Interview with Comrade Denis Moncada, Foreign Minister Of Nicaragua with Tatiana Patricia Villegas
Telesur News
June 21st 2021
Journalist Tatiana Patricia Villegas
We are joined from Nicaragua, at this time of the night, by Denis Moncada, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua. Minister, good evening, welcome to TELESUR News.
Remarks by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada
Thank you very much for the invitation. My warm greetings to all the Sisters and Brothers of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and to the audience.
Journalist Tatiana Patricia Villegas
Thank you very much. Minister, in recent days we have seen that there are two international blocs of reactions to the arrests made by the judicial authorities in your country, in Nicaragua. There is a bloc that supports self-determination, they stand in solidarity with the government and with all the institutions of the judicial authorities of Nicaragua, and there is another bloc that talks about condemning this judicial measure. What is your response, as a government, as the Foreign Minister, in both cases?
Remarks by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada
Tatiana, let me tell you that Nicaragua really is a Free, Independent, Sovereign State with Self-Determination, and we are nobody's colony, nor a subordinate state of any imperial Power. The Nicaraguan State acts on the basis of its Political Constitution, the Laws and the coordinated and harmonious functioning of its institutions.
The arrests that have taken place and by which we suddenly see and hear international reactions, are not for political reasons, it’s because of the likelihood of the commission of crimes which clearly specified in the Laws of Nicaragua. Those who are being prosecuted, it must be made clear, are not Presidential Candidates, they are Directors of Non-Governmental Organizations that receive funding from the Government of the United States and the European Union, and they are using these funds precisely to destabilize the country.
We always say that we are very respectful of the Charter of the United Nations and of international law and the Principle of Non-interference in the internal affairs of other States.
In the case of Nicaragua, our institutions, the Public Prosecutor's Office and the judges are competent, by law, to investigate and dispense justice, and they do not have to report to any foreign government, to any bloc of foreign governments, to any empire, such as that of the United States. Our institutions, the institutions within Nicaragua, operate in accordance with the framework of this Sovereign, Independent and Free State.
Journalist Tatiana Patricia Villegas
Particularly from Latin America today we have heard of a communiqué from the Governments of Mexico and Argentina calling their Ambassadors to consult, precisely because of these arrests. What is your response?
Remarks by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada
Tatiana, in connection with what I said earlier, we are very respectful of the internal affairs of each State and of the sovereign decision taken by their governments. If they are summoning their Ambassadors, well, they are within their right to convene them, but obviously, we state and reiterate, we do not allow external interference in the internal affairs of Nicaragua, which is the sole concern of the Nicaraguan people and authorities, their government, their institutions, to resolve! Therefore, we demand, mutual respect in international relations, respect for international law, and respect for each country, each state to resolve matters within the framework of the rule of law that each country has and within the framework precisely of the sovereign will of each of the Peoples of The Americas; Latin America and the Caribbean as well.
Journalist Tatiana Patricia Villegas
Minister, you tell us that these arrests are not of a political nature, but for crimes committed within the framework of the jurisprudence of the Nicaraguan judicial system, and what kind of crimes are they, and how long has we been investigating them?
Remarks by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada
In fact, all the crimes mentioned are very clearly defined within our laws, and they have to do precisely with crimes that threaten the security of citizens, the security of the state. These are crimes that are related to the organization and implementation of coups d'état that alter the Constitutional Order; activities linked to terrorism, which undermines the Independence and Sovereignty of the Nicaraguan State.
These are crimes related to incitement of interference by foreign powers and countries in our internal affairs. They call for military interference, military intervention, they demand sanctions against the State and against our citizens... In short, a series of activities that harm the higher interests of the State of Nicaragua and that fall precisely on crimes of Treason, which are clearly typified within our Laws.
Journalist Tatiana Patricia Villegas
As a result of these facts, the United States Government, Foreign Minister, is appearing to have new illegal sanctions against your government. What is the Nicaraguan Government's position on this?
Remarks by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada
One, that the United States really is an Empire that lives on aggression, on the invasion of other countries, also on attacking Free, Sovereign and Independent States; on destroying the unity of those States; on causing hundreds and thousands of deaths, we only have to remember Libya, Syria, Iraq, Vietnam; in short, so many countries that have been victims of this destructive imperial activity.
Really, what the United States is doing is going back to those old practices of the '30s, of Al Capone, of Dillinger, in New York, in the major cities of the United States, and turning that into a kind of State Policy. That is, gansterism as a State Policy to appropriate the riches, the Natural Resources, the Energy Resources of Countries.
That is the raison d'être of the Empire, and for us we denounce: Unilateral Measures are in violation of international law, they are in violation of the Charter of the United Nations, they are violations of the Sovereignty, Independence and Self-determination of peoples. We condemn them, we reject them, we have condemned all the coercive measures against the Sister Republic of Cuba, against the Sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, against Bolivia; in short, against all the Brotherly Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and also the Brotherly Countries of Africa and other Continents.
We reject these Arbitrary, Illegal and Inhumane Unilateral Measures, which really harm and obstruct the Right to Development of Peoples, and block the 2030 Agenda and the Objectives of Sustainable Development for this Planet.
Journalist Tatiana Patricia Villegas
Note, Minister, that this is very paradoxical. You have listed just a few number of nations that the United States says it sanctions; within the United States it is looking for a legal system to do so, within the framework of international law, however, there is no legality, but they do so persistently. What can we do to stop it?
Remarks by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada
Unity is important, that is why ALBA, CELAC, the Organization created, organized by Fidel, by President Chávez, by other Presidents of Latin America who also supported and contributed to its creation. Unity, the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean, International Unity against these imperial activities, is fundamental.
There is no doubt that we must defend Multilateralism, we must also fight and continue to strengthen international relations, respect for peace, stability, international security, the fight against poverty, the fight against climate change; in short, we must develop cooperation, solidarity and the fraternal and harmonious relations between all countries, both in Latin America and in the other continents.
Journalist Tatiana Patricia Villegas
Foreign Minister, with regard to the arrest of this group of people, you tell us that they are involved in crimes of treason against the motherland. Do you find it paradoxical that many of those nations that have condemned the decisions taken by Nicaragua, persecute such crimes in their own countries, but they do not sit down to find out what is happening in Nicaragua? In relation to this, I have to ask: Which U.S. Organizations would be behind these individuals?
Remarks by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada
First of all, there is the American Empire that see in the Government and in the Government of Progressive Countries, the advances for the Benefit of the population, historically marginalized and that however, really develops a Spirit and Activity of International Solidarity.
What they are trying to do simply is to defeat and paralyse the development progress of the countries that are moving forward, we are advancing, fighting to restore the rights that have historically been denied to the great majority of our populations, the Indigenous Peoples, Peoples of African descent, women and young people; in short, the struggle of our governments is precisely for the Common Good.
In Nicaragua, President Ortega refers to it as our Government´s Preferential Option for the Poor, and that is the route, that is the destiny and therefore, we have to maintain the Spirit of Unity of Strength and constant fight against that aggression, that interfering of the United States and other Countries, other Powers, that want to use all their capacities, all their tentacles, both of the Media Power, as well as of their Economic, Political and other Powers, precisely to destabilize our Governments, destabilize our Peoples, destabilize our Societies, and prevent us from moving along the correct path of Justice, Social Law, Freedoms and Fundamental Rights in an integral manner, of Active and Participatory Democracy for our Population, and not Democracy for the elites such as the ones they have.
Journalist Tatiana Patricia Villegas
Foreign Minister, through which organizations and institutions of the United States is interference being practiced in the internal affairs of Nicaragua, seeking to cause destabilization?
Remarks by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada
The apparatus of the State of the United States, uses all its scaffolding precisely to project, to transmit, to transfer, all the financing and destabilizing activities.
USAID, as we already know, is the Agency of the United States for Development, and is one of its important instruments for moving its tentacles in the Political, Organizational, Economic, and Financial realms; also the International Republican Institute, as well as the National Democratic Institute, the National Endowment for Democracy, the NED, are organizations that, in the case of Nicaragua have moved many resources, tens of millions of dollars, precisely from the Taxes of the American People, who do not know and ignore that these Resources of theirs are being transfered, by the American Empire, Power, the elite of the American Government, to other countries.
In the case of Nicaragua through NGOs; in this case the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation, FUNIDES and other organizations, to destabilize, violating our Rule of Law, of which they fill their mouths saying that it must be respected, however they do not know that in Nicaragua, as in other Sister Countries, we have strong Rights based States, we have a Legal System, we have a Constitution, we have Sovereignty, and we also have a Sense of Dignity, of defense of our Motherland, of our Sovereignty, of our National Dignity.
No matter how much they use these instruments of theirs, or those Organizations to finance millions and millions of dollars, we will continue to hold our front, fighting for our Rights, fighting for our Sovereignty, for our Independence, for our Self-Determination, denouncing these aggressions, condemning and rejecting them.
Journalist Tatiana Patricia Villegas
Minister of Foreign Affairs, the media outlet The Grayzone, through its Journalist Max Blumenthal, published an extensive investigation (...)
With regard to this denunciation of the destabilizing attempts of organizations that are directly part of the CIA and the Department of State of the United States, such as USAID and NED; through a group of opponents, that in turn have Non-Governmental Organizations and Media Platforms that are financed by these International Organizations, and which for these and other facts, constitute crimes that are prosecuted by the Judicial Authorities of your Country.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua, Denis Moncada, has said so far, as you have heard it through the telesur screen, that this constitutes, as a whole, Treason, and therefore, because it is a State that adheres to the Law and the Constitutional Norms; the judicial authorities are carrying out this whole series of investigations.
I asked Foreign Minister Denis Moncada, about an investigation carried out by journalist Max Blumenthal, of Intercept, and Grayzone in addition to all of this that they have been reporting and for which I may add they are doing a fairly extensive investigation about.
Foreign Minister, I was telling you that the investigation that The Grayzone has made public through journalist Max Blumenthal gives an account in some detail, of how they have been financed, through the NED or USAID, that you referred to as the 2 Organizations of the State Department, internal opponents within Nicaragua.
One of them, for example, said, “a sum of $5.2 million has been allocated to Nicaragua in 2017 through USAID, with the majority of funds earmarked for the Training of Civil Society and Media Organizations.” It also refers to other organizations, such as the Chamorro Family.
Remarks by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada
Yes, Tatiana, of course we share it, because those are very serious journalistic investigations, very professional and that correspond to reality. Indeed, there is a tendency to lie in some international media, and precisely to distort reality.
This funding that has been given by the United States and other European countries has been allocated precisely to non-governmental organizations linked to the media, mainly with the Chamorro Family that concentrates several of these organizations and that serve as intermediaries to distribute funds for the desestabilization of the country, that is a concrete reality.
Precisely, Tatiana, Powers such as the United States, lie, because they intend to prevent the truth from coming to light, and the truth is that they allocate the resources of the American people to commit crimes in other countries; to destabilize democratically elected governments, Constitutional Governments such as ours, such as that of Venezuela, such as that of Cuba, such as that of Nicaragua, breaking the Constitutional Order and the Rule of Law, to which they make much mention, but nevertheless they consider themselves to have the right to violate that Institutionality of any country.
We share that information and that research very vehemently because we consider it very true, very truthful, and a very serious investigation.
Journalist Tatiana Patricia Villegas
There are figures, as we have seen, from 2017, also from 2018, that reveal a lot of what we have experienced during those years in Venezuela, the so-called "Guarimbas", that excessive violence of groups of the Extreme Right to defeat in this case President Daniel Ortega. But since when, Minister, has this new strategy to carry out a coup against your government come about?
Remarks by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada
The government of President Ortega came to power through the electoral route in 2006. Since then and in a very subtle way, American Imperialism began to take measures of different kinds, aimed precisely at destabilizing our country and overthrowing the legitimate government, the Constitutional Government of President Ortega and recently that of Vice President Rosario Murillo.
It is very clear that they do not really accept that governments such as ours can exist within our countries: progressive, advanced, of benefit to our population; so they seek precisely to destabilize them. And these powers have no right to act in disrespect of the law, sovereignty and existence of our States, with our legitimate, constitutional and truly democratic governments.
Journalist Tatiana Patricia Villegas
And all of this in view of this year's elections, next November, a pre-electoral scenario, and what does this mean, Foreign Minister, that the US Government's strategy with these opponents is aimed at a new planned coup?
Remarks by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada
In fact they have continued with the attempted coup, camouflaged, disguised. But already with the investigation that is being carried out and with the indications of the destabilizing activities of People, of NGO Leaders, with the funding of the United States, we are clear that we are dealing with the continuation of the Coup d'état that our People precisely managed to stop in 2018. They have continued, with nuances and other formalities, but the attempted coup d'état continues.
So they, if you look at it, are already delegitimizing the Elections of 7 November; they are talking about candidates who are being prosecuted, when this is not true.
That is to say, the National Assembly, our Legislative Power, approved the Law to Reform the Electoral Law, that has also advanced jointly and in agreement with the political parties that participate. Among other things approved, the Supreme Electoral Council has approved the Electoral Calendar.
The Inscription and Registration of Presidential Candidates has been agreed upon and will happen between 28 July to 18 August, that is the time they have; that is to say, we have not reached that time, however, already U.S. Imperialism and its henchmen and their allies are talking about persecuting Candidates or Pre-candidates. Many of these ladies and gentlemen are not even Candidates or Pre-candidates, if anything they can be regarded as aspirants, scattered in the internal political-partisan geography.
Journalist Tatiana Patricia Villegas
Have you had the possibility, the opportunity to tell your peers who have asked you? I also ask you, if there has been such a scenario for you to tell them what is really going on and to not be carried away by those titles of the Corporate Media, of the hegemonic Press?
Remarks by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada
That's part of the fight. We have already seen recently how certain international organizations, which we already know and which do not need to mention, precisely through the pressure of US Imperialism, threatens and forces many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to speak out and maintain an attitude different from that of the interests of the Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.
We constantly talk to the Ministers, the Foreign Ministers, both in Latin America and the Caribbean, explaining precisely this situation, this reality, so that truth may prevail, and so that they do not become accomplices in an attitude of imperial interference by the United States... of domination! Because, what they want is to make the Monroe Doctrine prevail, "of America for the Americans", which in any case is nothing more than the domination and control of our countries, of our Natural Resources and so on.
Journalist Tatiana Patricia Villegas
In reference to the Organization of American States, Minister?
Remarks by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada
Well, I don´t know whether to refer to this Organization, because I do not know whether it really leaves much more to be desired; it does not know its own Charter, it does not know its very nature... In short, it is headquartered in Washington, it has historically remained captive there, because it was created by the United States to serve as the Ministry of Colonies, that is, it is an instrument that facilitates the control, the domination of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, which correspond to the interests of the United States, and not to the interests and rights of the Peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Journalist Tatiana Patricia Villegas
In fact, the OAS, through its Secretary, Mr. Almagro, has said that the Inter-American Charter, the Democratic Charter, must be applied to your Government, to the Government of Nicaragua, and what can we do about an event like this, when we know very well how the OAS acts in Latin America?
Remarks by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada
The last memory of this Organization is Bolivia, and what they did was precisely design, promote and carry out a coup d'état that ended with the departure of President Evo Morales. So, what Charter, what Democracy are we talking about? Of American Democracy, the Democracy that imposes blood and fire with invasions, with aggressions, with the destruction of entire countries and entire populations, and the blatant theft of their resources? We can only see in Syria how US troops, instruments, techniques, take oil out of Syria.
That is to say, of what Democracy, of what Democratic Charter...? Democracy is precisely for which our Peoples fight and we struggle: A Popular, Participatory Democracy, a Democracy that ensures Economic Growth, Health, Education, Recreation, construction of Infrastructure, for the benefit of the population. It is an integral Democracy, not a Democracy of invasion, of aggression, as the United States uses it, using the OAS and other International Organizations.
Journalist Tatiana Patricia Villegas
Finally, Foreign Minister, what is the current moment Nicaragua is living, and I mean above all at the internal level? We have already seen how the International Press creates its narrative, but how is this moment being lived internally within the Country?
Remarks by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada
Nicaragua is a normal, calm country; working, producing; Small farmers producing food, raising levels of Food Security; building more Communication Routes, expanding our Highway Networks, guaranteeing access to production areas, precisely to boost Commerce and ensure the feeding of our Population, and the possibility of exporting products as well.
Our Energy, we are advancing ... To give you a fact, right now Nicaragua has already covered approximately 99% of our Population with Electricity, and as part of that Energy there is also a change in the Energy Matrix, moving towards clean and non-polluting energy.
In Nicaragua we advance! In Gender Equality and Equity we are moving forward! In these Elections, precisely within the Reform of the Law, which aims to ensure in everything related to the electoral scaffolding, the Candidates, President, Vice President, Congressmen and Women, a 50% of women must guaranteed.
I believe, and let me tell you Tatiana, that really the Nicaraguan experience, in terms of Gender Equity and Equality, should be seen by all the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, and of the World, as an interesting practice for women to restore their historical Rights, empower themselves with their Rights, and continue advancing in a level of Gender Equality and Equity in the positions of Ministries, in the position of President, Vice President, Congressmen and Women, Mayors, Councilors; in short, in all Cultural, Economic, Productive Activities, among others.
We are making progress in dealing with COVID-19, with a very important, very interesting Health System. All of our Activities have an enormous leading participation by our Communities, our Population, our Citizens, our Women, and our Youth.
That is Nicaragua, the Nicaragua that we are building, producing, educating ourselves, facing pandemics, developing ourselves, expanding our Relations of Friendship with all the Countries of the World as well ... And I take this opportunity to greet all of Venezuela, all of Latin America and the Caribbean, all the Countries of the World.
Tell them that Nicaragua is a calm Country that loves Peace, that is developing, progressing, moving forward, expanding our Diplomatic Relations with the entire World, in a plane of Sovereign Equality among States and in a plane of mutual Respect and Non-Interference in the Internal Affairs of the States, which is part of the problem that we now have in International Relations.
Journalist Tatiana Patricia Villegas
With that reflection, I bid you farewell Minister. Thank you and have a very good evening.
Remarks by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada
Thank you very much, Tatiana, and a cordial greeting, hugs to all.