President Ortega Asks the European Union to Respect Nicaragua

On Wednesday, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega demanded that European countries respect his nation and defended the decision not to sign the final declaration of the summit between the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

RELATED:

Nicaragua did not sign consensus of the III EU-Celac Summit

“We want them to respect us. They want to be leading Nicaragua. What they want is to put an end to the Latin American revolutionary governments,” he said during a ceremony for the 44th anniversary of the triumph of the Sandinista Revolution in 1979.

The Nicaraguan leader then commented that the Europeans exerted pressure on Latin American countries so that Vodolymyr Zelenski, "the Nazi president" of Ukraine, was present at the EU-CELAC Summit that took place in Brussels on July 17 and 18. His presence, however, was rejected by most CELAC countries.

Ortega also revealed that the Europeans tried to include in the final declaration a few paragraphs to blame Russia for everything that happens in Ukraine. Nicaragua also strongly opposed that proposal.

The Sandinista leader recalled that the European Union has broken its promise to deliver some US$100 billion for environmental projects in Latin America starting in 2020.

“They quickly dedicate billions to Ukraine but they cannot allocate money for peace, the fight against poverty or environmental protection in Latin America,” he said, adding that the Europeans vetoed the proposals that Nicaragua made for inclusion in the declaration.

Among other things, Nicaraguan diplomats proposed that the EU-CELAC document include an exhortation to the United States not to deliver cluster bombs to Ukraine.

They also demanded that President Joe Biden comply with the ruling of the International Court of Justice, which requires the United States to compensate Nicaragua for the "acts of terrorism" committed against it in the 1990s.

Ortega revealed that although the EU-CELAC statement included phrases related to the uprising of the U.S. blockade against Cuba, the Nicaraguan diplomats demanded that the text also include a call to cease the aggressions and sanctions against Venezuela and Nicaragua. This proposal, however, was not accepted.

"So, what do we see there? We see that the EU is putting the tares in CELAC," the Nicaraguan President said, warning that "CELAC must make its reflections and decisions."