CONFERENCE
"NATIONAL HERO RIGOBERTO LÓPEZ PÉREZ' CONTRIBUTION
TO BUILDING OUR REVOLUTIONARY PATRIOTIC NATION"
Monday, May 13th, 2024
Place: UNAN-Managua
Fernando Gordillo Auditorium
Foreign Minister Denis Moncada Colindres
Good morning Friends and Colleagues:
Beloved Compañera Dr. Ramona Rodríguez Pérez, President of the National Council of Universities, Rector of the UNAN-Managua and University Authorities;
Beloved Compañeras and Compañeros Students, Teachers and Administrative Workers who are taking part in person;
Beloved Colleagues, Students, Teachers and Administrative Workers who are taking part on line;
We appreciate the invitation and being able to meet with you.
1. Celebrating the 95th Anniversary of the Birth of our National Hero Rigoberto López Pérez, fills us with joy and satisfaction, by sharing among us all the remembrance and historical memory of Rigoberto, who, while loving his life intensely, voluntarily gave it up in order to contribute heroically to the beginning of the end of the dictatorship and the process of political, social, revolutionary consciousness, which was later carried forward by the Sandinista National Liberation Front. Comandante Daniel and Compañera Rosario who also share this celebration with us, send their fraternal greetings to you.
2. On September 21st 1956, Rigoberto López Pérez carried out an act that changed and transformed the course of struggle in Nicaraguan history: the execution of Anastasio Somoza García. This deed not only sought to eliminate a dictator, an instrument of U.S. intervention, but also to encourage the Nicaraguan population towards revolutionary action and to give continuity to the legacy of the General of Free Men and Women, Augusto C. Sandino. This is one of Rigoberto's contributions to our Sandinista Popular Revolution.
3. Comandante Carlos Fonseca, affirms that: Rigoberto López Pérez, is the twenty-seven-year-old Nicaraguan hero and poet, who gave his life to execute in 1956, the murderer who, in the pay of the American Embassy, of US imperialism, crucified Augusto C. Sandino.
4. Comandante Daniel Ortega has told us that Rigoberto is a continuation of Sandino's struggle. It is Sandino, through Rigoberto, doing justice. We can see that it is indeed his contribution to the application of justice for the crime against Sandino. There is a common thread between Sandino and Rigoberto López Pérez. Rigoberto is the instrument of justice and a link between Sandino, who expelled the US Marine infantry, and the beginning of the end of the Somoza dictatorship, a vassal of the empire, an end that the FSLN brought about on July 19th 1979 with the Sandinista Popular Revolution which we continue to develop further, all of us together, united in peace, freedom and progress.
5. Rigoberto, with his practical expression of sublime love, sacrificing his life, has made an immeasurable contribution with his example, to the construction of our revolutionary patriotic Nation. With his rebellious spirit he made his momentous action in a just cause.
In his last Letter and Testament he expresses his filial Love to his beloved Mother Soledad López and he also expresses his Social Love to the Nicaraguan People.
He expresses his love for the Nation, trying to make Nicaragua a Free Nation again (actually, for the first time), free from shame and wiped clean of every stain.
He puts his love of Dignity into practice. Rigoberto says in his Letter: Mine has not been a sacrifice but a duty that I hope I have fulfilled. That message he turned into a heroic, exemplary reality.
He showed his Love for Freedom, his action is one for a Free Nation, free of foreign intervention, free of treacherous quislings.
He shows us his love for the human person and solidarity, if I perish in my attempt, says Rigoberto, I absolutely do not want anyone else to be blamed, because everything has been my own decision.
Decision, sacrifice, detachment, duty: These are contributions of great significance which Rigoberto leaves to the construction of our Revolutionary Patriotic Nation, Nicaragua. In that last Letter and Testament to his Mother, Rigoberto writes: What I have done is a duty that any Nicaraguan who really loves their Nation should have carried out a long time ago.
Rigoberto is an extraordinary example of principled contribution, a contribution to the construction of Nicaragua’s Revolutionary Patriotic Nation that stretches to infinity.
He brought justice to the criminal who murdered General Sandino and thousands of Nicaraguan patriots and also internationalists from Latin America and the Caribbean, who fought with Sandino integrated into the Army in Defense of National Sovereignty.
And to the Gringo empire, to its Government, who are accomplices and co-authors of the crime against Sandino, with his heroic action Rigoberto rebukes them: They did not defeat us, they do not defeat us, they will not defeat us and we continue the struggle, we will be free and we declare ouirselves to be free, because we remain a Free Nation or Death.
6. The son of Soledad López and Francisco Pérez, the poet Rigoberto López Pérez was born in a very humble home, a condition that lead him to train as a tailor and then to study typing and shorthand; he dabbled in literature, music and poetry, forging his political, humanist vision and above all his love for the Nation.
7. As he delved into reading and expanded his vision of the reality of Nicaragua, Rigoberto forged his revolutionary conviction rejecting the tyrant who assassinated the General of Free Men and Women Augusto C. Sandino, transmitting it through his poems and then moving on to action, consciously preparing himself in San Salvador where he lived for a while.
8. Rigoberto López Pérez was not only an anti-Somoza political militant committed to the legacy of General Augusto C. Sandino, but also a talented poet and musician. His artistic works, imbued with a deep sense of social justice and love for his Nation, resonated with the popular classes. His poems and songs fostered a spirit of resistance and hope among our people, serving as a source of inspiration and unity in the times of the Somoza family’s cruelty. He is an integral example for all of us to strengthen our conviction, our morality and our Sandinista Revolutionary actions.
9. As Comandante Carlos Fonseca says, Rigoberto's act of justice was not the result of an instant decision at the supreme moment. It was a thoughtful, conscious, vital decision.
10. The work and legacy of Rigoberto López Pérez transcends his death. He is a hero, a martyr and a symbol of resistance against oppression and intervention. We commemorate his life and sacrifice as an example of commitment to the Nation, to the Revolution. His action inspired generations of Nicaraguans to fight for a free Nation, without interference or interventions by foreign powers.
11. Rigoberto López Pérez is remembered as a hero who gave his life for his country and as a human being who, through his art and through decisive action, contributed fundamentally to the construction of the anti-Somoza revolutionary consciousness in Nicaragua. His story is a powerful reminder of how young people, like yourselves, can defend the sovereignty and dignity of the People of Nicaragua, which united together we continue to defend.
12. Two years after the triumph of the Sandinista Popular Revolution, this poet and patriot who marked the beginning of the end of the Somoza tyranny in an action of unparalleled dedication and sacrifice for the freedom of Nicaragua, Rigoberto López Pérez, was declared a National Hero.
13. On September 21st 1981, the Government Junta for National Reconstruction of the Republic of Nicaragua led by Comandante Daniel agreed officially to grant the title of “NATIONAL HERO” to the Patriot Rigoberto López Pérez, recognizing his heroic deed carried out in León, when he executed the tyrant Anastasio Somoza García in 1956, starting a new stage of ascent in the revolutionary struggle.
In addition to what we have explained, National Hero Rigoberto López Pérez made and continues to make many contributions with his example to the construction of the Revolutionary Patriotic Nation :
His life, work, example and legacy are part of the political vision and practice that guides the work and reason for being of the Sandinista National Liberation Front in defense of the popular classes and in the construction of the Revolutionary Nation.
The heroism of Rigoberto López Pérez is consistent with the historic aspirations of our people, to live free from all imperial, neocolonialist interference.
Rigoberto went from ideals to action, combining art, poetry and action, writing a historic poem with his own blood, with his own life.
His legacy continues to inspire the social, political, cultural and economic transformations carried out by our Government of Reconciliation and National Unity and the Sandinista National Liberation Front.
14. Rigoberto's action destroyed the myth of the dictatorship's invulnerability and reaffirmed a method of struggle, as Comandante José Benito Escobar states in the book he dedicates to his heroic deed. With his sacrifice, he caused a change in the historical cycle, which would later lead to the guerrilla struggle and triumph of the Sandinista National Liberation Front.
15. The legacy of Rigoberto López Pérez continues to inspire the social, political, cultural and economic transformations carried out by the Sandinista National Liberation Front. It reminds us of the importance of the integration of art, education and political action as tools for the construction of a future where social justice, equity and Peace prevail, in Nicaragua and the World so that genocides such as the one trying to exterminate the Palestinian people are stopped and not repeated. The Multipolar and Pluricentric World is born, develops and gathers strength for the good of humanity.
16. His life invites us to reflect on the continuous struggle against the forces that seek to undermine the self-determination and sovereignty of peoples. Rigoberto López Pérez, National Hero, teaches us that every just action has the potential to initiate deeply needed changes that can transform the future of a whole People.
17. Our National Hero Rigoberto López Pérez has left an indelible mark on the memory of our People. His life and sacrifice represent the indomitable spirit of our struggle for Sovereignty, Social Justice and the Common Good, fundamental pillars of the Government of Reconciliation and National Unity, of Comandante Daniel, of Compañera Rosario, of the Sandinista National Liberation Front and of the People as President. In May, this month of Dignity, month of the Mothers, of the Workers and of remembering our Heroes and Martyrs, our ancestors, just two months and one week away from the 45/19 anniversary, we pay tribute on his birthday to Rigoberto López Pérez, National Hero who offered his life, as a patriotic duty for the good of all Nicaraguans.
¡ Long live Rigoberto López Pérez!!
¡ Long live Free Nicaragua!!
Compañeras, Compañeros, let's stand and salute Rigoberto López Pérez with a minute of applause in his memory…
Thank you very much