Daniel Ortega: China is contributing to development in Africa, Asia and Latin America

In a recent speech commemorating the anniversary of the death of Nicaraguan freedom fighter and politician Tomás Borge, President Daniel Ortega surveyed the current geopolitical landscape, in particular expressing Nicaragua’s solidarity with the Palestinian people and applauding the student protests in the US and elsewhere: “The Peoples cannot accept, they cannot understand that a genocide is being committed with the participation of the powers of the Empires, headed by the North American Rulers, the Germans, the English, the French.”

Ortega describes the escalating campaign of encirclement and containment against China, asking “what threat is the People’s Republic of China?”

He contrasts China’s foreign policy with that of the Western powers: China “is not installing military bases like so very many military bases the United States has and has installed here in Latin America and the Caribbean alone”; China “is not promoting any war.”

The problem the US and its allies have with China is that “the People’s Republic of China has been growing, developing and has become close with the world’s developing countries… it is contributing to the development of these Peoples, contributing to the fight against poverty among these Peoples, to generating employment”. These are the same countries of the Global South which “the colonialist, imperialist countries used as nothing more than a source of wealth that they could steal.”

The threat to them, the greatest threat to them, to the Europeans, to the United States, is the way in which China has been growing, the threat is that the Chinese economy will grow, when on the other hand history tells us that the economies of the colonialist and imperialist Countries have only grown, using their economies, making them serve so as to dispossess other Peoples, to occupy other Peoples, to exploit other Peoples.

The speech was first published in English on the Tortilla Con Sal website.

Good evening, Nicaraguan Brothers and Sisters, Families of these Blessed Lands. Good evening, Beloved Internationalist Brothers and Sisters. And we are the expression that a New World is possible.

Here we meet as Brothers and Sisters, Compañeros and Compañeras born in the United States of America, born in Switzerland, like that Compañero who died murdered by the bullets of the Empire; Compañeros and Compañeras born in different Countries, Developed and Developing, and we meet, we join each other, in this year of the 45th Anniversary of the Revolution we meet, affirming, assuring, that the day will come when we will all become truly Brothers, Sisters.

That day will come, here is an example, and this has multiplied at different times in history, where Peoples have fought together and continue to fight for Peace; in a World that today more than ever insists on Peace, demands Peace.

And we see youth in North America raising the protest, the condemnation of the genocide that is being committed against the Palestinian People. North American youth protesting, right now, yes, they are protesting, and the protest is multiplying not only in North America, but in every country of our planet.

The Peoples cannot accept, they cannot understand that a genocide is being committed with the participation of the powers of the Empires, headed by the North American Rulers, the Germans, the English, the French.

That is, precisely that World where the Rulers pride themselves on being the most just, the most democratic, the most respectful of Rights, of International Law, they are unmasking themselves. Because they have managed to deceive our Peoples for a long time, thinking that Europe, North America, are Democracies, forgetting or getting us to forget how in a Developed Country, in a democratic Country, Germany, with the support of the great North American capital, Nazism came to Government.

And the war, that great war, that terrible war that caused millions of deaths, originated in a European country, it did not originate in an African country, nor did it originate in a Latin American or Caribbean or Asian country, it originated in Germany… Germany! And then the United States showing off that they own the atomic weapon, because in that war they started looking for how to build atomic weapons, Hitler wanted atomic weapons and the United States also wanted atomic weapons.

The United States had the atomic weapon and it did not take them long to launch it, to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two cities where there was no Army, two Cities where the victims were the civilian citizens of Japan, and where that horrendous crime caused more than 200,000 deaths as well as the incurable damage, as a result of radiation, in children, who as they were growing up were manifesting multiple diseases as adults and the elderly, finishing them off.

That is to say, they managed to cover up all those crimes over time. There was no condemnation of the use of atomic weapons. And today, well, there are atomic weapons everywhere, and that’s why the world has become more tense, pushing humanity to its limits.

There is a lot of talk about not crossing the red line, because now it is no longer a question of one Country against another, but one where all of humanity is exposed to crimes such as those now being committed against the Palestinian People, and the rulers of Israel insist on that, while as a People, the People of Israel is a People that we respect.

A good part of the People of Israel has condemned their Prime Minister, they do not want him as Prime Minister and they protest, but the Government of Israel is acting now like Hitler, today they are threatening to make the Palestinian People disappear. And they say it very calmly. And until they’re done, they’re not going to stop their crimes.

And a most terrible thing, really, is how the United States of North America and the Europeans allocate millions and millions upon millions of dollars that are needed by their Peoples, the North American people and the European Peoples. They use the taxes paid by the North American people, paid by the European People, to enrich and strengthen their Military Industry, and to send ever more weapons to the fronts of war.

There are two major fronts of war, one in Ukraine, where there is a war with armies that confronting each other in a war, and we all want that war to stop, and for Peace Agreements to be reached. On the other hand too we have the war of Israel’s rulers against Palestine.

Recently, millions, billions and billions, US$70,000 million have been approved in the United States Congress, and in Europe the same thing, for what? For death.

These are wars that are already putting all of humanity at risk, that is, the way these wars have been expanding, the way new bases have been installed in different parts of the planet, the way in which actions have been taken to find how to block the People’s Republic of China.

What threat is the People’s Republic of China? They are not installing military bases like so very many military bases the United States has and has installed here in Latin America and the Caribbean alone; who are not promoting any war. It’s just because the People’s Republic of China has been growing, developing and has become close with the world’s developing Countries, which the colonialist, imperialist Countries used as nothing more than a source of wealth that they could steal, including of course even Human Beings, because they turned Human Beings into merchandise, when the ”saintly” Europeans began trafficking slaves from Africa to other regions of the world.

In other words, today we can say that we see what we can see because they say it themselves, the threat of the People’s Republic of China is because it has become close to Africa, Asia and Latin America, contributing to the development of these Peoples, contributing to the fight against poverty among these Peoples, to generating employment.

And of course, since they are nothing more than developed, colonialist, imperialist states, they are accustomed to seizing the wealth of the Peoples; that is, they think they have the right to take over the wealth of any country in the world, and especially they feel they have the right to take over the wealth of any Latin American and Caribbean country.

Because the famous Monroe Doctrine, in which they declared that America is for the United States, is still in practice, it has not stopped, so they continue to install military bases in Latin America and the Caribbean. And they say it, senior Yankee officials openly say it, that the wealth of Latin America, oil, lithium, gold, must be for them, because those resources are in their territory. They consider us to be their territory.

And of course, to the extent that the People’s Republic of China has developed constructive policies with Latin American and Caribbean countries, with African countries, with Asian countries, they see that as a threat. But why don’t they compete with the People’s Republic of China by bringing investments, investments, more projects, bringing more resources to fight poverty? Instead what they bring are military bases and companies that come to try to deprive our Peoples of their resources.

The threat to them, the greatest threat to them, to the Europeans, to the United States, is the way in which China has been growing, the threat is that the Chinese economy will grow, when on the other hand history tells us that the economies of the colonialist and imperialist Countries have only grown, using their economies, making them serve so as to dispossess other Peoples, to occupy other Peoples, to exploit other Peoples.

Today, April 30th is Benjamin Linder’s birthday. Benjamin Linder came to Nicaragua not to plunder, he came to Nicaragua not to make himself rich at the expense of the peasant population, rather he came to Nicaragua to help the Peasants who were in difficult conditions in the middle of the war.

And he also brought Joy in his Soul, in his Heart, because he knew how to make children laugh with his costume and his skills as an Artist, as a Clown; that is, he combined Joy with Work, he combined Joy with Solidarity, with Love, he combined Joy with accompanying Peasants, developing works for Peasant communities.

That’s why he was assassinated and we all know very well that Ben Linder’s murderers were nothing more than mercenaries, from an army of mercenaries trained by the United States itself, armed by the United States, when it was debated in the US Congress how much was to be given to the Counterrevolution to destroy our Revolution, where the President of the United States himself, President Ronald Reagan, we can never forget, openly presented himself saying that he too was a Contra, he said as much.

So you see, a Power like the United States attacked a small Country, with a small population, but without realizing that this is a Country, as are all Peoples, Nicaragua is no exception, all Peoples have Dignity, all Peoples have Bravery, all Peoples have Courage, and we have seen how throughout history many Countries that were under the domination of the European Empires and the United States have acted for liberation.

We see countries, like Cuba, where the United States wanted to gobble up Cuba, when the Cuban Patriots were fighting, with Martí at the head, but when the Yankee rulers saw that the Cuban independence fighters were about to defeat the Spaniards, then the Yankee troops entered there, they entered there with their warships, they blockaded Cuba, the Yankees blockaded it, what for? With that mentality of theirs, they sought to snatch from the Spaniards the island that was the last Nation to become independent in all of the Americas.

And they fell on Cuba seeking how to impose their scheme, taking over Cuban territory, making agreements be signed, not by the Cuban Patriots, but by the sell outs who are always there waiting to bow down. And there is Guantanamo still, Guantanamo is Cuban territory, invaded by the Yankees… Yankee Invaders, get out of Guantanamo!

But years later, decades later, the Yankees failed to prevent the Victory of the Cuban People, a People that counted on the Solidarity of Fraternal Peoples after the attempt to assault the Moncada Barracks.

Then Fidel, in fact, with compañeros in Mexico… Mexico has been a really exceptional Country in Our America, Sandino had already been in Mexico earlier at the time when the Yankee troops were here in Nicaragua and Sandino was fighting them, and managed to expel them from Nicaragua, which was a Great Victory of the Nicaraguan People. So in Mexico they organized the expedition of the Granma, and there was motivation, there were political parties and movements, right here in the Region, that were looking for how to support the struggle waged by the Cuban People under really difficult conditions, and in the end, the Cuban Revolution triumphed.

And that Victory of the Cuban Revolution immediately meant a setback for the Imperialists of the Earth, so here in Nicaragua the Yankees organized bases to train mercenaries on the Caribbean Coast and from there ships and planes left for the invasion of Cuba that was defeated. And there was Fidel at the head of the forces resisting the invaders.

And a Nicaraguan, Carlos Ulloa, a pilot, who had rebelled against Somoza and was in Cuba, he fought the mercenaries, and in the fight against the mercenaries they shot down his plane, and there Carlos Ulloa joined his blood with the blood of the Cuban People in defense of the Independence, the Sovereignty, of the Republic of Cuba.

How many years have now passed since 1959 and they have not stopped attacking Cuba for a single day, provoking Cuba, trying to overthrow and destroy the Cuban Revolution, and they have imposed a brutal blockade, a blockade which has had various modalities, a blockade that has been going on since 1959 to date.

How many years, how many years, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, so many years with the People resisting what is a true genocide, because it is a genocide that the United States of America commits against the Cuban People and still they have not managed to defeat it, there it is Presente!

The Spirit of Fidel is present there, present in the People of Cuba who are resisting, today more than ever, the most brutal blockade that any people may ever have suffered.

And in the United Nations, well, what good is the United Nations? Really, good for nothing, other than to going there to discuss and talk, but from talking to taking action it is nothing more than an instrument of the Imperialists of the Earth, because every year at the United Nations they vote, voting to lift the blockade against Cuba. And there have generally only been two votes against, two votes for maintaining the blockade: the United States and Israel, those two Governments, not the Peoples, but the Governments of the United States and Israel.

That is simply a veto, that is not democracy, because if the vast majority there votes in favor of lifting the blockade, then what use is the United Nations if fundamental rules are not respected there, such as those to do with a vote byan immense majority of countries, including capitalist countries, all voting against the blockade.

The same thing has happened now over Palestine, a vote to recognize the Palestinian State, to give it a seat there at the United Nations; almost everyone voted in favor, except the United States, the United States Government. And well, since it is a powerful country militarily speaking, that means force is imposed over reason, force is imposed over law. And the recognition didn’t happen.

There are different forms of genocide, the one that is being committed against the Palestinian People, and the genocide that has been committed against the People of Cuba for all these years. A real genocide! It is not simply a violation of Human Rights, it is a genocide, because it is subjecting the people to hardship, looking for more ways to plunge them into poverty, so medicines can’t get there, and people die for lack of medicines, or launching campaigns seeking to provoke an uprising, like the one they provoked here in April 2018.

A well-articulated uprising, well organized by the US government agencies, with people even trained in the United States, and when Nicaragua was really growing, developing, where an Alliance had been achieved that was unthinkable in other times, between the Government of the Frente Sandinista and the Private Sector. And everyone was happy because the country was growing, everyone was happy because employment was multiplying, everyone was happy because the number of People insured in the Social Security system continued to increase, everyone was happy because the Health service was improving, the Education service, entrepreneurs were happy because they were also making money, more employment, more purchases, more purchasing capacity of the population, everyone was happy.

Then they had to kill all that, this Alliance had to be killed, and what they did was to provoke a criminal, cowardly, armed uprising, where they set alight and burned Nicaraguan citizens, and they filmed it all with their little cameras and published it all, because they already felt that the People’s Government had been defeated.

But, of course, the People knew how to defend Peace, to recover Peace, and what we are experiencing in Nicaragua today is really a period, despite all the difficulties that exist in the global economy, we have a situation of growth, moderate growth, but that gives us the ability to work Miracles here.

Because to work Miracles here is to make the Highways that were never built by the governments imposed by the Yankees. The Yankees never gave money for these Highways to be built, not even loans.

The roads connecting the Pacific zone with the Caribbean zone, when the Caribbean was completely isolated, and in this short time, the coup plotters had already been defeated after April 18th, well, there are the Highways: A Highway runs from Managua to Bilwi, in the Northern Caribbean, a modern, concrete road, because the rain there is so persistent that the asphalt gets destroyed, so, concrete. That is a real Miracle, something unthinkable in other times, for peoples who were totally marginalized. And that other Highway, from Managua to Bluefields, is the same, a modern highway connecting the South Caribbean region with the Pacific.

What would be a normal construction in another country, now construction has been going on here too so far, in these times, and it’s a real miracle for these Peoples, for all these Communities, to travel along these Highways.

And in these times, as I was telling you, when we have genocidal policies, when we have more threats of a nuclear war every day, that’s when we have to mobilize the most and we have to strengthen our Conscience, our Fighting Spirit, the Values of Benjamin Linder, the Values of Tomás, the Values of our Heroes and Martyrs, of Nicaragua and of the World. Because the Heroes, those who defend Justice, those who defend Sovereignty, those who defend Dignity, in any corner of our planet, are also defending our Rights too, even if the Battle is being fought in some Countries, but those efforts are multiplying, all those efforts are coming together.

Today, April 30th, we are now only a few hours away from May 1st, and on this day, today, April 30th, on the eve of May 1st, we join the Workers of the World, joining forces in the struggle for Peace, because fighting for Peace is fighting for Work and for the well-being of Workers.

To all Nicaragua’s workers, to all of us, our commitment to continue striving together, so that employment continues to multiply in its different forms, as we have been doing and we continue to do so successfully, such that every day we have more jobs, we have more insured employees, and we also have more and better hospital services like the ones we have now, all that we have done in these days, in these times, in these recent times to build hospitals, modern hospitals, State-of-the-art as they say, with all the most modern equipment, Modern Hospitals not only in the Capital, but in the Cities along the Pacific coast, and also modern hospitals are being built on the Caribbean Coast, like the modern hospital under way, being built in Bilwi.

How happy and honored we are to be with you, beloved Brothers and Sisters, here there are no languages or race that separates us, here we are all one Humanity. And how glad we are that we are here surrounded by Young People, by the Youth that has been growing.

And here we are, Brian, and beloved Sisters and Brothers, we are trees that are still standing tall, trees still standing, trees that will die standing tall, but we are here with these Young people who are trees that are growing, that have been growing and growing with the strength of the strongest trees, of the most solid trees, of the trees that grow and later their fruits are not for the tree itself, but they are for the People to consume.

This is youth growing up with the behavior, the attitude of giving themselves to the People, of giving themselves to the Population that has limited resources, of offering themselves and participating in the Programs that need to be carried out for the Well-being of Nicaraguan Families.

And so this gives us the certainty that the Revolution is advancing, that it continues to develop, that the Revolution is growing, and with the Revolution also growing in the World, are the Peoples that are growing. Because in the midst of this terror provoked by the Imperialists of the Earth, our Peoples have the Courage, the Steadfastness, the Dignity, the Spirit of Struggle and the Assurance that it will not be the war and the genocide imposed by the Imperialists that will be the destiny of the Planet, but rather Conscience and the Spirit of the Peoples, the Vocation of Struggle, the defense of Sovereignty, the defense of Rights, the permanent Struggle against these crimes that are being committed.

As I said at the beginning, people are fighting in the United States, as when they fought against the Vietnam War, and that struggle fought in the United States was decisive. Now the struggle is again being fought in the United States and it is being fought in Europe, why? Because the Peoples are more powerful than the owners of the atomic bombs, and it is the Peoples who will continue to overcome, and it will mean Peace for a New Sun to shine, where Men and Women from all over the Planet will come to be together as Brothers and Sisters.

Long live Peace!

Long live Humanity!

Long live Solidarity!