Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition News 5.13.2025: Nicaragua Celebrates Sandino on Day of National Dignity; Why it left UNESCO; Daniel Ortega Speech on 2018 coup and world today

Doctor Gustavo Porras in the Special Session of the National Assembly for the Day of National Dignity But this country has dignity and knows that today is May 4th that Sandino did not shrink from saying, "I WILL NEITHER SELL OUT NOR GIVE UP." May 4th should indeed be a national holiday... It should be a national holiday, because on that day Nicaragua proved to the world that its national honor is not to be humiliated, that the country still has sons and daughters who would offer their blood to wash away the stain that the traitors cast upon it….

SANDINO: “I told him again that I would be one of those opposed. With his glib talk, Moncada tried to convince me once and for all to surrender, telling me that it would be madness to fight against the United States of North America, because it is a very powerful nation, with 120 million inhabitants. That I could do nothing with 300 men under my command, that it would be like prey in the claws of a tiger, the more it moves, the deeper its claws dig into its flesh.

From that moment on, I felt a profound contempt for Moncada. I told him that I considered it my duty to die for freedom, and that this was the symbol of the red and black flag I had raised, Liberty or Death, that the Nicaraguan people of that Constitutionalist War expected their freedom.” That is what Sandino replied.

But he was betrayed and assassinated in 1934 by the marines and the occupying army, the National Guard. They believed that this would wipe out the Sandinista struggle, but instead, they made it forever immortal, up to this day.

SANDINO: “Sovereignty is not to be discussed, but defended with weapons in hand." "I want a free Motherland or Death." "My greatest honor is to emerge from the bosom of the oppressed, who are the soul and nerve of the race." "I am not willing to surrender my weapons if everyone else does. I will rather die myself with the few who accompany me because it is preferable to die as rebels than to live as slaves." "We will go towards the sun of freedom or towards death, and if we die, our cause will live on, others will follow us." "One of those days, I told my friends that if there were 100 men in Nicaragua who loved it as much as I did, our Nation would restore its absolute sovereignty. My friends told me that quite possibly there was that number of men in Nicaragua and more."

This movement, SANDINO said, “is national and anti-imperialist. We uphold the banner of freedom for Nicaragua and for all of Latin America. Furthermore, in the social arena, this movement is of the people.” “Our army is the most disciplined, devoted and selfless in the entire terrestrial world because it is conscious of its high historical role.” “I have placed the love of my Nation above all other loves, and you must convince yourself that in order to be happy with me, the sun of freedom must shine on our foreheads.”

The day we bow down our heads, we stop being Sandino's children. Sandino did not bow down his head even when he faced the most powerful army in the world, even when he faced the greatest difficulties, never, and the Sandinista Front never did either, for we are Sandino's heirs, we never bow down our heads, even when there were just a very few Compañeras and Compañeros. Never, never, that was the best response from our Sandinista brothers and sisters, our Heroes. 

Government of Nicaragua Statement: A Blow To UNESCO  Nicaragua, out of our deep National Pride, Esteem and Dignity, reject and condemn before UNESCO the Recognition being given to the newspaper La Prensa, which is a diabolical expression of traitorous anti-patriotic feeling against Nicaragua. The Newspaper La Prensa represents the Betrayal of our Patriotic Nation, precisely because it is a media which throughout its history has promoted and supported violence, foreign intervention, hate crimes and cruelty, in a way that is anti-cultural and against true values. It has been a media serving, promoting and defending US Military and Political Occupation and Intervention in Nicaragua. So it is deeply shameful that UNESCO appears as the promoter, and obviously an accomplice, of an action that offends and attacks the deepest values of Nicaragua’s National Identity and Culture.

Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry: UNESCO's Double Standard on Nicaragua “The award of the once prestigious UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Prize in recognition of an important contribution to the promotion of media independence and freedom of expression has become a farce, slandering countries considered undesirable by the West… On May 3rd the award was presented to La Prensa, a foreign funded newspaper banned in Nicaragua for its anti-government activities… Outraged by the use of the award as a means of political pressure, the Nicaraguan authorities notified the Director General of their withdrawal from the Organization in view of “unacceptable and inadmissible actions” against Managua. We [Russia] express our support to our friends in Nicaragua, who have been driven to take these drastic steps as a result of the discriminatory acts of the Secretariat, which is dominated by Westerners.

Nicarargua Government Statement: Nicaragua Demands Respect For Palestine It “denounces the atrocities being committed in the Palestinian Territories Occupied by Israel, particularly in Gaza, which has been under a total blockade since March this year without the entry of Humanitarian Aid and under constant indiscriminate bombings against the civilian population, of which seventy percent of the fatal victims have been women and children; more than sixteen thousand children have been killed since October 2023. Now, the Government of Israel has publicly announced its intention to occupy the Gaza Strip permanently and to expel the Palestinian People numbering more than two million people.”

President Daniel Ortega: "We have to show more strength so as to continue defending Peace"  As part of the commemoration of Tomas Borge on April 30, Daniel’s speech goes over the government’s conduct 7 years ago during the attempted coup. He then discusses the Soviet victory over fascism, and the current war in Ukraine. Finally he reviews the situation with migrants in the US and El Salvador, the Israeli Nazis, and China’s role in the world. At one point he says, “Christ, the greatest revolutionary that history ever had.”

Nicaragua #1 in the World for Women in Top Government Roles Nicaragua is first in the world (64.3%) in share of women Cabinet members—those serving as heads of ministries—and ranks third in the world for its share of women parliamentarians. Cuba (55.7%), Nicaragua (55%) and Mexico (50.2%) ranked in the top five countries for women's parliamentary representation. The United States ranking 77th in the world and with Canada coming into the 69th spot.

Compas de Nicaragua newsletter This is a good newsletter to subscribe to. The organization carries out projects of agroecology, microlending, and Women in Action art workshops.  They also organize delegations and service learning trips to Nicaragua. Mike Boudreau will be speaking Sunday, May 18th at 11:00 a.m. at the Starr King Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Plymouth, New Hampshire. He will be in NH through June 10 if you would like to invite him to speak.

Los 16 años de Gobiernos de Derecha o Neoliberales en Nicaragua A 7 minute video about life in Nicaragua during the 16 years of neocolonial neoliberal governments.

Events

Sunday, May 18, 3 pm ET Nicaragua Webinar: "Nicaraguan programs of maternal & child health: A cross-national comparison." Register: bit.ly/NicaMay18.  Join us to hear the featured speakers describe special programs that Nicaragua has put in place, such as the casas maternas for women about to give birth, to protect and enhance the health of mothers and their children. They will also compare health outcomes in Nicaragua and other nations, particularly the US.  Becca Renk, originally from Idaho, has lived and worked in Nicaragua for 25 years and directs a health clinic in Ciudad Sandino outside of Managua. Magda Lanuza, the program manager of Casa Arlen Siu, a casa materna in El Sauce, Department of Leon, will present research on programs across Nicaragua. Jameela Alexander, an active organizer in BAP & AAPRP from Baltimore, Maryland, visited Nicaragua for the first time in March as a member of the "Power & Protagonism: Women in Nicaragua" delegation. She is a worker/doula who previously studied village midwifery in Ecuador. Natalia Burdynska-Schuurman will serve as co-moderator.

Sunday, June 22, 3 pm ET Nicaragua Webinar: Report-back from the recent official Veterans for Peace Delegation to Nicaragua, with Gerry Condon and other veterans, co-moderated by veteran and former prisoner of conscience Camilo Mejia. Mark your calendars, more information and Zoom registration link are coming soon.

 Delegations to Nicaragua 2025:

Casa Ben Linder Email casabenjaminlinder@gmail.com to apply:

June 2025: Global Health: Family and Community Health in Nicaragua

July 2025: Solidarity in Action: Nicaragua’s Popular Revolution

November 2025: Salud & Solidaridad: Hands-On Healthcare in Nicaragua

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