Daniel Ortega backs Russia in Ukraine conflict, blames US

After 36 days out of the public eye, Daniel Ortega made a brief reappearance, presiding over a press conference. The event marked the conclusion of a visit by a Russian delegation, headed by Yury Borisov, Deputy Prime Minister of that government. The visit occurred in the context of the current crisis in the Ukraine.

Ortega expressed Nicaragua’s total support for Russia, in the face of what he termed “imperialist aggression” from the United States and Europe. His remarks referred to the current geopolitical conflict in Ukraine, where the United States and Europe are currently on alert against an imminent invasion by Russian forces.

“Empires always attack the peace, the way they’re lashing out at Russia. We can’t forget the coup d’etat that occurred some years before – a coup d’etat in the Ukraine, just like the one they tried to impose on Nicaragua in 2018, bathing the Nicaraguan people in bloodshed,” Ortega declared.

The supposed coup the strongman referred to was a wave of student protests that exploded in the Ukraine in 2014. Those protests forced the ouster of then-president Viktor Yanukovych, who had friendly ties with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

The student movement was violently repressed by police and paramilitary loyal to the Yanukovych government. However, the Army backed the protesters, and, thanks to them, they succeeded in ousting Ukraine’s then-president, Yanukovych.

Highly concerned about the political effects of this student revolution, which was backed by the majority of the Ukrainian people, Moscow seized the moment of political turbulence to annex Crimea. Vladimir Putin’s government also began giving logistical and military support to pro-Russian rebels operating in the Ukraine, with the hopes of overturning the authorities who assumed power after the protests.

“There was a bloodbath in the Ukraine that ended in a coup d’etat, which didn’t receive any condemnation or opposition from Europe or the United States. On the contrary, it was nourished and encouraged by those who once more want to assault the peace,” Ortega railed.

Russia will maintain its military cooperation in Nicaragua

Ortega affirmed that his government had succeeded in signing a number of economic and trade agreements with the Russian delegation presided over by Borisov, although he didn’t offer any further details of these accords.

The Russian government official limited his participation to mentioning the economic scope of the accords, without touching on the theme of the Ukraine. He stated that the objective of the agreements with Nicaragua is to increase trade between the two countries, which according to Borisov totals some US 160 million dollars annually.

He did briefly note that Russia’s technological and military cooperation with the Nicaraguan Army would continue. “We’re going to continue offering this support, and we’ll continue working in that direction as well,” declared the representative of Vladimir Putin’s government, without offering any more details.

This article was originally published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by Havana Times