Comandante Daniel and Compañera Rosario, Co-Presidents of Nicaragua,
in the Handover of New Buses to Public Transport Cooperatives
May 24th 2025
Address by Compañero Mauricio Aguilar
Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure
Good evening, Comandante Daniel Ortega Saavedra, Co-President of the Republic of Nicaragua; Compañero Rosario Murillo, Co-President of the Republic of Nicaragua; Compañero Chen Xi, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Nicaragua; Compañero Mario Yin, Commercial and Cooperation Attaché of the Chinese Embassy in Nicaragua; Compañero Fidel Moreno, Secretary General of Managua’s Mayoralty; Compañero Martha Lorena Guido, Bus Operator of Ciudad Sandino; Compañero Karla Vanessa Torres, Bus Operator of Managua.
Good evening, Nicaraguan Families, Brother and Sister Bus Operators of our country's Public Transport Cooperatives.
I would like to take this opportunity to express our fulsome greeting, our admiration and appreciation to the People's Republic of China, for its Cooperation and Solidarity with the Nicaraguan People; in promoting Social, Economic, Commercial, Technological and Cultural Development in our Country.
Today we will deliver to Nicaraguan families 100 new modern buses donated through the Chinese Agency for International Development Cooperation, to continue strengthening Dignified and Safe Transportation in the Country.
China and Nicaragua, are fraternal Countries that have a great historical relationship, both Countries share Ideological and Political Visions of Protecting National Sovereignty, Territorial Integrity, building the necessary trust to build the kind of Political and Economic Cooperation that we are witnessing today.
It is a great joy for our People to receive this donation of 100 modern buses, on the eve of the great Celebration of the 46th Anniversary of the Triumph of the Sandinista Popular Revolution, and in Honor of many Heroes and Martyrs, who dreamed it and gave their Life for it, so that we can all live as we live today: In Peace, Unity and Security.
We give the floor to Compañero Martha Lorena Guido, a Bus Operator from Ciudad Sandino.
Address by Compañera Martha Loreno Guido
Bus Operator from Ciudad Sandino
Good evening, beloved Comandante, Compañero Daniel Ortega Saavedra, Co-President of the Republic of Nicaragua.
Good evening, Compañero, beloved Compañero Rosario Murillo, Co-President of the Republic of Nicaragua.
Special Guests all, and all our Bus Operators, a very good evening.
On behalf of the Transport Operators of Nicaragua, we would like to express our deep gratitude for this important event handing over new buses, which represents another firm step towards strengthening the transport service at the Nationally
This Project, promoted by our Sandinista Good Government, is a clear example of commitment to the well-being of Nicaragua’s Families.
We sincerely thank Comandante Co-President Daniel Ortega and our Co-President Compañera Rosario Murillo for their tireless efforts to promote a Fair and Inclusive Development Model, which prioritizes access to Decent, Safe and Modern Transport for our People. This is an achievement of everyone, and for everyone.
This strengthening of Transportation also means better working conditions for the Bus Operators, more efficiency in the service and more safety for our users.
As an industry we reaffirm our commitment to take good care of these Units and put them to good use, knowing that they represent a Common Good in the service of the population.
We want to highlight and congratulate in this Month of Mothers, with great pride, the active work of our Co-President, Compañero Rosario Murillo. As a woman and a mother, she has restored the fundamental role of women.
A Woman-Mother who has restored the fundamental role of our industry, who with responsibility and dedication contributes, day by day, to the operation of Public Transport throughout the Country. We will continue to advance together, with Love, Respect and Unity, hand in hand with our Good Government of the People as President.
Good evening and congratulations, my friend, in this Month of Mothers.
Address by Compañero Chen Xi
Ambassador of the People's Republic of China
in Nicaragua
Beloved Co-Presidents, Comandante Daniel Ortega and Compañera Rosario Murillo; Beloved Compañero Fidel Moreno and other Compañeros Presiding this event; Beloved Compañer@s of Public Transport and the Media. Good afternoon to all and everyone.
It has been a great joy to attend, once again, the Ceremony of Handing Over Buses from the People's Republic of China.
This batch of 100 Units of Chinese Buses has been a donation from the Government of the People's Republic of China to the Government of the Republic of Nicaragua, within the framework of a non-refundable assistance package from the Chinese Government to the Nicaraguan Government.
Throughout the three years of our diplomatic relations between China and Nicaragua, within the framework of Non-Refundable Assistance, the Chinese Government has provided Nicaragua with a variety of equipment and materials to support the Social and Economic Production Programs promoted by the Sandinista Government, led by Co-Presidents Daniel Ortega and Compañera Rosario Murillo.
In addition, the construction of the First Phase of the Housing program “Nuevas Victorias” in Managua of 920 houses, also under the framework of Non-Refundable Assistance, will be completed within a few weeks for its prompt delivery, while preparatory works for the Second Phase of the Housing Project “Nuevas Victorias are progressing successfully, for prompt implementation also.
The "Luban Workshop" Project, a Technological Vocational Training Program, also with Non-refundable financing from the Chinese Government, is progressing rapidly, for its delivery and commissioning by the end of this year, in order to support the Nicaraguan Government in its effort to raise the level of Technical and Vocational Education.
It is also worth mentioning that the Female Children's Choir "China-Nicaragua Friendship", founded a month ago and supported with Chinese social resources, has established a magnificent platform on which Nicaraguan girls between three and nine years old can now interpret Chinese and Nicaraguan songs with their beautiful voices.
Several other Government Cooperation Projects and Programs between China and Nicaragua are being intensively studied and planned for their impending implementation.
While both Governments are cooperating closely on Social, Health, Educational, Science and Technology Projects, private Companies from both countries have also been cooperating closely. The construction of the Punta Huete International Airport, the Photovoltaic Power Plants of San Isidro and El Hato, the National Emergency Response System (SINAREM) Project, among others, are cooperative works that are in the full construction process; and several other Projects are in friendly and fruitful negotiations, for their impending execution.
None of this Cooperation or the Projects undertaken, both by the Chinese Government and by Chinese Companies, are subject to any political conditions, nor diplomatic impositions. All of them are developed jointly on the basis of Solidarity, Mutual Respect and Reciprocal Benefit, with the aim of supporting the Nicaraguan Government in its Fight against Poverty, and seeking the Well-being of the Nicaraguan People, who during the Sandinista Government and led by the Co-Presidents, Comandante Daniel Ortega and Compañera Rosario Murillo, have achieved historic and great successes.
Just a little over a week ago, the IV Ministerial Meeting of the China-Community of Latin US and Caribbean States (CELAC) Forum was successfully held in Beijing, the Capital of China.
During the Meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping gave an important speech. President Xi pointed out that, at present, faced with the accelerated evolution of changes never seen in a century, and the multiple intertwined risks, only with Solidarity and Collaboration can Countries safeguard World Peace and Stability, and promote Global Development and Prosperity.
There are no winners in the tariff and trade wars; those practicing intimidating and arrogant behavior only serve to isolate themselves.
China and Latin America and also the Caribbean are a Community with a Shared Future that advances hand in hand. China is willing to work together with the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, including our beloved Nicaragua, to undertake Five Programs; namely: The Solidarity Program, the Development Program, the Civilizations Program, the Peace Program, and the Peoples Program, in order to plan together for development, revitalization and building together the China-Latin America and the Caribbean Community of Shared Future.
The Solidarity Program aims to consolidate the political base, because Solidarity is Strength; the Development Program seeks to promote common Prosperity, because Development is a necessary foundation; the Civilizations Program aims to deepen mutual learning among Civilizations, because the diversity of Civilizations is what makes the World the way it should be; the Peace Program seeks to maintain Regional Stability; and the Peoples Program aims to improve Friendship among Peoples.
The Five Programs proposed by President Xi Jinping have charted the course for the construction of the China-Latin America and the Caribbean Community of Shared Future.
At the instruction of the Co-Presidents, Comandante Daniel Ortega and Compañera Rosario Murillo, Compañero Laureano Ortega, Presidential Advisor for International Trade, Investments and Cooperation, led a High-level Delegation to attend this IV Ministerial Meeting of the China-CELAC Forum, in which Compañero Laureano addressed important words, reiterating the firmness of the Nicaraguan Government supporting the Principle of One China, adherence to all the Initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping; the promotion for the construction of the China-Latin America and Caribbean Shared Future Community, and leading the Nicaraguan People to a brighter Future.
During his stay in China, in addition to fulfilling all the Agendas of the Ministerial Meeting, Compañero Laureano held, in just two days, intense meetings with more than a dozen Chinese companies to promote and sign several Cooperation Projects in important sectors, such as Transport, Communication, Science and Technology, etc. Projects that, without a doubt, will support the Socio-economic Development of Nicaragua and the Fraternal Friendship between China and Nicaragua.
Nicaragua is an important Partner in the construction of the Community of Shared Future between China and CELAC. China reaffirms its will to further consolidate high-quality mutual trust, deepen Cooperation and provide continuous support to Nicaragua, to carry out, as a matter of priority and on the basis of mutual respect, Projects that contribute to the autonomous development of Nicaragua, and to the well-being of the Nicaraguan People.
On the eve of Mother's Day, to conclude, I want to take this opportunity to convey my warm and sincere greeting to Compañera Rosario Murillo, Co-President of the Republic of Nicaragua, and to all the Heroic and Hardworking Nicaraguan Mothers, wishing them much Health, much Happiness, and Good Fortune for their Families.
Thank you very much to everyone.
Address by Daniel
Good evening, Brother and Sister Transport Operators; good evening, Nicaraguan Mothers and Mothers of the World, Mothers of China, on the eve of Mother's Day. Good evening, Nicaraguan brothers and sisters.
We have listened to the words of Compañero Chen Xi, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Nicaragua, and he made a really profound reflection on how relations between the People's Republic of China and the Nicaraguan people have been advancing.
And that's where this relationship has been decisive, in this relationship, in this progress, that the People's Republic of China was born with a Revolution, and 80 years ago, in the Month of May, on May 9th which was the defeat of Fascism, the Soviet Union and China were the two decisive Forces that determined the defeat of Fascism.
That is, there was no other way left but to confront Fascism, to defeat Fascism, so that there could be Peace and Humanity. Because Fascism, Nazism, were something really diabolical, to the extent that, Hitler began with his scientists even to examine the brains of Citizens of different Regions, and for him, and for his German scientists, Asians, Africans, Latin Americans, we were not Human Beings.
These were the conclusions that they drew, and that, therefore, it was necessary to finish, dominate the World to turn all Human Beings into slaves since Nazism disqualified them. That was the brutal essence of Nazism and they didn't mind murdering millions upon millions of Human beings.
And it was the Soviet Union, the result of a Revolution led by Lenin, and the People's Republic of China, which was also the result of a Revolution led by Mao Tse-Tung, both Sister Revolutions confronted Nazism, and defeated Nazism. And we thank God for that extraordinary Victory.
They aspired to Peace in the World so that there could no longer be wars, interventions, colonialist policies. It was hoped that we would by now have a World of Peace, working for the Well-being of the Peoples, and not thinking about seizing, as Hitler had done, seizing other Peoples, other Nations, to oppress them, to enslave them.
We are living through a stage in the world in which, after all, there is violence, there are wars, the war of the Fascists, of the Nazi-Fascists of Ukraine, who are trying to destroy the Russian Federation. And if it were not for the Victory of Russia and the People's Republic of China against the Nazis, they would simply be part of the Nazis' dominance in the World. Because there the Nazis managed to penetrate into Ukraine.
It is a war that has lasted for more than 3 years now, and we have seen the effort of the People's Republic China, of President Xi Jinping, to seek a way out to peace. So that, by achieving a way out to Peace, then that region might be reconciled.
But unfortunately, there are those who do not want Peace, and the European countries do not want Peace, rather along with NATO, they are talking about investing billions of millions of euros to arm Ukraine. And among the European countries, of course, there is Germany, Germany was the origin of Nazism that then spread, and the allies that Hitler had there in Europe, among others Italy, with Mussolini.
It is a complex and dangerous situation, because the European Union has now become, or wants to become, the Army that is going to continue supporting, arming, training Ukraine because they have been doing it already, to try to defeat Russia.
That is to say, this Europe which calls itself democratic, which calls itself a lover of Peace, but where the terror of Nazism arose, where two World Wars have originated, two World Wars where they aimed to seize what is now Russian Federation, or what used to be a Community of States uniting many European Countries with Russia.
And Europe, at the time of Napoleon, launched itself squarely against the Russian Empire and it already seemed that they were taking it and the rest of the Europeans were dividing up the spoils. But Napoleon, in the end, could not achieve Victory, but was defeated by the Russian Army.
Then came the second attempt to put an end to Russia, Russia which is the Soviet Union, Union of Peoples led by Russia, the Soviet Union. And there Hitler appeared, a German Democrat, elected in Germany because he offered to purify the Human Race, and financed by Big Business from the United States and Europe.
And he came to Government in an election, and that Government, receiving support from European countries, entering into alliances with European countries and North US capital, strengthened its Army and set ab out using that army for destruction, taking over a good part of Europe. He occupied it.
Their goal was, yes, Russia, the Soviet Union, and they went all out against the Soviet Union, until in the end, 80 years ago, in the month of May, on May 9th the definitive defeat finally took place where the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China faced nazism and fascism.
And when Hitler was defeated, the first troops that entered Berlin, the flags that were flown over Berlin, were those of the Soviet Union, where there is no doubt that it was the Soviet Union, with China, that defeated Fascism.
Well, two attempts have already been made, and now they are on their third attempt, and the third attempt is being made from Ukraine, arming Ukraine, training Ukraine, supporting Ukraine with billions and billions of euros and dollars. On the other hand, as the strength of the Russian people is there, its combative experiences, its combative capabilities, rather it has been Russia which has been gaining ground.
And the Europeans have now become, after they called themselves Peacemakers following the Second World War, they have now become promoters of war, and they are organizing, because they want to organize the most powerful Army in the World, because even when and even though they have depended on the US Army, they want to be more powerful even than the US Army. As many people in Europe have the gene of Nazism there.
This is the world we are living in, where the situation is more dangerous than the one that was experienced at the time when Russia had to face the Napoleonic invasion and defeated it; in which the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China had to face the invaders of the alliance that the Nazis had put together. And they defeated them.
But at that time still something that Hitler had aspired to and on which Hitler had put all his scientists to work, was the atomic weapon. He was not given time by the resistance, the struggle, the combative capacity of the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, they did not give him a chance and, thank God, he did not have the atomic weapon in his hands.
But now, after so many bloody stories that that humanity has lived through, there is now the atomic weapon, and there are atomic weapons that some Countries have had to develop in order to defend themselves against those who had atomic weapons and threatened them; because the atomic weapon is terribly destructive
There is the President of France, who has atomic weapons, offering to place them at other points near Russia, to aim at Russia; and there he is in his arrogance, in all his vanity as an imperialist country, because all those Countries have been imperialists.
All these countries had divided up the world, they had occupied all of Africa, they had occupied Asia, they had occupied Latin America. They are imperialists, just like the US.
This situation is really a big risk for humanity, and here in these Regions, here in Nicaragua in particular, thank God we are not at war, we are an Oasis of Peace, we are an Oasis of Work, we are an Oasis of Education, Health, Roads, Housing. And no matter how much they slander us, threaten us and punish us, we, as Sandino replied: We’re not selling out, we won’t surrender! And we continue to work for Peace. Peace is our Fundamental Banner, and we have the best proof of that with this period that we are living through.
You see, here in Nicaragua we have lived through terrible periods of war against the Somoza dictatorship. After we defeated Somoza came Reagan's aggression, which lasted from 1980 to 1990.
We managed to put an end to the war and there was a period of Peace, although with a setback in the social field, because the Rulers of those periods did not have the Struggle against Poverty as a priority; I even remember how they wanted to privatize all public transport, take away public transport from the Cooperatives. Those were the governments that were installed for 17 years, taking away land from the Peasants, land that the Agrarian Reform had given them, taking away the factories from the Workers.
Meanwhile with the Country falling into Poverty, and we ourselves fighting the battle patiently, but firmly; we did not fight the battle by declaring war on any of those governments. To the Government headed by Mrs. Chamorro, we did not declare war, we simply defended what the Revolution had delivered to the People and the Workers, but without going to war.
Then Dr. Alemán assumed the Presidency, and we did not declare war on him either, although he had his practices there too, continuing Neoliberalism, which benefits the rich at the cost of making the poor even poorer.
Then came the Government of Ing. Enrique Bolaños, and so he too of course made his Government also follow Neoliberalism, but we always sought how to talk, how to dialogue, how not to exploit the country, and we didn't make war on him either.
Here, with all the capabilities that our People had, of combat experience, of struggle, no weapons were organized, even though they were everywhere, it did not occur to us to organize an armed struggle against those three governments.
We had said: We will return, but with votes, and in the end, after 17 years we returned with the votes of the People. And the change came, which was extraordinary, an extraordinary change because here we did and promoted what the song says: All we want is Love and Peace, all we want is Reconciliation, and we promoted that by reaching the Government.
There we met and made a Great National Alliance with the Business People, with the Bankers, Business People and Bankers who could not even bare to see us face to face before, but at that time Power was in the hands of the People, so we asked them, Are you going to make war on us? No, they said. Then let's look for agreements so that the Country has stability and growth in the economy and can improve after so many disasters caused during those 17 years.
We made a Great National Consensus, all the Workers of all the industries, of all the Sectors, naturally including the Transport Operators and the Business People. It was an understanding where we didn't say to them, you have to be Sandinistas. No! Quite simply, you may not be Sandinistas, but you do want Peace, you do want Stability, you do want us to improve the country's economy, out of which you are also going to do well. And they agreed.
We made that Great Alliance where the Country began to grow, everyone doing well, the Workers doing well, Youth doing well, Women doing well, Merchants in the Markets doing well, Big Business doing well, Big Producers doing well, Small Producers of Coffee, Beans, Corn... Everyone doing well!
This was so true, that we were all doing well, that we formed a kind of Directorate where the capitalists were represented by the COSEP; the COSEP that had been our greatest enemy in previous times, going back to the time of Somoza, with Somoza.
But we made an alliance with COSEP, and along with COSEP the Workers, along with COSEP the People; that is, there was Great National Unity. What did we have to ensure? Peace and stability, so that everyone could work, so that the economy could develop, so that Housing, Health Programs, etc., could be developed, and by whcih the Nicaraguan economy had been growing.
It seemed inconceivable, because when Presidents of other countries came to visit us, they would ask me: And how have you managed to make this kind of alliance, because it is impossible for us to make alliances where we are?
So, it was achieved in the end, why? Because this is a country that had suffered so much war that, in the end, it was better to understand each other, to make peace, to reconcile while everyone had their political thought, everyone had their religious thought.
And from January of 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, Nicaragua was an exception in the Region, due to the climate of Peace, which allowed the Country's Economy to progress and our Anti-Poverty Programs to progress.
That's where he came from, and what was missing for us? That is to say, we were working so well, we appeared at Press Conferences, and there the Representative of COSEP, José Adán Aguerri, “Chanito” Aguerri, who spoke there defending the government, different from how he speaks now... He thunders against the government! But there he was speaking very well of the government. I appeared many times with the Rosario, they too appeared there with us informing how we were working, and that everything was going very well.
But the conspiracy was under way. Why? Because the example of Nicaragua was a bad example for the US rulers; because, to the extent that the example of Nicaragua was consolidated and strengthened, then other Processes were going to be compared, and that of Nicaragua compared to other Countries where the Workers, the People, were being destroyed and are being destroyed.
And the conspiracy came about, and just look, at what the pretext was... we had already talked about how we were going to make a Reform to Social Security. What did that mean? Well, let those who had more contribute proportionally more to the social security insurance.
There was an agreement, but there was the conspiracy organized by the organizations that promote these conspiracies, and today we even know the amount of how many millions had been dedicated to the Nicaraguan coup plotters back in the United States. More than 1,500 million dollars distributed among the coup plotters who are now in Costa Rica, those who are now in the United States, and there they go fighting over pennies.
Simply, the passage of the Social Security Regulation was the pretext. Earlier they had already seized on the fire in Indio Maíz as a pretext, over which they began to carry out international campaigns. And we, to tell the truth, were not prepared to face such conspiracies.
They were preparing people and organizing Networks Worldwide to reproduce what happened in Nicaragua as if the government was committing barbarities against the People.
The measure was barely approved, and some protests started, but we didn't suppress the protests, we let them march. And they invitedus, already conspiring, of course, COSEP was already involved in the conspiracy; they lied to us, but they were already conspiring. Because the COSEP was conspiring with some of the Catholic Bishops, and Business People of course, because the Business People did not want to contribute a little more for their Workers Social Security.
So really, they took us by surprise, and they asked us for a Meeting, to talk. We went to meet them immediately, and at the Meeting we had been asked to have broadcast on television all over the country. And we accepted, without imagining all the evil that had already been organized.
And then they had the list of those who were going to participate, among them Catholic Priests, Bishops, Business People, Students... Yes, they invented their group of Students and passed us the list; iokay, then.
And when we arrived at the meeting place that was at a Seminary, we arrived and found a crowd in the room where the Meeting was going to take place so as to look for how to resolve the situation. And it was an ambush! There they were, some of the Bishops, the so-called Students, and of course “Chanito" Aguerri, shouting at us, insulting us. And all that was transmitted.
Well, we weren't going to get involved, as they say, in some kind of shouting match, we just waited to see what was going to happen, what they wanted. In the end, there was silence, and after of silence, the insults; they set about being insulting, instead of silence or trying to put together an agenda, about what were we going to discuss or what we were going to talk about? In the end we agreed to organize a Dialogue Commission, that the Dialogue Commission would continue working.
I did not respond to their rudeness, to their insults... No! I would have given relevance to them if I responded to their insults, it would have been like saying: You are powerful with those insults... No! It was rubbish what we had in front of us there, it was rubbish, they were all garbage!
Ah!, then the Bishops asked us there, together with the business people, and with the so-called “students”, to keep the Police in their stations so that there would be no major incidents, to keep the Police stationed. Well, we decided to keep the police stationed, because we wanted to avoid bloodshed. But meanwhile, they already had the plan to organize roadblocks, taking advantage of the fact that the Police were going to be off the streets.
In those conditions the Dialogue began, which was going nowhere, but what did take place were the roadblocks and the attacks on the Police Barracks, where the Police simply obeyed the order they had received not to open fire and not to leave their stations.
So then they took the opportunity to attack the Barracks, and kill our Police Officers in the Barracks. And the Police Officers there resisted, resisting, with extraordinary discipline; because they killed Police Officers there in Masaya, and next in Sébaco, and next in Matagalpa, in different Municipalities police officers were killed.
We lost a large number of police officers killed in Morrito, Río San Juan, in León, Nagarote, La Paz Centro, and the Police Officers quartered there. The opposition were shooting unperturbed since the police were not responding to them.
And the roadblocks! In the roadblocks they were murdering, in the roadblocks they were torturing, and setting fire to those they identified as police officers or as Sandinistas. Police officers who passed by, they identified them, grabbed them, tied them up, daubed them, and then set them on fire, burned them.
Meanwhile, the local priests were telling the murderous roadblock operators what to do with those who had already been set alight that they should throw them into the latrines, that they should throw the bodies into the latrines there. This was said by Priests, recorded. And they were filming all this. They already felt they had defeated us.
So they filmed everything, and circulated it all on the Social Networks since they already believed that we were defeated. They did not realize that we were asking God to give us the Patience of Job. And he did give us the Patience of Job to be able to resist, because there was no shortage of desire to go out and sweep them away, but, one couldn't and shouldn't.
And since I am a Revolutionary for Christ, at an Event we had here, I remember one of the Marches we held here, there I told everyone there that I was asking God for Job's Patience, so that the situation could be dismantled without having to do so violently... In other countries they would have brought out the tanks immediately and taken out their heavy guns and started strafing people, in the same United States, in Europe.
Here instead we let the People see the atrocities being committed, to the same people from the neighborhood they could no longer leave, or to patients who could not be taken to hospitals, because they were stuck at roadblocks.
Meanwhile, yes, in the Dialogue, as we were transmitting it, in the Dialogue they were unmasking. Why? Because in the Dialogue we took along with us market sellers, business people, transport operators, and they went with Compañero Denis Moncada who was the person who represented us in the Dialogue, and on the other side were the Business People and the Priests.
And a vote was requested, to enable us to dialogue better and work better, and avoid confrontations; let's raise our hands for the roadblocks to be dismantled, and of course the businessmen, the transport operators, the cattle ranchers, everyone raised their hands for the roadblocks to be dismantled; we were all in favor.
Then what do the people from COSEP say? What did the Priests say? What did the so-called students say? No! They should not be dismantled, they said, so they were not dismantled. The People were seeing all this, and the People were becoming aware that this was provoking more violence.
This was one month, and then there were two months of roadblocks, and then three months of roadblocks, and already in Central America the transport operators, the business people, were getting desperate, because trade was being blocked, the Nicaraguan economy and the Central American economy were under attack.
By then at that point the population began to demand that the roadblocks had to be dismantled, and in the same roadblocks there were people who began to withdraw, because they realized what they were doing was criminal. And then, a highlight that should not be forgotten, something that I know has not happened in any other Country in the World.
At the time of Somoza here, for example, the entire Episcopal Conference supported Somoza, well, we didn't get involved in any of that, and when Somoza died the Vatican directed, ordered that Somoza be buried with Honors as a Prince of the Church, that is, as a Cardinal. And so he was paraded through the streets of Managua, Somoza on his way to the cemetery accompanied by all Bishops. Just imagine!
Well, the Bishops ha believed the story that we were done and that we were already ready to get on a plane out, that we were leaving, that we would flee. Of course that's lunacy! But, after all, that's the way the world is...
So then, the Bishops had bought that story and asked us for a Meeting that we held here at the House of the Peoples, and all the Bishops were there. I'm sure some of them disagreed, but they had no choice but to sign that letter.
They read us the letter there, they addressed the letter to me as President of the Republic, in which where they gave us an ultimatum. It was not even to tell us: President, we would like you to consider this, that or the other. No!
They gave us a four-day ultimatum to order the Supreme Electoral Council to be dismantled, to dismantle the National Assembly, to dismantle the Judiciary, to dismantle the Army and the Police, and for us to leave the country. That's how they read it to us there, they read the points to us.
I listened to the points and said to myself really: These Gentlemen are totally out of their minds. I listened to them, yes, with attention, in such a way that they believed that we were going to do everything they said in the letter.
Then one of the bishops handed over the letter, I accepted it, next to me was Rosario, and I say to her: This is a coup d'état. They want to give us a coup d'etat just like in Venezuela. But I didn’t say so to them, and I made out that we were accepting that letter, that we were going to examine it, and so on. Imagine that they should have gone to such an extreme.
Delegates from the United States Government also came, I received them, and they began telling me: The best thing is for you to withdraw. I was listening to that gringo, he was speaking in English, with his translator: We think it's time for you to leave.
He came across in a good tone, respectfully, but they considered that the best thing was for us to retire from the government then, and that they could even give us shelter there in the United States and offer us a plane. I just listened to them and nodded at them like you do, nodding my head at them. Then they went off saying that I had already accepted everything, they set out to comment on that. And then someone from the OAS and some other individual, it was a parade of the whole international mafia.
I didn't argue, I just listened to them, just like I didn't start insulting the Bishops there, I just listened to them, and they left, certain that everything had already been accepted. In fact, all of them commented that everything had already been accepted, and that we were heading out.
But they were the ones who were going to head off, because we were already organizing the clearing of the roadblocks, and the clearing of the roadblocks didn't take much longer. It was a lightning bolt. In other words, there was no resistance there involve taking weeks. No! It was a matter of hours. As soon as they saw the police and the Historic Combatants arrive, no one stuck around, they ran away.
But they did great damage to the country, why? Because we were doing very well in that Great Alliance, when it is difficult to make such Alliances, to make agreements with different economic forces and political forces. But we had done so, it was a miracle, but they came and did away with it.
2018... But it has helped us, in what way? In order not to be trusting and to strengthen our abilities to be able to discover conspiracies, because they were going to continue conspiring, because that's just how it is.
And what we did was to get together 222 of the main conspirators, the ones who said we were already the plane out. And we sent those 222 conspirators over there! They had wanted us to travel, but we sent them on their way and now there they are.
The important thing is that, by that stage, a very hard stage, getting everything back together after that moment was not easy, but we have been getting it all back together; Producers, Business People, Workers, we managed to put together a new Alliance, reconcile with those who had seemed irreconcilable, we reconciled in those new circumstances, and from different Political Parties.
That is, the Alliance, the Reconciliation has been made between the different economic sectors and also with the different Political Parties, because there is the National Assembly, and in the National Assembly there are Liberals, patriotic Liberals yes, and in the broadcast media there are also Liberals, firm, Patriotic, who understood that all that had taken place was insane.
From 2018 to 2025 it's been 7 years and look how we are now. Now Nicaragua is doing better than in that earlier period of Alliance, Nicaragua is doing much better. And we can count on the Cooperation, on extraordinary Solidarity, from many Peoples, from many Countries, and in this particular case we can highlight the Solidarity of the People's Republic of China... Extraordinary! I asked the Ambassador to give me the Address he made, because it really is significant.
Here the People's Republic of China is not coming so much looking for how to do business, rather it is coming to look for how to contribute to the Fight against the Poverty of Nicaragua’s people. And all the Programs that we are able to prioritize thanks to different Peoples, Friendly Nations, are always directed in that direction.
And how far we have come with the Cooperation of the People's Republic of China, thanks to the Chinese People, thanks to the Chinese Communist Party, our Respect, we are fraternal Parties, since before the Revolution triumphed in Nicaragua we were already fraternal Parties with the Chinese Communist Party. And thanks to President Xi Jinping, for him our Respect, our Affection, our Recognition. Because we have been making our way and we have advanced much more than we had advanced in that Great Alliance that we had up until 2018. We have made much more progress here now.
Among the first Programs that China offered us was Cooperation with Housing, because Housing is a Priority, and we will at last be satisfied and content when we have all Nicaraguan Families in Decent Housing, not luxurious, but Dignified, like the houses now being built.
Because we know all too well that we have Nicaraguan families who still live in conditions of Extreme Poverty, who do not have Decent Housing, and we have to think about them. As we are building these houses, look for the little houses that have roofs of plastic sheeting, old zinc sheeting, and instead build a house so that that Family already has a Decent Home.
We developing so many programs thanks to the Brother and Sisterhood, the Cooperation of the People's Republic of China. And after all, this today is also fighting poverty.
What we are seeing here, these 100 more buses that have arrived from the People's Republic of China, is to combat poverty, because buses are used by poor people, working people, people who do not have a vehicle. The rich don’t use buses, the buses are used by the working family, to send their children to school, to go to work, to go shopping.
I would say that never in the history of our Country have we had so many buses of this quality that are being delivered to us by the Brothers and Sisters of the People's Republic of China, which are not those decrepit school buses that due to circumstances we has as transport, when I was a student the transport I used was those old school buses.
Those buses that were brought from the United States already worn, well beyond any sell by date; those were the buses imported by the transport operators who could buy them, those used buses, grossly over-used, but a transport operator made the effort to buy that little bus, and they were the buses that circulated here.
There were of course some business people who wanted to take over public transport and eliminate the bus cooperative, because of course, if we give the business over to the entrepreneurs, just imagine, there would be no cooperative businesses. And we always rejected that, because we knew that this was a business for them to make more money and not guarantee a good service for the People and for the very poor.
So, thank you, Beloved Ambassador, for your words, and please convey to President Xi Jinping our gratitude, which is the gratitude of the Nicaraguan people, which is the gratitude of the Nicaraguan bus operators, which is the gratitude of our people who live in the most remote areas, such as on the Caribbean Coast, where these buses are now circulating, where these buses have never circulated before, both in the Northern Caribbean Coast and in the Southern Caribbean Coast.
Long live the People's Republic of China!
Long live the Brother and Sisterhood of the people of the People’s Republic
China!
Long live President Xi Jinping!
Long live Peace!
And long live the Bus Operators of Nicaragua!