22 de junio 2022
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The Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Iván Acosta, promoted the construction of the interoceanic canal, the biggest infrastructure failure of the dictatorship and the cause of the repression of thousands of peasants, while a delegation of high officials went to Moscow to participate in the St. Petersburg economic forum.
Acosta maintained that the country remains an “ideal platform” in economic terms for Russia, Eurasia, and the joint economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, known as BRICS, during the June 15-18 forum.
“Nicaragua is a country with an enviable position in geographic terms, with important natural resources, and also has the opportunity to find alternatives for trade such as an inter-oceanic canal, which would be very important in these times of sanctions and aggressions,” Acosta said in an interview with Sputnik.
Since last January, when Ortega took office for a fourth consecutive term after a vote without democratic guarantees, he has strengthened his ties with Russia and China, while refusing to comply with his international obligations regarding respect for human rights.
Ortega keeps more than 180 political prisoners in jail and refuses to restore freedoms to Nicaraguan citizens, who live under a de facto police state that prevents them from demonstrating and associating.
Meeting with Lavrov, Putin 's Chancellor
Acosta was one of the members of the Nicaraguan delegation that met with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, which was headed by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada Colindres and two of Ortega's sons: Laureano and Daniel Edmundo Ortega Murillo.
The communiqué of the Nicaraguan delegation's meeting with Lavrov reiterated the “strategic alliance” between both nations, while Minister Acosta affirmed that they support the Russian foreign policy which is currently being questioned after the brutal invasion of Ukraine.
Lavrov responded to Nicaragua’s backing with his words during the meeting with the high-level delegation. “We always support Nicaragua at the UN (United Nations) and other organizations, and we know that our Nicaraguan friends also support us,” he said.
None of the delegations referred to the recent international controversy over the authorization of Russian troops to enter Nicaragua in the context of the invasion of Ukraine, which was “overstated” by Russian state television propaganda, according to security expert Roberto Cajina.
Doña ‘Chica’ Ramirez: “Acosta has no scruples”
Acosta's statements on the subject of the interoceanic canal provoked the indignation of peasant leader Francisca ‘Chica’ Ramírez.
“As the Anti-canal Peasant Movement, we have been fighting against the project, it seems a total abuse of Mr. Ivan Acosta offering something that he does not own. The only owners of our land, of Nicaragua, are the Nicaraguans,” said Ramírez.
According to the leader, Acosta has no scruples and is trying to do what Ortega did: “sell a void, they have nothing more to do than to offer the resources of our country, our lands, in something unsuccessful”.
Ramírez affirmed that it is precisely the peasants who are actually defending the sovereignty that “Ortega and all his henchmen” handed over in 2013.
The concession of the great interoceanic canal was given to the unknown Chinese businessman Wang Jing, who would supposedly make “a dream of centuries” possible, at a cost of 50 billion dollars. The work never began and became another unfulfilled promise of the Regime, while a non-transparent business relationship was woven between Ortega and the beneficiary in the telecommunications sector, as revealed last February by a CONFIDENCIAL investigation.
“These are people without morals. Also, the whole world has to know that any treaty they make with Ortega after the fraudulent elections, is invalid no matter what they do. Our struggle continues and they are totally discredited. They know that 90% of the people reject them”, reiterated Doña Francisca “Chica” Ramírez.
This article was originally published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by our staff
