DANIEL: "We have to defend the dignity of Nicaragua, the rights of Nicaraguans, the love of the country. The Nation comes first, beyond any differences that we may have"

Address of President Comandante Daniel Ortega
at the XXIII Graduation of Cadets of the National Police

December 18, 2020

Address of Daniel

Beloved Nicaraguan brothers and sisters, beloved Nicaraguan families, all our affection, all our love, that is the love of all our families, the love of the People of Nicaragua, for Comrades Fátima Castro López, and Sahara Hernández Castro, widow and daughter of the heroic Commissioner General Olivio Hernández Salguera, to whom we are dedicating today's graduation; for Comrade Carmen Mendoza, mother of the Hero of the Revolution, Walter Mendoza Martínez.

In the report presented by Commissioner General Díaz, Chief of the National Police, he emphasized that during these 41 years of institutional life, since the foundation of the National Police on September 5th 1979, up until today, 515 brother and sister police officers have offered their lives in fulfillment of their duties, in service to the people and the families of Nicaragua, as well as 42 brother and sister police volunteers.

More than 500 brothers and sisters have given their lives for the families, for the People, for the families of the barrios, for the families living in residential districts, for the families living in rural communities, for the families that live in the most remote regions, for the families that live from the Coco River to the San Juan River, which form our borders with Honduras and Costa Rica, and from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. There is our country, there is our territory, there is Nicaragua.

Beloved Compañera Rosario Murillo, Vice-President of the Republic of Nicaragua; First Commissioner General Francisco Javier Díaz Madriz, Director General of the National Police; Army General Julio César Avilés Castillo, Commander in Chief of the Army of Nicaragua; Commissioner General Adolfo Marenco Corea, Deputy Director General of the National Police; Commissioner General Ramón Avellán Medal, Deputy Director General of the National Police; Compañera Karla Eugenia Salinas García, Vice-Minister of the Interior; Commissioner General Jorge Cairo Guevara Cajina, Director of the "Walter Mendoza Martínez" Police Academy, Institute of Higher Studies; Compañero Doctor Gustavo Porras Cortés, President of the National Assembly; beloved brothers and sisters, comrades who preside over the different State institutions, who accompany us.

Likewise, to the authorities of the National Council of Universities, and Compañera Ramona Rodríguez, Rector of the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua; beloved brother and sister members of the General Command of the Army of Nicaragua; beloved brother and sister members of the National Council of the National Police; Military, Naval, Air and Security Attachés accredited in our country; beloved families of the young people who are graduating today and, beloved families of the police officers who are doing their duty at this time in different parts of the national territory. They are at work, they are working, even in the most remote territories of our country, taking care of the security of the country's families, from the most humble family, to those families that have more resources. Everyone, everyone, has the protection of the National Police.

We have spoken of more than 500 deceased brothers and sisters who have offered their lives carrying out their duties. And that is the wealth of a police force or a police officer, that is their wealth, that is the value, a wealth that is invaluable, namely that readiness to serve others. A Christian principle, to serve others, to help others, even at the cost of their life.

Our brother, to whom we are dedicating this graduation today, our brother spent 90 days, under the command of Commissioner General Avellán, 90 days they passed, Olivio and other comrades, other brothers and sisters, in that police unit. A police unit with enough weapons to repel any attack, and to then go on to occupy the positions of those who were attacking them.

90 days! 90 days during which Nicaragua was a victim of the terrorist practices directed by the Empire, financed by the Empire; terrorists trained by the Empire, with millions of dollars invested to sow death, pain, insecurity, in a country that has always defended Peace.

But the Empire has been there, permanently, and I do not weary of repeating this because it is the truth, permanently attacking Nicaragua, simply because this is a People with dignity, a People that defends the right to work with dignity, the right to health care, the right to education, the right to welfare, to leisure, the right to stability, to security, to Peace. And this is what our People has been ensuring, accompanying the police in this struggle for Peace, and accompanying the army in this struggle for Peace.

It's very much worth noting, that after the many hard instances of aggression, once again the Government of the United States, headed by President Ronald Reagan, who imposed a brutal war on Nicaragua, killing teachers, killing health workers, killing construction workers, destroying highway construction equipment, destroying bridges, mining our ports...

In other words, crimes after crime, crimes that this People suffered every day, once again, after Somoza, which was several decades of crimes by this government that the United States imposed on the Nicaraguan people by force of arms, terror, torture, crime, beginning with the murder of Sandino, who was seeking Peace.

Sandino was looking for Peace, Sandino came from the mountains here to Managua, because Peace was already being negotiated, and he had to be present for the final signature of the Peace, and Sandino came to Managua and signed, and he was offered dinner at the Presidency, while at the U.S. Embassy the plans to assassinate our General were being finalized. Of course, the U.S. Embassy, at the same time, carried out the orders that came from the United States, from the "House of Terror", known as the White House.

And under those conditions, after the dinner offered to him at the Presidency, there with the President, there with the President's Family, with the President's daughter, when Sandino came down there, from the  Tiscapa Height, he came down, there they were waiting for him, here on this Central Avenue, Sandino Avenue that we call it today, because back then the Somoza government, good servants of the Empire, called it Roosevelt Avenue. He came down that route, they arrested him, and then they shot him.

What a cowardly act that was! What a betrayal! One simply cannot forget that, at a moment after signing the Peace, they murdered, and they put their slave, yes, because those who are at the service of the Empire cannot even be called employees of the Empire, because they are there in those government offices to obey the orders and commands of the Empire, and if the Empire needs to invade a sister country here in Latin America and the Caribbean, as it invaded the Dominican Republic to overthrow an elected government, President Juan Bosch; then the OAS was summoned, it was summoned on that occasion, under the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, a fig leaf for keeping Latin American governments in chains.

And who were the troops that invaded the Dominican Republic with the Yankee troops? Somoza's troops, just imagine that, Somoza's troops, the troops of dictatorial governments that in Our America were dominated by the military that carried out a coup d'état, following the orders of U.S. policy of course. True slaves in the service of the Empire! And here are we fighting, fighting.

And I have narrated to you how that the aggression of the Empire against Nicaragua was so evident, so brutal in that period, and repeated constantly throughout History, that we went to denounce the criminals to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. We went to denounce it there! And the International Court of Justice at The Hague issued a judgment, gave a historic sentence, for the first time, condemning the Yankee Government, not the US People, because we do not confuse the US People, where we have many brothers and sisters, many friends, who have even given their lives for Nicaragua, but the ruling condemned the Yankee Government for acts of terrorism against Nicaragua, and ordering it to compensate Nicaragua.

And that debt is there, that debt is there, and at this point it will be, around, with the passage of time, just think, it will be around 40,000, 50,000 million dollars, when the sentence was around 17,000 million dollars. But since they have refused to comply with the judgment, well, the debt is accumulating, by law, international law, and the International Court of Justice in The Hague is an instrument of justice of the United Nations, and there they were totally unmasked.

We have insisted: Pay part of the damage you have done to Nicaragua! Because even if you were to compensate Nicaragua, you would only be paying for one of the many crimes that you have committed in Nicaragua, but you have already been judged and condemned by the Highest Court of Justice, which is the Court of The Hague.

And we will not get tired of repeating it, of saying it, of repeating it, and I reminded President Obama when the inauguration of the Summit of the Americas, he was there, and there I said: The Court condemned the United States, it is true that you were not President then, but the American State is the one that has to respond, regardless of who is President, it has to comply with that compensation.

And the day they pay the compensation, because I am sure that day will come, God willing, that day will come when they will pay, they will barely be paying a few cents on the enormous debt they have with Nicaragua. Because the destruction, the damage, the death that these governments have caused throughout history in Nicaragua, these US governments, interventionist, racist, is so great, putting a price on it is impossible, no price is enough.

But we remain firm in that struggle, just as we remain firm in the struggle to say to the US leaders, and we said it to President Ronald Reagan, I had the opportunity to meet him at the United Nations; well, he represents a State, the United States, and we represent another State, Nicaragua, and we greeted each other on that occasion, we shook hands, and what I said to him was: Stop attacking Nicaragua, President! Stop the war against Nicaragua!

I also repeated it to them every time I would be in different Latin American countries, with the then Vice President of the United States, who later became President of the United States, President Bush. I told him constantly: "We want good relations, to be treated with respect".

So what path, what option do countries like the United States, powers like the United States, give the world? Because they practice the law of the strongest, the "law of the jungle". So, which way? Some countries, and it is understandable, have been forced to develop nuclear weapons, so that the United States does not destroy them with the nuclear weapons they have. Because if a country has already destroyed entire peoples, if a government has already destroyed entire peoples by dropping nuclear bombs, that country is the United States of America, that prides itself on being the "world's greatest democracy".

And the bombs were not dropped on the Japanese Army. They knew where the Japanese troops were at that time. No, they went and dropped nuclear bombs on two cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two cities in Japan where there was no army, because the Japanese army was on the front lines; there was a civilian population there, and there were more than 250,000 dead in one blow.

That must not be forgotten! That cannot be forgotten! And that, that does not condemn the People of the United States, because it is not the People of the United States who are consulted when these crimes are committed, when nations are invaded, when nations are blockaded, as they have blockaded and tightened the boycott against the sister Republic of Cuba, against the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

What damage has Cuba done to the United States? What damage has Venezuela done to the United States? When Venezuela even had programs in the United States to give access to heating to the most impoverished people, who die of cold these days when winter is coming and it is starting to snow, .

And this, it's well worth noting, this was said more than 100 years ago by Rubén Darío, Rubén was no politician, he was a literary genius, but he had great feeling, great dignity and he loved Nicaragua, and that is why he said that even though the country is small, one dreams of it being great.

And when he traveled from Europe to Nicaragua and passed through New York, he was dazzled to see so much development, so much wealth, but he also said, indeed, he said: Houses of 50 floors but colored servitude? Because at that time black people in the US had no rights, they were citizens born in the United States, but simply because they were black, because they were brown, they had no rights, they could not send their children to the schools where the children of white families went; they could not go to the movie theaters where white families went. They were totally discriminated against.

And on that occasion, Dario, while admiring the development and everything that dazzled him about the United States, said, in the midst of so much wealth, he said, but what is sad, dear God, is that on the banks of the river, people are dying of cold and pain, pain, pain ! He saw that there in the United States, and many Nicaraguan brothers and sisters who travel to the United States have also suffered, many Central American brothers sisters who travel to the United States and when they are useful to them, then the authorities let them work, and let them work in those employments, in those jobs that US people who already have a medium, or high economic status do not.

But when they decide that Central American, Nicaraguan, African and Asian immigrants should no longer enter the country, then they go and pass laws and begin persecuting immigrants, and they commit crimes such as separating children born in the United States from their parents; while the parents are in prison, the children are held in cages. And so it goes, so it goes.

There are many people who criticize this in the United States, a large part of the US people does not agree with these barbarities, with these crimes; but unfortunately those who dominate are still the Masters of War, those who are interested in fomenting war so to make more money selling armaments, selling guns, selling rifles, and even to continue developing weapons of war, even contemplating war in Space, where they spend many billions of dollars.

And here in our country where, fighting against all odds, we had already achieved stability, security, because we managed to put an end to the War in the 90s, and then elections, and in those elections we, who had complete control of the Electoral Power, we respected the Election Results, even though we knew it was an unequal election because, on the other side the United States openly supported its servants, its slaves.

The same ones who brought WIlliam Walker, the same ones who welcomed the Yankee troops when they invaded our country, killing people, confronted General Zeledon and then killing him too; the same ones who celebrated when they killed patriots like Zeledon, like Sandino. They partied, yes, they paid homage to the Yankee officers... Nicaraguans, but you see, Nicaraguans in name only! They are simply trash, life's waste, nature's waste, groveling to the Yankees.

And from 1990, we see, until April 2016, 16 years passed... From 1990 to 2000, 10 years, from 2000 to 2016, 16 years, you correct me if I'm failing my math there... From 1990 to 2000, 10 years of relative peace, we had no major acts of violence, no attempts to overthrow governments. We were in the Opposition, and it did not occur to us to overthrow the government headed by Mrs. Chamorro, or the government headed by Dr. Alemán, or the government headed by Ing. Bolaños. We simply waited for the elections and fought the electoral battle, because our commitment was to return to the government, just as we had left government, based on votes, to get voted back into government.

We finally got voted back into the Government in 2007, we got back into the Government then in 2007. And from the year 2007 to the year 2016, Nicaragua was an exemplary country, reaching understanding among the different economic groups, social groups, each one giving their opinion for their political party when the elections came around, but all together, because we had said: We, the Nicaraguans, have to unite and govern together! Not just the government ruling, but the government ruling with the people, governing with the workers, with rural families, with youth, with women, with traders, with small business people and people with big businesses.

And that great alliance was achieved and the Nicaraguan economy grew, an enviable growth of the Nicaraguan economy. For 16 years the Nicaraguan economy has been developing. At that time we had 13 years of economic growth, because it was from 2007 to 2016. We are going to turn 15 now in January.

We had then, from 2007 to 2016, the economy growing year by year, year by year employment was growing, year by year the productive activities in our country were growing, year by year education, health, year by year building more hospitals and more health posts, more schools, and health and free education. And building new centers to care for pregnant mothers in the most remote places that did not give them time to go to a hospital, and then building women's centers throughout the country. So, we were moving forward.

So, as I told you, from 1990 to 2000, 10 years, from 2000 to 2016, 16 years;  consider that, 16 years of Peace in Nicaragua, and the Sandinista Front was there working, and when an election came around we would organize and go to the election, and even if we did not agree with the election results, it did not occur to us to do what the President of the United States, President Donald Trump, has been doing, not wanting to recognize the election results, and making threats. No, it did not occur to us! And in the US they call themselves very democratic, while those who truly practice democracy are us, we have practiced and will continue to practice democracy.

And April 201 came, and for three months, not only in Masaya but in the whole country, the police stayed in their quarters all over the country. The important thing is that people gained consciousness and saw and lived what terrorism was, the terrorism of those who were killing and did not even worry about hiding their faces, but felt that they had already beaten with the government, and when they were torturing, when they were killing, when they were burning, Nicaraguan brothers and sister, our police officers, when they were attacking police stations everywhere, when they were attacking the Masaya barracks every day, and the comrades there resisting, with discipline, because they had the strength to go out and finish, in very short order, those who were committing those crimes.

And we told them: No, Comrades, we must wait, we must wait; because we wanted to find a peaceful way for the opposition to stop attacking, to take down the barricades where they were committing so many crimes, we even sent delegations to negotiate, but they were crazy and the only thing they said was: You have to go! You have to go now!

So, what police discipline! What discipline! And what discipline from the police chiefs in every station, resisting with their comrades, not using their automatic weapons and starting to shoot at those who were attacking their stations. And it wasn't easy for the comrades there to stand firm, until finally there was nothing left to do but to send out the Police and the Volunteer Police, to go and clear those barricades, and to go and bring order to the cities, so that the cities could return to normal, because by then the cities were paralyzed.

Then came the process of restoring order, and because we restored order and were seeking how to normalize the Country, then the traitors protested and the Yankee government and other European governments that are their subordinates, subordinate to the policy of the Yankee Empire, they protested, questioning us, criticizing us, applying what they call sanctions, which are nothing more than means of aggression.

And quietly, in the media, here and there, quietly, the terrorists, even those who were pardoned at the time, continued and continue now seeking ways to organize themselves to sow terror. And they have been captured destroying bridges, some time ago they destroyed a bridge. That was more or less last year, in 2019, they blew up the bridge.

They also combine their activities with drug trafficking, just like President Reagan did, who was not ashamed to work with drug traffickers, facilitating the operations of big drug traffickers who bring drugs to the United States and move them across our countries, so long as the drug traffickers contributed to the war in Nicaragua. They have reached that extreme.

But here the People continues advancing in the struggle for Peace, for stability through work.

And the opposition spend their lives traveling... Where do they travel? To the United States, and they take little trips to Europe as well. Who finances their trips? Clearly, those governments finance their trips. What for? So that the opposition can get there to defame and slander Nicaragua, such that they also ask for sanctions, more sanctions against Nicaragua. And they are happy when they announce a sanction, they celebrate it, they are happy.

Those are not Nicaraguans! I don't even know how they think with that attitude that they are going to be able to participate in an election, if they are not Nicaraguans. Those who are going to look for ways to participate in elections should do it in the United States, go to look for ways to participate in elections in the countries that finance them so that they can commit acts of terror here, because even in the midst of the pandemic, in the most difficult moments, they mounted a ferocious campaign aimed at destroying the country.

And the way in which the pandemic has been dealt with here has been a rational, so that here we have not had the costs, neither in lives lost, nor in losses of the Economy, nor in the closing down of economic activities, because of the way in which the defense of the population has been administered under the norms of the Ministry of Health.

They wanted the entire country to be closed down, for everyone to be locked up in their homes, that there be no business in the streets, that even the street food stalls disappear from the streets, that the corner stores be closed, that large companies be closed. But the People are wiser, and the People have known how to protect themselves, have known how to wear a mask, have known how to deal with this pandemic, have known how to go to work, have known how to keep running their businesses, their stalls.

And the State institutions have not stopped at any time, neither in April 2018, nor in this year of the pandemic. It is true that in that April, apart from murdering and burning Nicaraguan brothers and sisters, they burned our Police brothers and sisters, in the most brutal way, and celebrated, they celebrated when they tortured and set fire to a police officer, or tortured and set fire to a citizen, simply because they were Sandinistas, or other people simply because they worked in a school, because they worked in a health post, but even worse, they burned down health posts, they burned down schools, they burned down university centers, they burned down media outlets.

Everybody saw that! Let them not come to us and say that they did no harm. They are terrorists! They are criminals, yes, and traitors too, because they keep asking for more and more sanctions! Ok, well, let them continue singing, asking for more sanctions.

Let them go and organize their political parties or join the political parties that exist there in the United States, there are many political parties in the United States, the biggest ones are the Democrats and the Republicans, but there are others. Because here, whoever doesn't defend Nicaragua, but instead asks for sanctions against Nicaragua, that person does not deserve to be called Nicaraguan. Maybe we cannot expel them because they were born here, but automatically, in accordance with what the Constitution and the Laws mandate, they lose their rights, they have already lost their rights, lost the right to run for public office when this Country has elections.

And so, neither should they continue to fight for candidates to the presidency because the laws do not allow it, because the opposition are bickering over who will be the candidate for president, who will get the most money from the gringos, or from European countries, some, not all, European countries that have a totally interventionist policy, and some Latin American countries, governments, that have an interventionist policy.

So, we have to defend the dignity of Nicaragua, the rights of Nicaraguans, the love of the country. The Nation comes first, beyond any differences that we may have from the political, religious point of view, ah, of course there are differences, there are economic differences. But it is very different from that, to go and ask a foreign power to punish Nicaragua, which means punishing the poorest, who are the ones who suffer the most when these sanctions, these aggressions are made against the Bolivarian People, against Venezuela's People. And President Nicolás Maduro has said this very clearly, and so did President Chávez, whom we always remember.

What harm did Chávez do to us Nicaraguans? What damage? What harm? If we have energy and we have had the opportunity thanks to economic growth to deliver energy to the whole country, it is because our brother Hugo Chavez, who is ever present here with us, when he came to Nicaragua in 2007 to the presidential inauguration and realized that there was no electricity in Nicaragua, that the blackouts were affecting the whole country, then the generating plants that they had already bought to take to Venezuela, he said: No, let them take them to Nicaragua, which needs them more than Venezuela.

Cuba's collaboration is the same. And those Peoples, Venezuela, Cuba, Fidel's Cuba, Raúl's Cuba, Díaz-Canel's Cuba, who even when the earthquake happened here under Somoza, Somoza who had trained troops here, lending Nicaraguan territory so as later on to invade Cuba, Fidel and the Cubans did not hold any grudge against the Nicaraguan People, because it was clear that the guilty party was the government and the gringos who had installed Somoza.

And when the earthquake struck, they did not hesitate to send the Cuban medical brigade to set up hospitals to care for people here in Managua who had suffered that terrible earthquake. Of course, Somoza could not prevent it because it would really have been the last straw to prevent the Cubans from entering when they came to Nicaragua with a medical brigade.

But it shows the human quality of Cuba, Venezuela, that are Nations with governments, with Peoples who have a great spirit of Solidarity, that do not harm anyone, and that, simply, example helps people learn, helps people recognize when they see a different behavior. While others come only to exploit, to punish and to invade; Venezuelans come to help, without conditions, Cubans come to help, without conditions of any kind, without telling us how our laws should work, how our Constitution should be established, how our country's electoral rules should be arranged. No, they do not get involved in that, theirs is simply unconditional cooperation, and that unconditional cooperation naturally allowed us to lay the foundations for developing and growing economically, and to reach 2016 with a growth rate that was the highest in the region.

And since we knew how to face the pandemic and since the failed coup did not paralyze us, because remember in the midst of the failed coup we were inaugurating highways, health posts, while on the other hand they were burning down health centers, on the other hand we were inaugurating them, just as in the midst of the pandemic we have continued working.

How many roads have now been opened, how many highways, the population can see them there. These are highways for the whole People, we are not saying we are going to build roads just for Sandinistas... No, these are highways for all Nicaraguans! For Nicaraguans who may have different political ideas, but who are not traitors and who do not want the country's economy to be paralyzed, and who do not want the country to be destroyed, and who do not want April 2018's terrorism to be repeated.

Be assured, Dear Sisters, Dear Nicaraguan Families, that will not be happen again, it will not be repeated! And with this Police force guarding the Country, with the Army guarding the Country's Sovereignty, and also giving Security to the Country, we recognizing the sacrifice of the soldiers, of the police, who do not have a Noche Buena, or a New Year's Eve, or a Purisima, because they have to be work their changing shifts of duty and that might suddenly be on December 7th, so that other officers can be with their family on the 24th, or maybe for others on the 31st.

But no police officer, no army soldier can spend all those dates with their family, either the 7th, or the 24th, or the 31st; and then, they are on the streets patrolling, exposing themselves to being killed, to being hurt when defending citizens in the mountains. In other words, ensuring not only the productive activities, but also the moments of joy like these Christmas Festivities, which begin with the Purisima, continue with the Nativity, and finish with the this year's end, and the New Year of 2021.

And the police officers, the brothers and sisters of our Army, who are so often slandered, vilified, they are the flesh and blood of the People; they come from working families, from humble families, from hard-working families, from peasant families, and now, being in the Police and in the Army, they also have the opportunity to study further education. I know many officers who have become lawyers, other officers who have become nurses, others who are studying medicine.

That is to say, this is a step so that young people can have the opportunity to develop their knowledge more, progress in their sciences; but they are from very humble families, with salaries, we must recognize this, with salaries that continue to be low, although as the economy has been growing, we have been increasing the salaries of all State bodies, they have been increasing. But with the April 2018 failed coup and the pandemic, well, there is a slowdown.

Yes, and there is a slowdown in the strongest economies in the world, which are laying off millions of workers, closing thousands of companies; wile here we are doing what God commands, that is, going forward, certain that with every passing day the living conditions of all Nicaraguan families will improve.

Now let's take the oath. There are 35 police officers: Katherin Urbina, Omar Antonio Jirón, Jared Obed Martínez, Alexander Zamora, Ariel Antonio Mercado, Axel Yanel Landero, Bernie William González, Bryan Leonel Acevedo, Cristian Vidal Melgara, Dulce María Cortez, Eduardo José Duarte González, Enoc Alexander López, Axel Antonio Ríos, Hanson Soza, Idania María Chavarría López, Junior Pérez Rivas, Jefferson Israel Urbina Ortega, Jerson Abraham López Treminio, Jessica Tatiana Fernández González, Joaquín de Jesús Castillo Cortés, Jorge Daniel Salgado Gutiérrez, Joseph Alexander Zelaya Cornavaca, José Manuel Araica Reyes, Juan Manuel Padilla Obando, Katherine Amanda Cuadra Baquedano, María de la Concepción Palma Téllez, Mario Spelman Basilio, Oscar Armando Rueda Aráuz, Yasuri Anahí Centeno Sáenz, Jeime Vanessa Ortiz Chacón, Ivy Anton Coleman Borge, graduated in Russia, someone who had to adapt to the frosts and snowfalls of Russia for these winter months; William Steven Wells, also a graduate of Russia, and Ovania del Socorro Mendoza Urbina, a graduate of Russia, take note.

All these young people come from Granada, Rivas, Estelí, the Mining Triangle, Carazo, León, Masaya, Zelaya Central, Madriz, Chontales, and also from Managua, Matagalpa, Boaco, Chinandega, Jinotega, Zelaya Central, and the Northern Caribbean Autonomous Region, where Bilwi is, where Waspam is, from the Mining Triangle, from Leon, from the Southern Caribbean Autonomous Region, and from Zelaya Central, so you see, from all over the country these young people have come to study, to prepare themselves, to serve the People, to serve Nicaraguans. And we congratulate them, and we congratulate their families.

Let's read the Oath:

Legal Pledge

Do you promise before God, before the Nation, before Nicaragua's People and families, before our Heroes and Martyrs, to respect the Constitution, the laws, the rights and liberties of the People, and to faithfully fulfill the missions entrusted to you under the fundamental principles of action of the National Police to defend the Peace, security and stability of our Nation, under the motto "Honor, Security, Service"?

Cadets : Yes, I promise.

If you so do, may the Nation and the People recognize it, if not, may they call you to account.

Congratulations, beloved brothers and sisters!

Long live the National Police!