in their mother's womb, and the mothers died along with their children. A terrible catastrophe!
And today, the transition to that other Plane of Life of our beloved Blanca, the daughter of our General Sandino. And, for all of them, on this 50th Anniversary we are going to stand up and observe a minute of silence. Thank you.
We have listened to the Song of Joy where the invocation is invoked and repeated, dreaming of the day when we all become Sisters and Brothers on this Planet, in which we all become Brothers and Sisters here in our country, Nicaragua, and throughout Central America and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, and throughout the American Continent, from Alaska to Patagonia.
And that we must all be Brothers and Sisters, it is an invocation, it is a dream that seems distant, because it is difficult to find Peace, Brother and Sisterhood, Fraternity, in the Human Family. With wars, sanctions, aggression, blockades, terrorist practices of countries that call themselves "Civilized", which should set the example so that we can all head towards a Better World, where we meet like Sisters and Brothers, something based on the Principle of Respect, of Respect for Nations, of Respect for Peoples.
Regardless of their size, regardless of their thinking, their Ideology, their Religion, the Principle is Respect, which is enshrined in the United Nations, but the first to disrespect these Principles are the Countries that call themselves “Civilized”, they are the most developed Nations on the Planet and they have been accustomed to take over Nations, entire Continents, yes, to dominate them, colonize them.
All those pharisaic European countries have committed the mortal sin of having unleashed war among themselves disputing the domination of the Planet, the hegemony of the Planet among themselves. And in those massacres among themselves, of themselves, of their poisoned entrails, it was normal, it was natural for Nazism to come out, it was normal for someone like Hitler to emerge applauded by leading American businessmen, who were also making alliances.
And in these times Nazism is emerging, Nazism has expanded, it has reproduced itself in the same European countries that were occupied by Nazi Germany, and in Germany itself Nazi parties are multiplying, occupying seats in the European Parliament, occupying Governments.
There are pro-Nazi governments in Europe, yes, ah, but they claim to be Democrats! So Democratic that they open the way to Nazism. And from Nazism, which did not disappear with the defeat of Hitler, from Nazism this conflict, this war between Russia and Ukraine, has been developing. Why? Because Ukraine is a country dominated by Nazism, by Fascism.
During World War II the Soviet Union had to enter Ukraine with great force in order to dominate Nazism that had a huge base there in Ukraine. But, as in the rest of Europe where Nazism already seemed to have disappeared, it remained there with such force as to attack Russia, forcing Russia, entirely within its rights, to wage a battle defending not only Russian citizens from Nazism; because if Ukraine were to prevail in this battle, Nazism would prevail in the World, where even in the United States we also have huge manifestations of Nazism.
Therefore, the dream is still, as the song says, ”beyond the stars", but we cannot give up the dream of a World without war, without Nazism, without aggression, without invasions, without slave-making practices.
And the Europeans, those saintly European, put chains on human beings in Africa and turned them into slaves; Europe is the cursed mother of slavery, and they trafficked with slaves, they did business with slaves, it was like going around selling lamps, going around selling objects, these that are used to clean or to cut, cutters, now they are mechanized, there are cane cutters; then it was human beings who did all that work, as slaves.
They were sold, with everything and the Family, to the Europeans who were taking over the World, to the Europeans who had taken over the United States, there thousands of slaves died under the whip of the American slaveholders. Notice how slave holding was what they now call the ”cradle of Democracy".
The other “cradle of Democracy”, France, another slaveholder! Yes, a heroic battle was fought there for the French Revolution, it is true, those principles were vindicated, but Fascism, Slavery, Neocolonialism were always there, they did not disappear, the changes were just symbolic, but the exploitation continues because the world was dominated and is still dominated by what Pope John Paul II called “Savage Capitalism”. Yes “Savage Capitalism” which continues intact still, although it is no longer in complete control, indeed.
Then again, speaking about Brother and Sisterhood and Fraternity is difficult now, because while sport is meant to unite, to bring Peoples together, the fanaticism is so great that it leads to big fights and even to deaths, yes, in Europe, here in Latin America fanaticism also leads... In other words, fanaticism is so terrible that it has not managed to really turn sports into Sport that brings people together.
Well, it's okay for everyone to have their sympathies with a team, but not to go from that to lynching the others because they beat their team... And this happens in countries that are said to be very "civilized", especially. The groups that are organized at sporting events in Europe are well known, especially in football, groups of adults are organized, young people who go from one country to another, they are going to support their team, but they are also prepared for the fight. In other words, the sport fails to unite.
Here, thank God that has declined, but I remember, goodness, the embarrassment of fights in the Stadiums, and I still remember in the 80s, a tremendous fight that was happened in Masaya, such that they were even asking us to send helicopters to take out the Boer baseball team that had beaten Masaya. Yes, aggression that end up causing deaths.
Music, Art, we would say, things that really transcend confrontation and bring the Soul of Peoples closer together. This is an approach that takes place in the midst of euphoria, music, singing, but suddenly there can also come about fighting resulting from the combination of singing with liquor, and that leads to fighting.
A Musical Festival is not always a Field of Peace, but generally here Musical Festivals really have become Fields of Peace, Fields of Unity, where those gathered there are not making political or religious differences, but are enjoying the artistry being presented there.
However, if there is something that really brings the Human Beings closer, makes them really treat each other like Brothers and sisters, it is the tragedies, the catastrophes. There, the differences disappear. Who is going to make a difference in the middle of a hurricane or in the middle of an earthquake? Who is going to go around blaming someone for being from one Party while they are from another Party? It is precisely there that human reflexes react, and if they see someone on the floor who is dying or dying, they run to attend to them, they don't even ask them who they are, and maybe on the political plane they have been enemies to the death and could even kill each other.
But these are tragedies caused above all by Nature, because there are also terrible tragedies caused by man... What more terrible tragedy than the bombs dropped by the United States, which is the only country in human history to have dropped atomic bombs against two towns where there was no army, there was only a civilian population, and still they dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
A brutal, collective murder, where the horror that was experienced was unspeakable, on the part of those who had dropped the atomic bombs, the “fathers of Democracy”, the United States of America were the ones who dropped those atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
After that very brutal crime, repudiated by humanity even today, in our own times, they still have not asked for forgiveness for that crime, and rather they have argued that the bombs were so powerful that they killed so many people and that by killing so many people they could make countries surrender. Because in the combat with the Japanese soldiers and the gringo soldiers the Japanese did not surrender. So what did the gringos do? Bombing Cities, killing children, women, young people, everything that was in the Cities, more than 200,000 dead forced the surrender of Japan.
But this horrendous crime did not serve to raise a wave of repudiation, or actions back then in the so-called United Nations, for the atomic weapon to be eradicated, seeing the consequences it had and the way the atomic weapon was manipulated. They didn't use the atomic bomb to drop it on the Japanese soldiers, why? Because naturally they were not concentrated on a single point, they were moving across different territories. So for that reason they went over the defenseless cities, and then forced the Emperor of Japan to surrender to that barbarism.
The first thing that the World, the United Nations, the developed countries should have done was to have banned the existence of atomic weapons and those who possessed them, such as the United States, to have those atomic weapons destroyed. But no, on the contrary, the United States felt it had such a powerful weapon that what they did was to build more atomic weapons and every time with more power, with more destructive power.
And thus they forced other countries to build atomic weapons, so that what had happened to Hiroshima and Nagasaki to Japan would not happen to them. They forced nations like Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, to build atomic weapons, because the Koreans knew that once they had atomic weapons they were no longer going to be attacked as easily as the US had attacked Japan.
That is, we can say, the result of the imperialist policies that have caused the multiplicity, multiplication of atomic weapons in the World; and if we see it as an issue of legitimate defense, and as I said at the United Nations, we all have the same right to seek the atomic weapon in order to defend ourselves, and the atomic weapon cannot be an exclusive right of the powerful, the rich, the imperialists. Because that's the way it is!
If all the Countries that are currently being blockaded here in Latin America and the Caribbean, sanctioned by the United States, had atomic weapons, the situation would be different! Because here we are close to the United States and once with atomic weapons... Let's not forget the October crisis that was provoked with Cuba, when Cuba had missiles there.
On principle, yes, on principle, we are against the existence of atomic weapons. But we perfectly understand the reason that many Nations have to have atomic weapons and how others seek atomic weapons, because they are permanently threatened by the Imperialist Powers, but here in Our Latin and Caribbean America we have made the commitment that all these territories, all these Countries have to be free of atomic weapons. That is a principle that we have, and we will continue to fulfill it.
But it is not fair that countries are sanctioned, countries are blockaded because they want to build atomic weapons, while the great Powers have atomic weapons and continue to build more atomic weapons and want to make them much more powerful than current atomic weapons already are. Undoubtedly, this is an attitude, a situation which is a tragedy for the World, one which distances us from the right that everyone on this planet has to treat each other, to see each other, as Sisters and Brothers!
And as the headline that Rosario mentioned said, when the earthquake took place here in Managua 50 years ago, the headline was: "In 30 seconds, only Hiroshima and Managua!”. That is to say, in 30 seconds Hiroshima disappeared and then Nagasaki disappeared, two cities disappeared.
Just like Managua, it was seconds that the earthquake lasted, but long enough to cause destruction. And there, regardless of the fact that the Somoza tyranny was ruling and the Country was subjected to the Yankee Empire, there the People, the Nicaraguans at that moment saw each other, found themselves to be like Brothers and Sisters.
I didn't live this tragedy directly here in Managua, I was in prison, in the early hours of today the 23rd, I remember that I was in the cell, they had us isolated there, in a group of 10 cells and in each cell there was a Sandinista prisoner. The gallery was two floors high, so 4 or 5 of us were in the bottom row and the other 4 or 5 in the upper rows, a huge gallery, and there in the cell was written the Regulations that resulted from the studies undertaken by the Commander of the prison and other prison officials who had studied in Spain, in Franco's Spain.
So, what did the little sign tell the prisoner? When he entered the cell and the little sign was in front of him, it said: “Forbidden to talk”, “Forbidden to whistle”, “Forbidden to sing”, “Prisoners must stand in full view of the guards on watch", observing that we were there complying with the rules established there.
Cells in which there was a bunk and it was forbidden to sit, that is, we could neither sit on the bunk, nor sit on the floor. We couldn't even talk to the other compañeros, shouting, that we wanted to talk, if we started doing so they immediately repressed us, beat us, put us in an even more confined space..
Next to each cell, these are still there, next to each cell there's a door, the door opens into space where the water pipes are, it is very narrow. So then they put us in there and locked us up, there was really nowhere to move, it was like a little punishment cell they had there adjacent to each cell for when we did not follow the regulations.
I remember that we had been, very carefully, getting to know the guards who watched over us, telling them about their social, economic reality and whom they served. Some became more aware and they would help us to pass messages, take out messages for the compañeros who were clandestinity here in Managua.
And I was on that occasion with the prison officials, with the Guards, and it was time to sleep, it was 12 at night or 1 in the morning, but we almost could not sleep because it was forbidden to turn off the light, we were kept with the light on in full view of the guard, and so there was no way to sleep, because there were mosquitoes there. I have not seen such big mosquitoes as those that were there in the Tipitapa area, the mosquitoes were huge, and there were crowds of them, so it was impossible to sleep. We demanded to be allowed mosquito nets, but they didn't allow it! So, sometimes in order to get some sleep we would get under the bunk to protect ourselves a little from the mosquitoes, but then the guards would just drag us out.
And that early morning of the 23rd, through some prison guards we managed to introduce books, reading materials; I was reading, and since the police official was a friend, who was on duty, suddenly an Officer control would come, because they would have an officer supervising them, then the guard would warn us, we'd hide the book and stand to attention. I was reading and suddenly I notice that the lights were brighter than usual and then they went out, and at that moment I listened and we all then heard a vibration... And what will it be? You could hear the vibration, and after the vibration the building began shaking.
Yes, in Tipitapa that tremor was felt strongly, the earthquake, it started shaking, it was shaking, and the poor policeman who was there ran to the door screaming to be let out, but the other soldiers who were there who might have opened it had already started running, and the common prisoners who were on the other side were shouting, because they could walk through the corridors, they were not locked in their cells, they started screaming too, terrified, to be let out, to be taken out...
The guard who was taking care of us, who ran but they did not let him out, because there was no one to open up for him because he was locked in there, there is no one to unlock the gate for him, the officers who were there were the first to run out; then, we saw the poor soldier down on his knees and he started praying with “Holy God, Holy power, Holy Immortal”, which is the popular Invocation in terrible situations like that.
We had already experienced an earlier earthquake in the Aviation prison, that was an earthquake that had its epicenter I think in Central America, in the year 1967. I had been transferred first to the Aviation and then during that earthquake we were sleeping on the floor, in a very small cell where there were 140, 150 of us, mostly common criminals, and a multitude of us sleeping on the floor, where we fell asleep.
Then there were bunks but you had to pay to have the right to a bunk; and on the bunk the prisoners lay crossed like sardines, because it was not that the bunk was only for one person... No! No! 6, 7 had to be accommodated there, and the senior prisoner who was the person who managed the dealing inside the cell so he could earn more.
Then, we on the floor, we put a handkerchief over our eyes because it kept the light from our eyes, so we could sleep. I was there with Ricardo Morales, and suddenly the shaking started. No, we are used to tremors here, but that one no longer seemed like a tremor, we said, because it started to gain strength, and those who were in the bunks in desperation started throwing themselves off the bunks onto the floor, crushing those of us who were on the floor while we sought to calm them down. There were some huge roof beams and the tiled roof, such that the beams were loosening, and then the terror was even greater, because it already seemed that the beams would come off and crush everyone.
In the end the shaking stopped and then there were tremors, but since it was an earthquake and as the prison was quite damaged, then for security so as to prevent us from escaping, they sent us to the prison that is there in Tipitapa, a more modern prison, of Spanish fascist design, and that's where we were. This was in '67, '68 here, so five years later, that is to say, we had been imprisoned for 5 years when the earthquake hit us in Tipitapa, we still had two more years to stay there, because we were imprisoned for more than seven years; so we had been there for five when the earthquake hit.
In any case, we called out to the poor guard... No, nothing's going to happen here! But as things turned out, and it was constant, the vibrating sound was heard and then another one, because the shaking went on all night until dawn and the shaking stopped, going from strong tremors to less strong tremors; but, of course, the panic was huge for the civilian population of Tipitapa and the surrounding villages, not to mention here in Managua, because everyone already knew that when the vibrating sound came, the strong blow followed.
But that was a moment when we treated each other like Brothers, yes, we treated each other like Brothers! I heard many stories of the way families who were in terrible conditions were being helped here in Managua, how they worked to get them out, even if they didn't know who the person was, but if someone was buried they still sought to get them out, they didn't ask them, are you a Sandinista? Are you not a Sandinista? Are you Somocista? No, the just had to be taken out. That is, it worked there, that is, faced with the Phenomena of Nature, then Brother and Sisterhood presents itself, manifests itself.
The difficult thing in those times was that any aid that could reach Nicaragua was handled by Somoza, help did begin to arrive and Somoza managed it, and it turned out that the aid reached only the people he was interested in helping for their political affiliation.
Then our Cuban Sisters and Brothers, when Nicaragua had no relations with Cuba, and Fidel... of course what could Fidel expect from Somoza, since Somoza had participated in training mercenaries here on the Caribbean Coast for the invasion of Cuba, when Somoza had arrived at the Cuban mercenaries when they were about to leave and told them: I want you to bring me a hair from Fidel's beard. And they made jokes, well yes, they would bring it to him, but the full beard! That's what they said.
And that's why when Fidel came here, visiting Nicaragua the first year after the Triumph of the Revolution, Fidel who knew about that anecdote commented: Well, here I am with my full beard for the People of Nicaragua, Fidel said. And he sent a Medical Brigade with medicines and everything else. It was difficult for Somoza not to let in a Medical Brigade under these conditions, and they set to work in the barrios attending directly to the Nicaraguan population.
It was a demonstration of how Humanity and Brother and Sisterhood transcended for Cuba, for Fidel, the ideological and political antagonism that there was towards a tyranny like that of Somoza. Fidel sent the aid and the Nicaraguan people were thankful for that help.
Then, when the earthquake occurred, we had Roberto Clemente, an extraordinary baseball player, one of the Great Big League Stars, of Puerto Rican origin, who had been in Nicaragua when participating in sports events and who held affection for the Nicaraguan People, identified with the Nicaraguan people.
When Roberto found out about the earthquake in Nicaragua, but also that Somoza was stealing the aid that was arriving, then he organized a group of Puerto Ricans there to raise aid, charter a plane, and that he was going to come personally to make sure that Somoza would not steal the supplies and so they could deliver it directly to the People, as Cuba had done with its Brigade.
And they are collecting and the news in Puerto Rico was of Clemente, and in the United States too, of Clemente, a World Series Star. And on December 31st look at what a gesture of Humanity, what a gesture of Brotherhood, what a gesture of Solidarity with Nicaragua; namely, a Puerto Rican decided to give the New Year's Eve Party with his Family, with his friends, with his People, to come to Nicaragua on the plane to deliver aid to the Nicaraguan People.
The flight left on December 31st when by then they had managed to gather enough help, and that day he took flight Clemente, on the 30th, 31st he took the flight, and everything was going well when, suddenly, the signal of the plane disappears in the control tower, and they begin to worry, to search, the plane does not appear on the radars, and then a rescue search in the sea began. And as one compañero said: Clemente rests in the Ocean, in the Sea, referring to the fact that his tomb was that immense Caribbean Sea that welcomed him and kept Roberto Clemente.
And of course we are going to hold the Tribute to Clemente next Friday, December 30th we are going to do the Tribute to Clemente at the Soberanía Stadium, that's where we are going to hold the Tribute to Roberto Clemente.
He is the one with that phrase that I mentioned at the ALBA meeting recently in Cuba: "Don't repeat to me what you did well yesterday, repeat to me what you are doing well now, and what you are going to do well tomorrow. Because, how many people did good yesterday, right here in Nicaragua how many people did good yesterday, and then turned their backs on the People, stabbed the People. So, let's say: Ah, but he did well. No! No! A worthwhile human being does good permanently, consistently, firmly, without hesitation.
That notorious earthquake had a magnitude of 6.2, the magnitude was not that big, it was strong but it was not so big that it should have demolished Managua. But several factors were in play here: One, the fragility of the City, and two, the depth. There may be an earthquake of 8 degrees, but if it is 200 kilometers inside the sea, it doesn't cause such damage, but this one was at 6 kilometers, almost on the surface. And the center of that earthquake was here in the Tiscapa Fault, so, it was completely splitting Managua and almost on the surface, that's why it was so violent, so destructive.
Here in Nicaragua, Nicaraguan brothers, Nicaraguan Families, we greet everyone, we greet all those who are listening to us throughout the country, these are issues about which we have to be aware, as Dr. González knows.
Compañera Rosario, Compañero Gustavo Porras, General Julio César Avilés, General Marvin Corrales, General Francisco Díaz, Commissioner General Horacio Rocha, Compañera María Amelia Coronel, Compañera Reyna Rueda, well, we are as one, defending Peace, defending Security, defending Work, defending the Well-being and Progress of our Country, of our People; and we are as one also in confronting the aggressive phenomena of Nature. There have been hurricanes, earthquakes, there have also been floods due to rains, lava spills from volcanoes, and so on.
And of the first earthquake, a great earthquake of which we have knowledge here in Nicaragua, because there have been three great earthquakes here: The first one was in León, and there it was the result of the volcanic activity of the Momotombo, the Momotombo volcano erupted, hoarse and sonorous Momotombo, and there the city was settled, there was Puerto Momotombo, the municipality of La Paz Centro, in that area, that was León at that time.
And there, well, the five craters of the Momotombo Volcano released sand, ash, lava, the tremors were violent and persistent, and culminated in the earthquake of 1594, which was the strongest. Then came another earthquake in 1610, so we are already talking about 2 earthquakes, already partially destroyed the City in 1578, and on January 11, 1610 came the final blow that ended up collapsing everything that was left standing: houses, churches, public buildings.
So, that's where they make the decision, it was the time of the Spaniards there, Nicaragua was not independent, we were a Colony, so they took the decision to move the city to where León is currently located, and there remains what is today a tourist site that we know as the Ruins of León Viejo. So, we have had several earthquakes there.
Then, in the year 1931 Nicaragua was occupied by the Yankee troops, our General Sandino was giving battle, and an earthquake of 6 degrees on the Richter scale occurred that destroyed the city of Managua. This was on Holy Tuesday of March 31, 1931, in Holy Week. Managua was destroyed! The epicenter was located on the Stadium Fault, that's what that fault is called, because it crosses the Stanley Cayasso Stadium, the old Stadium; that great Star of ours, Stanley Cayasso.
This earthquake of the 1931 caused between 1,200 and 1,500 deaths, which was a huge amount of people for the population that Managua had then, it was a much smaller Managua with a small population; more than 2,000 injured and 45,000 victims, and economic losses of course; as well as fires.
At that time Managua did not exceed 60,000 inhabitants, it had a very small population, Ciudad Sandino now has more people than Managua did then. At that moment with this earthquake, apart from the terrible deaths, the Communications building fell, the Markets, the Central and the San Miguel were destroyed, they caught fire, those were the historical Markets, and how have they resisted, now there they are standing again.
The Variety Theater, the Casa del Águila, the Temples of Candelaria, San Antonio, San Pedro, were also affected, likewise the National Penitentiary, that is, where today is the Stanley Cayasso Stadium, at that time there was no Stadium, there was the National Penitentiary, there all the prisoners, hundreds of prisoners died there.
Most of the buildings in Managua were destroyed and the ones that did not fall, the ones that did not collapse were seriously affected, seriously damaged.
Then there were many fires, the kitchens cooked with wood at that time, all over Nicaragua cooking was done with wood, and a fire broke out that devoured more than 20 blocks in the central radius of Managua. And only the iron frame of the old Cathedral under construction, which had begun to be built 3 years earlier, in 1928, remained standing, this Cathedral that is always here in the Plaza de la Revolución, then too the Casa Pellas, the Social Club, the City Hall Palace, the National Palace and other buildings that were affected. More than 1,000 people died there in that tragic event.
Then we have this other devastating earthquake here in Managua, which is the one that is turning 50 today and where we are paying honor in remembrance to the victims of the 1972 Earthquake. This left a large death toll, of victims, there was talk of 15,000, there were estimates of 10,000, between 10,000 and 15,000 dead, deceased. The losses were enormous for Nicaragua in its economy. The population of Managua at that time was 396,000 inhabitants, a population that had of course grown, but it was still a small population.
Then the tremors continued for several days, and Solidarity came, Cuban cooperation, international Solidarity, that's where Clemente came with cooperation to address the effects of this earthquake.
The Hospital too, which was a new, huge Hospital; Schools that were destroyed by the earthquake; complete neighborhoods, complete residential areas, the beautiful skyline, the Santa Clara Gardens. It was a devastating earthquake! Later the People began recovering Managua from that terrible disaster.
Now I want to refer to the only thing that exists to face these Natural Disasters, which is what we have been putting into practice in these years intensively, as never before in the history of our Country, and that is SINAPRED, which is a System that has been created taking as a starting point to raise awareness in the population, to raise awareness, but also to transfer knowledge about how to face these phenomena so that Lives can be saved in the first place.
Back then, after the earthquake, people sought to save material things, but to try saving material things in the middle of the earthquake is to commit suicide, because material things can be replaced, Life cannot be replaced. And unfortunately there are people who do not reflect in the middle of an earthquake and they start looking, as there are also criminals who take advantage of the earthquake to look for how to steal and there they end up getting buried.
So, the National System for Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Care has achieved greater strength since 2007, and it is a System logically where the State institutions are present.
First of all there is the Nicaraguan Army's Civil Defense, because of course the Nicaraguan Army's Civil Defense is the one with the most and the best tools to be able to move in the most affected areas, to save Lives, save people who are dying, in areas where you can only reach by helicopter for example. And this goes for earthquakes and it goes for hurricanes.
The police, also are of course fundamental to face this type of disaster. The Ministry of the Interior with its rescue brigades have dug out people who have been buried. Likewise, the firefighters who are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior, are also decisive to face these phenomena of Nature, which are destructive phenomena.
And in this I am talking about the Institutions that are more specialized and have the most specialized Personnel and resources as well, but all State Institutions are included in this. We are one entity. And together with the State Institutions, the entire population of the country takes part, all municipalities in all the country's departments are part of this System, a living part of the System.
That is, in the 153 municipalities we are present and carrying out drills, and the whole country is involved in the drills, that is, the State institutions, the Health System that is indisputably fundamental in a situation like this to be able to help people who are injured that have to be taken care of so as to save Lives, to transfer patients from one hospital to another, because if a hospital is damaged, it is affected and it can collapse.
The Health System is fundamental, the premises that are used as shelters, like schools and other places that are already identified for Shelters, are also fundamental.
All this is part of a high degree of organization that the country has, that the Nicaraguan People have and that allows us to do internships and have Brigades with brigadistas. More than 200,000 brigadistas are at the forefront of the front line, but behind them there are also thousands of others, naturally, to protect children, sick people, they are all decisive forces in waging a battle for Life. I mean, these really are battles for life.
Then there is Education, the preparation that is given to students on the subject, it is in the study curriculum.
Likewise the Surveillance System, a monitoring system that has been technically upgraded, improved to be able to detect how the movements in the volcanoes are, how the heating or the rising of the lava in the volcanoes is, which is a signal that must be attended to.
How we get the information about the formation of hurricanes far away, thousands and thousands of kilometers away, and one says, that hurricane is far away, what is it going to come and do here?... No! No! Although they are born in other regions, on other Continents, there they have been traveling, and they are born not as hurricanes, but there as they have been advancing and suddenly they say it has already become a hurricane, but it is still a Grade 1 hurricane, and it is still advancing, it is still advancing and it is now a Grade 2 hurricane, so we have to start, even if it is far away we have to start taking measures to save the lives of Nicaraguans.
Earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides that also occur, how many families have been crushed by landslides in mountain areas. Next to Matagalpa, Jinotega, I remember that some compañeros arrived there to talk to the Families who were on a hill because there were signs that it could collapse, it was it was raining a lot, it was a rain problem, and the Family did not accept. They all died, they were crushed by the landslide, the little house collapsed and all the mud that accumulated on the mountain fell on top of them.
Then too it has also been possible to develop a good system of coordination at the Regional Level, and even to carry out Regional Exercises here in Nicaragua; that is, Nicaragua has gained respect, recognition on this matter that allows us to invite other countries and they come to do Regional Exercises to face these phenomena.
And it is always good to remember history, not to dwell on it, but to learn so that we will not be surprised later by a hurricane, an earthquake. Who can guess at what time an earthquake is coming? Very difficult. Volcanic activity can be predicted in a volcano, and when there is volcanic activity the population is moved away from the areas where there is volcanic activity, but an earthquake is very difficult to predict. So there we need a quick reaction and that is why our insistence that we have to be doing these Exercises, because the more we do these drills, these Exercises, more Lives will be saved if a tragedy like that were to occur.
Because no Country in the World is exempt from an earthquake, no Country in the World! The United States, a powerful country, where even atomic bombs can't stop earthquakes. The United States has had earthquakes and it has a permanent threat, because in the entire San Francisco area, all that coastline, all that coast, there are continuous tremors and sometimes earthquakes, there have been earthquakes there.
There are earthquakes in Japan all the time, but the Japanese have already achieved a building capacity with structures so strong that huge buildings manage to withstand earthquakes.
So, we are talking about a situation that is always there, it is a danger that weighs on the whole World, that weighs on all Peoples, that also weighs on our People where we have already had a few earthquakes in our history of which the most devastating were those of 1931 and 1972. So then we have to entrust ourselves to God, but it is not enough to pray, as the song says, we have to accompany prayer with knowledge, with exercises, to defend the Life of Nicaragua's Families.
Beloved Brother and Sister Nicaraguans, on this 50th Anniversary of the Earthquake that caused such pain and sorrow, pain and death, in Managua and throughout Nicaragua, we offer our Love, our Affection, our Blessings, for all the Families who lived through that terrible earthquake and who managed to survive, but who lost relatives who passed away.
Likewise, to all the Doctors, Firefighters, Forces that participated saving Lives, Brigades that came from other countries to help save Lives in that earthquake, to all of them also our Recognition and our Affection and, above all, the commitment of our Government to continue working to ensure, as far as possible, the Lives of all Nicaraguans.
Our Respect, our Prayers, our Blessings, for the victims of the Earthquake.
Remarks by Rosario, Vice-President of Nicaragua,
after the Act of Commemoration on the 50th Anniversary of the 1972 Earthquake in Managua
December 23, 2022
Good afternoon... These are intense moments, moments of indelible memories. Someone said that in each of us there was a gap left in the Soul. We lost our points of reference, complete addresses; we lost Human Beings, that's the first thing; we lost buildings, emblematic buildings; we lost a City and a City that for us was the heart of our Country.
In the midst of all the darkness of Somocismo, that City vibrated and for us it was our Capital, our Beautiful Place, The Bride of Xolotlán! That is why my heart goes out to all the Brothers and Sisters who lost so much, but who were able to transcend, to move forward, to rebuild. And that is the meaning of Life: To learn to transcend, to move forward, to rebuild even ourselves; to see ourselves as people in transit, on a journey in which we learn to be better and do things better every day.
I also want, on the eve of Christmas Eve, to greet everyone, in your Homes, in your Neighborhoods, in your Houses; to salute those who are working, because let's remember that on dates like these we miss people, because there are Doctors, Nurses, Health Personnel, Soldiers, Firefighters, Policemen, who are working, taking care of our Blessed Nation, as well as so many Volunteers who take turns to guarantee Peace; emergency personnel, workers ensuring electricity, telecommunications, water... To all of them and their Families our recognition and our affection.
Here we are then, a day to remember, a day also to appreciate how much we have made our way since then, how much we have fought, how much we are still striving, how much we have overcome, and how much we are still overcoming. Because we have Faith, because we have Spirit, the Great Spirit of every Nicaraguan. Because we have confidence in God and we know that this is a Blessed Land, that it is a Sacred Land and that it is a Land of Great Soul, of Great Heart and, therefore, also of Great Future, of Great Future.
We are more than capable, we have Strength, we have Soul, we are Brothers and Sisters, we have recovered the Sense of Fraternity, that is one of the most important achievements of recent years, to recover the Sense of Solidarity, of Fraternity. I know that we have always been supportive, but we also recognize that there is a tendency to treat Solidarity as something temporary. That is why I say, we have recovered Solidarity as an essential value that has to be permanent in our Lives, and that is how we see it.
Much Love to you all, Compañer@s, with all the learning, with all the experiences and with all the Paths of the Future, in Peace and Well Being, that we Nicaraguan Families deserve.
A warm embrace to Everyone, and thank you, Compañer@s. Thank you.