Daniel Ortega was sworn in for his fourth consecutive presidential term, the second along with his wife Rosario Murillo as vice president and the fifth of his entire political career, in an act in which he was more alone than ever. Without the support of the international community and in the midst of a socio-political crisis, the Nicaraguan president promised to reach the level of economic growth that the country had before 2018.
Nicaragua “is a country that is advancing in its economic growth, which must continue to fight, logically, and our goal is to continue the good progress that we had until April 2018. Clean slate. We are going forward, dear Nicaraguan brothers, building peace to combat poverty, ”Ortega said at the end of his speech in the Plaza de la Revolución, in Managua.
Along the same lines, Rosario Murillo referred to the 2018 protests as “a terrible episode” promoted by “retrogrades” that led the country to a backwardness from which she hopes to recover. “In the alliance model we all participate, they (the businessmen) earned, gave some work and contributed something to the growth we had, but that is where the debacle came, the selfishness, the greed and the attempt to return to a disastrous past” , critical.
Currently Ortega and Murillo hold more than 160 political prisoners, including some of the businessmen who participated in the regime’s consensus model and who in 2018, after the April massacre, broke with the Executive and demanded free elections. Relatives of the inmates, human rights organizations and the international community demand their immediate release, but they have been ignored by Ortega who, instead, remembered the people who were arrested during the protests in the US Capitol in January 2021.
“There are 700 political prisoners (in the United States), what are they waiting to release them, there they are hard against them. Ah, while on the other hand they launch terrorist activities, they organize them against sister countries like Venezuela ”, accused the Nicaraguan president. “How would the Yankees have reacted if they were given acts of terrorism like the ones we faced in 2018? hundreds of citizens and who had the country paralyzed for several months, “he added.
Ortega’s international isolation
The inauguration of Ortega and Murillo was only attended by the presidents of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel; from Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and from Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández; and representatives of the Governments of China, Iran, Russia, and a Vice Foreign Minister of Bolivia.
The president assured that the return of diplomatic relations with China will allow him to sign cooperation agreements and trade agreements to “multiply” the capabilities of the Nicaraguan people and “advance more quickly.”
At the same time, Ortega complained about the sanctions of the United States (USA) and the European Union (EU) that on the eve of his swearing-in they imposed new sanctions against senior IPSM officials from the Army, Telcor, and Eniminas. Camila Ortega Murillo and Laureano Ortega Murillo, both sons of the Nicaraguan leaders, were also sanctioned.
Meanwhile, the governments of the United Kingdom and Canada warned that they could take new measures against the “oppressive regime” of President Ortega and applauded the new sanctions announced by the EU and the United States as a form of pressure for the Nicaraguan authorities to “restore democracy. and respect human rights ”.
“Cowards! Cowards! Those who are cruel in this way, in families, not only in Nicaraguan families but also in families of brother peoples, such as the Cuban people who are subjected to brutal sanctions or like the Venezuelan people, who are subjected to brutal sanctions, where they even launched an assassination attempt against our brother Nicolás (Maduro), we have not forgotten that, ”said Ortega.
The Nicaraguan president also highlighted the “courage” of President Hernández to attend his inauguration ceremony, after he received boos and shouts of “Get out JOH” when he was presented to the public.
“You want courage to be present here in Nicaragua,” said Ortega.
The inauguration ceremony was also attended by former Salvadoran and nationalized Nicaraguan presidents Mauricio Funes and Salvador Sánchez Cerén, as well as former Guatemalan president Vinicio Cerezo.
Political Consultation Agreement with China
Prior to the presidential inauguration, Ortega and Murillo met with a delegation from the People’s Republic of China headed by the Vice President of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Assembly (ANP, the Chinese Legislative), Cao Jianming, with whom they signed four cooperation agreements, including a political consultation agreement.
The agreement, which was signed by the presidential advisor and son of the ruling couple, Laureano Ortega, and by representatives of China, is called “Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Ministry of Foreign Relations of the Republic of Nicaragua, on the establishment of the political consultation mechanism, ”according to the Nicaraguan Executive, who did not disclose details.
A Framework Cooperation Agreement, a “memorandum of understanding” on “cooperation in the framework of the economic belt of the Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road of the 21st century” and another referring to mutual exemption were also signed. of visas for those who carry diplomatic passports.
The signing of the agreements occurred a month after Nicaragua reestablished relations with China after breaking them with Taiwan, which the Asian giant considers a “rebel province”.
“President Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the development of relations with Nicaraguans and appreciates their decision to reestablish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China on the basis of the one-China principle. He congratulates him on being reelected as president of the Republic of Nicaragua and welcomes him to visit China at an opportune moment for both parties, ”said Cao.
Meanwhile, Ortega stated that “we have always been totally clear and convinced that there is only one China,” but added that the meeting ratified “the principles of socialism, with the particularities and Marxist-Leninist thought as the guide, the thought of the great leader Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and the thought of President Xi Jinping ”.
