Daniel Ortega on Friday justified the severance of diplomatic relations with one of the main aid workers in Nicaragua, the Republic of Taiwan, alleging the existence of a supposed “revolutionary twinning” and a historical political and ideological affinity with People’s China.
Ortega referred to the issue in a long speech for hours, broadcast by a national network imposed by Telcor on radio, television and cable. It was an intervention characterized by erratic and confusing moments on the part of the dictator, tempered by the murmurs of Rosario Murillo, who corrected him and even demanded that he speed up the speech.
In his justification, Ortega recalled the relationship between Taiwan and Nicaragua during Somocismo, through the establishment of diplomatic relations with People’s China in 1985, the break with the Asian giant in 1990 and the relationship with Taiwan, without mentioning that his Government benefited from their cooperation until leading to the announcement of the rupture, this Thursday, December 9.
In his journey, Ortega ignored the meaning of the economic support provided by Taiwan to his government in the almost 15 years he has been in power, focusing only on the great power of China’s economy and the ideological, political and revolutionary ties. The times that Ortega mentioned Taiwan in his story, it was to emphasize that this nation was part of People’s China, and that this has been recognized by the United Nations in a resolution.
“There is a historical and political link. Now the People’s Republic of China is a first-rate power. It is taken for granted that in a few years it will be the world’s leading economy, above the United States. China has been making progress in its relations with Latin America and the Caribbean and there is even a meeting point for the countries that are in Celac, with China, “said Ortega.
Taiwan’s cooperation with Nicaragua
For two consecutive years (2020, and the first three quarters of 2021), Taiwan was the most generous of bilateral donors to the Nicaraguan public sector. Taiwanese support for Nicaraguan finances and projects was even more generous in 2021, committing 1,051 million córdobas (about $ 29.7 million), to be shared among various ministries. And more than 800 million córdobas have already been executed, according to the Budget Execution Report January – September 2021, published by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (MHCP).
The government entity that has most benefited from this support is the National System for Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Attention (Sinapred), to which 545.6 million córdobas were assigned, of which 213.1 million are for the Program “Attention to Hurricane Emergencies ETA and IOTA ”, while another 176.9 million, are to finance the Techo Plan for the homes of the families affected by both hurricanes.
Similarly, 88.4 million córdobas were assigned to the Covid-19 Food Emergency Project; At the same time, 60.1 million were designated for the construction of solidarity housing, and 7.1 million for support for families affected by Hurricane Eta.
The Deception of the Grand Canal: A “Living Project”, Says Ortega
“Since we came to the government, we have been searching for the moment and working to reestablish relations with the People’s Republic of China. They even worked on projects that are there, those projects are alive, with a company from China, which is the grand canal project, ”added Ortega.
This Monday, December 6, it was seven years since Ortega and the mysterious Chinese businessman Wang Jing inaugurated the works of the supposed interoceanic canal, a project never started and has remained stagnant in Ortega’s promises and a mysterious annual item of the General Budget of the Republic of 45 million cordobas for the government entity that supervises it, despite the fact that the works never took off.
Qualifies as “ridiculous” criticism of the State Department
Ortega described as “ridiculous” the statements of the State Department, which in a press release reported that the breakdown of relations between Nicaragua and Taiwan deprives Nicaraguans of “a firm partner in their democratic and economic growth.”
“Taiwan’s relations with diplomatic partners in the Western Hemisphere provide significant economic and security benefits to the citizens of those countries. We encourage all countries that value democratic institutions, transparency, the rule of law and the promotion of economic prosperity for their citizens to expand their engagement with Taiwan, ”the State Department added.
“There is already a spokesman for the Yankees, protesting because we reestablished relations with the People’s Republic of China. These are totally absurd, ridiculous things, because Yankee spokesmen always protest when these countries that they call their backyard, open relations with China, “added Ortega.
The attack on political prisoners
Ortega did not waste his intervention to unleash virulent words of hatred against the political prisoners, to once again describe them as “terrorists, murderers, conspirators and traitors to the homeland”, insisting that they were financed by the United States to overthrow him in 2018.
Although he did not mention his name, he made an allusion to his brother, retired general Humberto Ortega Saavedra, whom he described as an “idiot” for saying in an interview on CNN en Español that none of the political prisoners was a terrorist, as the regime insists. .
“They are so terrorists that with desire they already put four bullets in someone who goes out there talking on television that they are not terrorists. He’s an idiot, what an idiot, he thinks he’s being swallowed. They don’t even chew it, and they don’t realize that they want to put four bullets into it, “said Ortega, while Murillo’s laughter was heard.
In July, in an interview on the show Oppenheimer Presents, from the international chain Cnn in Spanish, retired General Humberto Ortega Saavedra, former head of the National Army, assured that the opponents detained by the regime of his brother Daniel Ortega, “are not terrorists” or “traitors to the homeland,” as the Sandinista government has described them. .
“I am clear that those who are detained are not terrorists, they have not attempted against the stability of the country; they are simply opponents who have their point of view as I have it, “he said.
This was Ortega’s first public intervention in a little over a month. Before this Friday’s speech, his last act was on December 8 at an event to celebrate his “re-election” after the November 7 voting, carried out without political competition, with zero transparency, the imprisonment of opponents and generalized repression. against civil society and independent media.
That night, Ortega dedicated his most virulent hate speech against political prisoners, calling them “sons of bitches of imperialism”, while attacking the international community, mainly the European Union and the United States, whom he called “fascists.” and “Nazis” for the convictions and ignorance of the November 7 voting process.
Ortega made a brief reappearance on December 7, in a family prayer at his residence and office in El Carmen. He was shown in official media images wearing an Adidas sports outfit, which recalled the outfit that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro also wore in his last years.
In the images, he was sitting next to Murillo, and both were surrounded by several sons, daughters, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, granddaughters and grandsons, participating in a private prayer on the occasion of the Gritería in honor of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.
