Victor Manuel Ramos*, 19 de julio 2021
The Parliament of the European Union has approved a declaration on Nicaragua to point out that the brotherly Central American country violates human rights, does not comply with national or international laws, that it persecutes the press. At the same time it warns it that it should not approve certain laws and ends up almost ordering Daniel Ortega, Nicaraguan President, that is should let civil society organizations, puppets of foreign interests and who receive foreign funds, work in peace.
Nicaragua, along with the other Central American countries, 200 years ago, proclaimed independence from Spain; that independence was a lie because, immediately afterwards, the Central American oligarchy annexed the former Kingdom of Guatemala to the Mexican Empire, against the will of the people. When the Mexican emperor was dethroned, the Central Americans declared their absolute independence from Spain and, from any European and American power on the 1st July 1823 and warned that anyone who tries to sell or endanger its sovereignty will be considered a traitor and treated as such.
The truth is that Nicaragua did not exercise its true independence until the Sandinistas seized power, after overthrowing the bloodthirsty tyranny, sustained by the North Americans and presided over by the Somoza family. There was then a hiatus in which the Sandinista Front left the government and it was occupied by the same old individuals that dragged the country back down into misery and abandoned the people to their fate, until, once again, this time through the ballot box, Daniel and the FSLN returned to power.
In November, the elections for president will be held and the Sandinista Front enjoys the support of the majority of the Nicaraguan population, a recognition of the great physical and social works that the popular revolutionary government has undertaken and carried out, in such a way that the Sandinistas do not really have a powerful force that might overshadow them in the coming elections.
Faced with this situation of an orphaned opposition and knowing that through free and fair elections they will not be able to achieve power, in 2018, the opposition tried to destabilize national life by attempting a coup d'état with the support of foreign powers: the United States and the European Union. It turns out that the strong support of the people for their revolution, made the attempted coup to appear as nothing more than a damp squib. During that attempt, the opponents of the Revolution and lackeys of the Yankees, destroyed property and murdered Sandinista militants, with the support of the United States, the European Union and a sector of the Catholic Church.
Daniel did not deploy either the police or the army until the situation became too dangerous and it was necessary to provide security for the citizens, many of whom were threatened, kidnapped, tortured, and killed. All this activity aimed at overthrowing the constitutional government by force, was supported by NGOs funded by the North Americans and the European Union.
The European Union cried out to high heaven for those who were arrested and tried, in accordance with Nicaraguan law, for the crimes they committed. The Nicaraguan government issued an amnesty in favor of prisoners, those at large, and others that were being called to justice. However, they were warned that they should not go back to the same practices.
Now, a few months before the elections, faced with the prospect that they will lose, the opponents want to re-stage the same theatricality falsely claiming that the Nicaraguan government persecutes, imprisons and kills and wants to steal the elections. In the midst of that theatrical behavior they make vehement calls for foreign intervention, repeating the script they staged when their forebears invited William Walker, who came to Nicaragua to take over the country and sow terror and death.
The European Union is relying on the report that Bachelet provided, condemning, according to her, the repression of the right to free demonstration, despite the fact that when she held the presidency of Chile she sent the carabineros to repress the protests of high school students, who demanded changes and reforms without being heard. Back then, for Bachelet, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and freedom to protest were a dead letter.
Mrs. Bachelet, now in a United Nations position, as Commissioner for Human Rights, sees what does not exist in violations in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua, but closes her eyes to the cruelty with which repression occurs in Colombia, nor does she call for actions against Duque; she also ignores what has happened in Chile, the deaths of young people and the cruelty with which the carabineros – habitual murderers trained by Pinochet – fired pellet rounds aimed at the eyes of the demonstrators and left hundreds blind and imprisoned. While Mrs. Bachelet was in power in Chile, perfectly comfortable with the Constitution she inherited from the tyrant Pinochet, she was not seen as preoccupied about changing it, despite the demands of the Chilean people, who have now achieved this aspiration thanks to the struggle in the streets.
The European Union complains that Nicaragua has passed a law that controls NGO´s, regulates and monitors their funds and activities and forces them to register. This is ellegedto be an affront to the European Union but it says nothing about Honduras, where there is a similar law and where the EU continues to cooperate very complacently with the Honduran dictatorship led by a group of drug traffickers.
The European Union complains that the press is being persecuted in Nicaragua, which is not the case. But the EU does not want to know that the Nicaraguan press lies and misrepresents the truth. When the epidemic began, for example, they posted photos of people being killed in the streets by Covid, that were scenes that had occurred in Ecuador; that same press speaks of repression, of persecution, of murders, of torture, but the European Union tolerated the illegal imprisonment of Assange for a cause that ended up being dismissed and yet he remains imprisoned, illegally, because he published journalistic information that clarified the horrendous crimes carried out by the Yankee troops. Do you not think that there is a double standard here?
In France Macron savagely repressed the yellow vests, in Spain there is a fascist party (VOX) that is gaining many followers and is the country responsible for countless horrendous crimes committed against the Native Americans during the conquest, for which it refuses to ask for forgiveness from our peoples; Belgium is responsible for horrific actions in the Congo, and Belgium has not shown any signs of repentance and a desire to repair the ills they caused to the Congolese Peoples; the Angolans had to go to war to expel the Portuguese, who have also not expressed remorse for their misdeeds; several States of the European Union are in the hands of quasi-fascist groups.
The ambassador of the Holy See left for Italy with a huge shipment of objects belonging to the pre-Columbian cultures of Honduras, these treasures have not been returned to the people of Honduras who are their rightful owners. So the European Union does not have the moral authority to accuse others of the very same things it has done through its members, but now, moreover, those accusations are based on lies fabricated to destabilise Nicaragua, so that the country can return to the fold of neoliberalism and become a paradise for foreign investors who are only interested in the exploitation and subjugation of the nicas.
The European Union, forgetful as it is, by the way, does not remember that Nicaragua has been a free, sovereign and independent country since the Sandinista Revolution. 15th September was just a farce. That is why it orders Nicaragua to not pass certain laws and dictates to them how the electoral law and other provisions that conform to the recommendations of the specialized agencies of the UN – an organization that is, by the way, a total failure – should be drafted, and demands that those who have violated the laws, not be condemned.
In other words, the European Union does not forget its colonial role in America and believes that it can continue to exercise control over countries that regained their true independence: that is why they dare to give orders to Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia (they are involved in the coup d'état against Evo) and Nicaragua. They do not tolerate the fact that these countries have taken the road of freedom and self-determination, they still want them to be lapdogs on the carpet of the President of the United States of America, a role which, to a certain extent, is also exercised by the European Union, because it easily gives in to American blackmail.
Well, no, ladies and gentlemen, Nicaragua is no longer a colony, it is no longer an American puppet, nor has it asked the European Union for any tutelage in order to direct its political life. You Europeans will go back to your countries, with stories full of blood through the repression committed against other peoples and cultures, back with your meagre, conditioned aid, because the peoples of Latin America have already woken up and do not intend to live again on alms, impositions and the assault on our wealth. Europeans must now know that in Nicaragua more destabilization, more funding of the enemies of independence and sovereignty, more journalists vomiting lies, more false presidential hopefuls with no political party, backing them up as they conspire against the revolutionary order, will not be tolerated.
Europe must understand this and its duty today is to swallow to its threats, its sanctions, and its arrogance. Nicaragua has never showed up, demanding in France, Belgium, Spain, Italy or another country of the Union, ordering what they should or should not do. They should respect the universal principle of freedom of self-determination of peoples and abide by Benito Juárez's saying that, respect for the rights of others is peace. Today the fireworks have lit up the skies of Nicaragua, on yet another Anniversary of the Sandinista triumph, as a warning to Europe and the Yankees that the subjugation is over and that Nicaragua is now free, sovereign and independent.
Tegucigalpa, 19th July, 2021
* Dr. Víctor Manuel Ramos Rivera es médico y escritor hondureño con una distinguida trayectoria en la vida cultural, académica e intelectual de su país