Fidel Castro (left) with Daniel Ortega (right). Photo: AP.
By Eduardo Martínez Borbonet, former Cuban Ambassador to Nicaragua – Jul 18, 2024
There are no identical political processes, much less Revolutions, which are conditioned by history and the context in which they develop.
However, in Our America there are no two processes with as many similarities as those of Cuba and Nicaragua.
The hallmark of both revolutions is often referred to as the method used to seize power, through armed struggle, something that truly makes them unique and probably unrepeatable.
However, there are also other features that distinguish and identify them, among which we can mention:
1- Deep historical roots. Each of these processes is based on a long tradition of struggle of its peoples, which goes back to the rebellious and indomitable spirit of its indigenous and Creole populations. Diriangén, Nicarao, Adiact, Andrés Castro, Zeledón, Sandino; Hatuey, Aponte, Varela, Céspedes, Maceo, Martí are symbols deeply rooted in the popular consciousness of their respective peoples and constant sources of inspiration for successive struggles. Not many countries have such an extraordinary tradition of struggle and such a wide gallery of heroes as ours.
2- Authenticity. The independence processes and subsequent revolutions did not arrive on horseback or in tanks from other latitudes. Their battles were inspired, led and directed by people from their peoples, beyond the undeniable contributions of extraordinary internationalists such as Máximo Gómez, Farabundo Martí, Che Guevara, who fused their blood and ideals with ours.
3- Nationalism and anti-imperialism. The struggles in Cuba and Nicaragua, independently of their patriotic and nationalist character, were from the beginning marked by a strong anti-imperialist sentiment. Martí did it in silence, confessing it before his death, the same day Sandino was born, who made anti-imperialism his battle flag. The beating of the Yankees in Las Segovias and the victory at Playa Girón sealed that anti-imperialist destiny.
4- The spiritual and moral strength of the precursors precedes and surpasses the political and ideological component in both processes. Fidel and Carlos Fonseca drank from the sources of Marxism, but the first was precise in pointing out Martí as the intellectual author of Moncada and the second did not hesitate to define the Liberation Front that was founded as “Sandinista”. The people have rewarded this wisdom and for that reason, although they fight for the ideals of socialism, the Nicaraguan people are above all Sandinista and Danielista, just as the Cuban people are above all Martian and Fidelista.
5- Another feature that distinguishes them is their radicalism. These were not half-measures. The changes carried out at the socioeconomic, structural, political and legal levels were very radical in order to benefit the less favored sectors and combat the poverty inherited from centuries of exploitation. These changes, of course, unleashed the reaction of the empire and its local allies in the upper classes.
6- Reciprocal respect and loyalty. Not because it preceded it in time and enjoyed greater experience, did Cuba ever try to belittle, tutor or ignore the Sandinistas. On the contrary, there are plenty of examples of the respect, delicacy and tact with which Fidel always treated his leaders, even in difficult moments of the war when divergences arose between the different tendencies of the FSLN. However, Cuba gave signs from very early on of a generous solidarity that was manifested in the most diverse spheres of cooperation and was sealed with the blood of combatants and civilian collaborators in the different stages of the Revolution. According to Fidel himself: “Nicaragua was one of the countries that best used Cuba’s collaboration in health and education.”
The Nicaraguan people, for their part, have always been on Cuba’s side, even in the fateful days when Somoza lent the territory for the invasion of Playa Girón and asked the mercenaries to bring him a hair from Fidel’s beard. The pilot Carlos Ulloa, who fell fighting in Girón, washed that affront with his blood and years later Fidel himself in Managua, offered his entire beard in a symbolic gesture to the Nicaraguan people.
7- Leadership. Both Revolutions have had strong and clear leaders who have known how to guide the destinies of their people with firmness and wisdom. Fidel Castro managed to unite the different revolutionary forces, successfully lead such a radical process and above all maintain resistance against an empire that has done everything it could to try to destroy it. His leadership and that of his successors has had a great impact, not only on a continental level, but even on a global level.
The Sandinista Revolution had among its founders extraordinary leaders, such as Carlos Fonseca and Tomas Borges, and today it has in Commander Daniel and Compañera Rosario an experienced leadership with undeniable popular and international prestige. Fidel, who never gave away praise, said this to Daniel in a message for the 35th anniversary of the triumph of the Sandinista Popular Revolution: “You and Rosario, as was later the Bolivarian leader Hugo Chavez, unavoidable champion of the struggle for socialism and the anti-imperialist revolution in Latin America, will occupy a place of honor in the history of the peoples of this continent.”
For these seven reasons and for many more that cannot be put into words, we Cubans feel the joy of the Nicaraguan people as our own in celebrating this 45th Anniversary, and no occasion is more propitious to renew the commitment bequeathed by our heroes, to honor each day more these exemplary relations that forged years of struggle and sacrifice and that nothing and no one can stand between these two sister Revolutions.
Long live the 45th Anniversary of the Sandinista Popular Revolution.
Long live the indestructible brotherhood between Cuba and Nicaragua.
Sandino Lives, the Struggle Continues.
Free Homeland or Death.
Homeland or Death, We Shall Win.
