Eulogy for Fr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann,
Minister and Defender of the Dignity of All Peoples
delivered by President Daniel Ortega of the Republic of Nicaragua
9 June 2017
Translated by Jill Clark-Gollub
Beloved Nicaraguan Brothers and sisters, with today’s life-giving rains, we tell our brother Miguel that he, like the rain, has sown the seeds of life. The part of his family that is here with us today knows this very well, as does the rest of his family who are in faraway lands but still accompany us this afternoon. This is an afternoon on which we honor the man whom we justly call the Minister of Dignity—the Dignity of Nicaragua—who from that position defended the dignity of the people of our Americas, and all the peoples of the world.
Miguel was a sower of life. In Chile he worked with the poorest, most humble people, putting the Gospel into practice. He was also a sower of life here in Nicaragua during times of pain and tragedy. When the earthquake shook Managua, Miguel came home immediately to sow hope, and by doing so, life.
He was a sower of life, and multiplier of the Christian ideals and principles of justice. He also did this over there in the United States with his Maryknoll order, and later he did it by traveling to poor areas on the different continents, including Africa. And that is how Miguel made connections with the thinking of leaders in the developing countries—countries that were fighting for their independence—who were fighting against colonialism; leaders such as Julius Nyerere, that great African leader who shared Miguel’s Christian roots.
He shared ideas with leaders from different continents and from the developed countries, with priests, religious leaders, lay people, intellectuals. They, too, shared their thinking with Miguel, and Miguel’s thinking met common ground in the thinking of this community of men and women who were and still are fighting for peace on our planet: peace with justice!
So he had been gaining all this knowledge about the cultures of the world and he shared it fully with the struggle of the Sandinista Front for National Liberation. And later as our Foreign Minister, he defended our people and he helped Nicaragua strengthen its ties with all of those people. He allowed us to be better positioned to fight for peace in the face of the aggression we were being subjected to. And at the end of that path in the history of our nation, he met up with Cardinal Miguel (Obando y Bravo).
Miguel was the Foreign Minister when we asked Cardinal Miguel to serve as President of Nicaragua’s Peace and Reconciliation Commission. Cardinal Miguel immediately rose to that enormous challenge as the defender of peace—the builder of peace in Nicaragua.
We are all familiar with Fr. Miguel’s love of art and culture. I wish to share the sentiments of the artisans of our country, whom he always promoted whenever he had the chance, those who give life to clay, and also those who take their works of art on tours around our country, and tours through other countries.
Miguel was a promoter of culture. The artists and artisans, particularly of our country, recognize his efforts and that commitment to the arts—the painters and sculptors of our country. He was always with them, fully sharing his life with them, fully committed to their art! And he was always assertive with his ideas, unbending in his ideas, and promoting them. He did it so well.
When we Sandinistas came back into office in 2007, Nicaragua promoted Miguel as a candidate to serve as President of the United Nations General Assembly. He immediately won the backing of all the developing countries who knew him so well: his ideas, his principles, his practices. The Non-Aligned Movement immediately gave him its full support, and along with it, logically, came the support of Latin America and the Caribbean.
And he was there waging battles at the United Nations, where it has never been so clear that the United Nations needs to be rebuilt. The United Nations, in today’s context, needs to be a new type of organization, in which all countries have equal obligations and equal rights, in which we can all truly ensure the peace that the peoples of the world are clamoring for.
He hoisted that banner with great strength and great conviction. He has written his testimony, his ideas and proposals have been set forth in writing, and he matched his words with deeds. Until the end Miguel remained convinced that fight to rebuild the U.N. is one we must continue to wage.
And this continues to be an issue at the United Nations, an ever-present concern. Every day more and more countries openly question the anti-democratic structure of the United Nations. I am certain that the day will come when Miguel’s proposal, Miguel’s initiative, Miguel’s dream, will come true.
I shared so many experiences with Miguel! We went so many places together! I remember when we went to the ceremony for the independence of Zimbabwe. Miguel, Rosario, Lumberto Campbell, and I went there together. The four of us were the delegation of Nicaragua. We were coming from a far-reaching Revolution such as ours—the glorious victory our people had achieved in 1979—to learn about a totally different experience.
There had been an armed struggle there, as in our case. But there were two armed revolutionary movements, based on tribal allegiances: the Shonas and the Ndebeles. Two great tribal groups there in Zimbabwe! In those days tribalism was even more important. But there were two revolutionary camps: one headed by Mugabe and the other one headed by Nkomo.
Miguel was one to push. I remember that as we were approaching the point where they were going to greet us, to then go on to the stadium for the independence ceremony, the vehicle parked and Miguel immediately got out. And the people began to say, “Here he comes,” they said, “here he comes.” They made way for him because they thought it was the Prince of England. They made way for him and then we entered the rooms, where later we did meet up with the Prince of England.
That was rather odd for us, because we didn’t seem to understand the process. That was when we began to understand that every revolutionary process has its own unique features, its own characteristics. We were asking ourselves, “Well, what is the Prince of England doing here representing Her Majesty, if Independence belongs to the people?” Well, he was invited, certainly, because they had been the dominant power, the colonizing power, we said, he was invited.
…..
I shared so many historic moments for our planet in this struggle for peace, for justice, for sovereignty, for freedom with Miguel in different international fora. And later, the great battle of Nicaragua! I would say that while it is true that the triumph of the Revolution in 1979 was an extraordinary, historic victory, in the international sphere Nicaragua had unprecedented victories. When the United States of America imposed a war on us by mining our ports, murdering our teachers, murdering our doctors, murdering construction workers who were building roads and highways… as that terrible war was happening, in which they got brothers to fight against brothers with an army that was financed, organized, and trained by the United States government—well they even went so far as to engage in drug trafficking to ensure funding for their terrorist operations.
I remember a time when I was meeting with Miguel and he began to say that we should take the United States to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Well I listened to him carefully, and some of our comrades who were there (and are now absent) were pessimistic. They said, “That makes no sense.” And behind his back they said, “Miguel’s crazy ideas!” But I told Miguel, “Let’s go for it!” And we did, we took our fight to the World Court.
I also remember that friendly governments were skeptical. And they were right. Who could win a legal battle against the Empire at the World Court in The Hague, much less “a little country” –as they see us and as the Empire calls us? A little Banana Republic? --that was fighting for its Dignity, its Sovereignty, and for Peace? …and to put an end to the bloodshed.
So we went to the Court, accompanied by experts, lawyers such as Carlos Arguello; American attorneys such as Paul Reichler, a friend of Nicaragua who also helped us with the Peace Process. That was our team of lawyers we took with us to fight the battle at the World Court. And Miguel remained optimistic in the face of pessimism from the skeptics.
And in the end, the Judgment: For the first time in history a State, a Superpower, was convicted. The biggest superpower on the planet was convicted of terrorism against Nicaragua, for criminal acts against Nicaragua.
And that Judgment by the Court is still there. That Judgment is still alive! If at that time the United States owed Nicaragua more than $17 billion for the damages it inflicted on our country, that amount must have quadrupled or quintupled by now. The Judgment is still alive!
That is why I insist that any funds the United States has spent in our country, which it began to place in our country through different agencies in 1990, and then began to cut off starting in 2008, are really nil. What they call “international cooperation” or aid is neither aid nor cooperation. It should be deposited in an account as part of the debt that the United States has with Nicaragua.
At any rate, these are just pennies compared to the debt the United States still has with Nicaragua. And I don’t say this on a whim. This is a matter of respect for justice and respect for international law, respect for organizations such as the United Nations, and respect for the International Court of Justice.
Miguel was convinced that we had to keep fighting that battle, and we do until this day. As I have said and will repeat, until there is a U.S. Congress that recognizes it has a debt with Nicaragua, the Judgment is still there and is still alive—that is the Judgment by the International Court of Justice at The Hague.
I would say that was the greatest international victory Nicaragua ever achieved, and we did so at a difficult time. And the man who gave life to that initiative, that idea, is here with us with his strength, his fortitude, his moral compass, his convictions, and his steadfastness. He was the one who promoted it and who presented the proposal, and I told him: Let’s go for it! Of course we will go ahead with it! And we did so even though I know that some people thought it was totally crazy.
And Miguel will continue to be with us because his ideas, his light, will not go out just because he has moved on. He has left us physically, but he is with us and will continue to be with us in this daily battle which we will continue to wage for the justice, for the freedom, for the sovereignty, for the peace of our peoples.
Miguel: we are here before you. All of Nicaragua is here, committed to continue your work struggling for those ideals and those principles, with deeply Christian roots. And for that reason we have most certainly been imbued with those Christian and socialist principles of solidarity, which are what have allowed us to build peace and stability in our country.
And the youth of Nicaragua are here today, just as they have always been by Miguel’s side all these years. And the new generations are here, too. We are certain that these young people are taking on your way of thinking, your ideas, your conviction, and your resolve, our dear brother, the Minister of Dignity and Peace: Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann.
We say to you, what we have said to our heroes and martyrs, which is summed up in that well-known greeting to Che Guevara: Until forever Father Miguel! Until forever!