Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition 7.1.2025: Daniel Ortega speech; Washington Targets Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela; Nicaraguan economy this year; Laureano Ortega Murillo interviews

Daniel Ortega, June 23, 2025: Unity is essential to defend peace and progress “How furious they were when the North Korean President announced that they would not stand idly by in the face of aggression… he has been clear in saying: if they attack us, we will not hesitate to respond with the atomic weapons we have…and that makes them untouchable.

“What's the United Nations for? What's the United Nations for? Nothing! Because no matter how much they talk at the United Nations about reaching agreements, they're not fulfilled. Ah, if the agreement is to attack a country, that agreement is fulfilled.

“It's pointless for the vast majority of the world's people to vote there in favor of lifting the blockade against Cuba, because simply nothing happens there, and they actually intensify the blockade.

“It becomes increasingly clear that the United Nations has a number of organizations that serve nothing more than as instruments of empires, to squeeze the throats, the necks, of those peoples fighting for sovereignty, for well-being, for peace.

“Hope lies in these powers like the People's Republic of China, which has a humane, supportive, and generous attitude, and that logically makes it easier for it to be welcomed in all countries, and that angers the US government.”

Trump is now putting immigrants “in jail because he says they're all bandits, that they're all criminals, they're murderers. … But there's also a rebellion among immigrants who take to the streets to protest, and they're imprisoned and beaten. There in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the greatest resistance is there.”

“And here in Nicaragua, we continue to stand united, following the example of Carlos, who gave his life for the Nicaraguan people, for the peasants… And he gave his life fighting for unity…. this is a fundamental point for all of us Nicaraguans, for the youth, for the workers, for the Army, for the Police: unity! Because the enemy uses its skills to seek ways to sow distrust, sow division, speak ill of one another, thereby provoking fractures…The more united we are, the stronger we will be, the more we will guarantee peace for the Nicaraguan people. Peace for the Nicaraguan people means ensuring that we continue to advance all the social programs to defeat poverty and that the conditions of Nicaraguan families improve with each passing day.”

Interview with Compañero Laureano Ortega Murillo, Minister Advisor for the Promotion of Investments, Trade and International Cooperation:We should all be very clear that we have a common enemy and that is poverty  In the St. Petersburg Economic Forum “There are more than 140 Countries, more than 20,000 participants in this important Forum in which Nicaragua has been playing a leading role in recent years, thanks to the invitation of the Russian Federation and the active, permanent cooperation that we carry out together…we, from Nicaragua, from Latin America, are a living example of resistance to those aggressive measures that have also become more aggressive in recent years against Russia, against China, but also the brutal aggression against Cuba.

That's actually the slaveholder mentality that endures in the United States, because let's remember that the United States is made up of European immigrants who were slaveholders and have maintained that worldview, that Ideology, and it is present in all these new policies that the President of the US is implementing against immigrants. We have faced this imperialist, selfish vision, these attempts at domination, practically since Nicaragua became a Republic.

Russian companies, Chinese companies, working in Nicaragua, exactly as it should be, but based on respect, without impositions. They have never demanded any kind of policy, they simply cooperate for the development of the Peoples, and that is what the imperialist mentality does not understand.

We see that clearly and with great hope, the strengthening of the BRICS, of the Eurasian Economic Union, we will be participating in the Eurasian Economic Union Forum, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and other Organizations that are emerging very strongly. And we, from CELAC, must maintain Latin American and Caribbean Unity. Every people has a different vision, different ideologies, different policies, but we should all be very clear we have a common enemy and that is poverty. That is what the Latin American and Caribbean Countries have in common, and we have to overcome it.”

Laureano Ortega Murillo: The Union of our Peoples will make us stronger, accompanying those new blocs such as the BRICS, the Eurasian Economic Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization “These two great world leaders, President Putin, President Xi, are leading this march towards …more justice for the world’s peoples, especially for the peoples of the Global South…Historical cooperation with Russia, and that in recent years it has focused on projects for peace, for life, for the health of the Nicaraguan People, which has allowed us to have good health programs…we support the Global Initiatives President Xi has proposed: The Belt and Road Initiative and the Initiatives of Global Development, Global Security, Global Civilization, which offers a light of hope to humanity, to find a way out of a very complex world where selfishness prevails, the imperialist mentality. Together with these great leaders like President Xi, hand in hand with Brother and Sister Countries like Nicaragua, like Venezuela, like Cuba, we are resisting, and contributing to the shaping of this new world order.”

Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partners The latest update on this solidarity organization’s aid to Nicaragua.

Washington Targets Achievements Of Cuba, Nicaragua, And Venezuela (John Perry, Roger Harris): Washington targets achievements of their health missions, like Mision Milago, which has treated over seven million patients in 33 countries since 2004. Washington has imposed sanctions on officials in countries using this and other Cuban medical missions. Supposedly aimed at stopping the “trafficking” of medical staff, the real intent is to destroy services that have proved immensely popular for their free, high-quality treatment, often in remote areas with few health facilities.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio labels Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua “enemies of humanity.” In reality, all three have made major advances in human development, albeit constrained (most heavily in Cuba’s case) by Washington’s attacks. All guarantee free education at all levels, including university. The three have also been international leaders in support of Palestine. Cuba was the first country in Latin America to sever diplomatic relations with Israel in 1973. Nicaragua did in 1982, reinstated by the neoliberal government in 1993, again severed in 2010 after the Sandinistas returned to power. Venezuela severed relations in 2009. 

Sanctions on Venezuela have led to the deaths of over 100,000 Venezuelans by 2020. The blockade of Cuba, costing the country $13.8 million daily, is so destructive that nearly one in ten Cubans has left the country in the last three years. Nicaragua is losing $500 million in development funding annually because the US is blocking loans from the World Bank and other institutions.

Nicaragua (and Mexico) Unemployment Rate Drops to 2.7%, the Lowest in America In 2024, the number of members of the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute increased by 10,459 people (1.3%), reaching a total of 802,372 formal workers. Service and industrial sectors were the main drivers. The Central Bank of Nicaragua reported that the country’s GDP grew by 3% in the first quarter of 2025, a figure lower than the previous year’s 3.5%. Exports grew by 8% so far this year, and foreign investment has risen to an equivalent of 14% of the GDP.

Events

July 9. 1:30 pm ET NSCAG webinar: Nicaragua, free education for all, a right not a commodity with Becca Renk, Director of the Jubilee House Community-Centre for Development in Central America health clinic and Coordinator of the Casa Benjamin Linder solidarity project; Ruth Bailey, Executive Committee member of Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group (NSCAG), participant in the NEU-sponsored teacher exchange with Nicaragua;  representative of Nicaraguan teachers' union ANDEN; and Julie Lamin, co-chair, NSCAG Executive Committee

Monday, July 14, at 2:30 pm ET. Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition monthly meeting on zoom. Email NicaraguaSolidarityCoalition@gmail.com for zoom access

July 27, 3 pm ET: Nicaragua Webinar, “Showcasing Nicaragua’s Solidarity in Action.” Features delegations that studied the health system and the revolution (which will include information on the anniversary of the July 19 celebrations). Two groups of visitors will share their experiences of Nicaragua’s popular revolution, especially as highlighted in the family and community healthcare system and the history of the Sandinista revolution. Becca Renk of Casa Benjamin Linder will lead the discussion by individuals who are seeing Nicaragua with fresh eyes, exploring the country’s culture, history, and current events. Register:  bit.ly/NicaJuly27

August 24, 3 pm ET: Nicaragua Webinar. Mark your calendars during this hurricane season to learn about SINAPRED, Nicaragua’s National System for Prevention, Mitigation and Attention to Disasters, and how it contrasts with the US system. 

September 21, 3 pm ET: Nicaragua Webinar on Nicaragua’s and Venezuela’s remarkable affordable housing programs, with Sofia M. Clark and a speaker from Venezuela’s Gran Misión Vivienda (TBA).

September 21, 3 pm ET: Nicaragua Webinar, a presentation of Nicaragua’s and Venezuela's remarkable affordable housing programs, with Sofia M. Clark and a speaker from Venezuela’s Gran Misión Vivienda (TBA).

 Delegations to Nicaragua 2025:

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

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

Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition: nicasolidarity.com

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