TRUE TRUTHS
CONSULTATION
Presentation by Compañero Doctor Gustavo Porras
President of the National Assembly
to Communicators and Journalists during
the Consultation Process on Constitutional Reforms
August 4th 2026
Good morning, Compañeros and Compañeras, welcome to all the Compañeros and Compañeras of the media, communicators and journalists, the men and women who manage the networks, Compañero Daniel, Head of the Media, Rafael, Camila and Maurice.
I would like to introduce you, Compañeros and Compañeros, to the Members of the Special Constitutional Commission in which we have been working under the guidance of Comandante Daniel and Compañera Rosario.
Here we have Compañera Arling Alonso, who is the First Vice-President of the National Assembly; Compañera Loria Dixon, who is the First Secretary of the Assembly; next to the Vice-Presidents we have our Compañera Heroine Amada Pineda, Second Vice-President; and we have Compañera, friend, co-religionist, María Haydée Osuna, who has been steadfastly accompanying us with the PLC throughout this Process, really.
From the Secretariats also, after the First Secretary we have Wilfredo Navarro, Second Secretary of the National Assembly and the Third Secretary, our friend Alejandro Mejía Ferretti, of the ALN.
Let’s start the presentation. The dynamic is… Ah, in fact, I’m not done, I have in front of me, I’ve already seen the reproachful look of my compañero and political grouping leader, Edwin Castro, the head of our political grouping; Member of the Special Constitutional Commission, our friend Lester Flores, the head of the PLC political grouping; our friend Mario Asensio, who is the head of the BID political grouping.
We have Compañera Deputy Auxiliadora Martínez, who is president of the Justice Commission, and Compañero Doctor Wálmaro Gutiérrez, president of the Economic Commission. We are 12 compañeros and compañeras who make up the Special Constitutional Commission.
We have been developing, via the work we have been doing, the guidelines that we have been fulfilling, and we have been developing the content which we are now going to present to you.
All this derives from July 19th. It’s clear that the guidance had already been given, but it was made public and communicated by our Co-President Comandante Daniel, on July 19th.
The Co-Presidents have told us to carry out this Process of Consultation throughout the month of August, until the month of the Patriotic Nation, September 1st when we propose to approve this Constitutional Reform in honor of the month of our Patriotic Nation.
Comandante Daniel said clearly: There will be no elections… no elections that allow, and referring to those who are lying in wait, that allow them to take over the Government again, to take over power, since, obviously, their objective is to reverse the entire process that we have been carrying out of Restitution of the Rights of the Nicaraguan People. That’s the departure point, the objective.
Given that, we set to work, but he also gave us a clear indications, which is very clear, and repeated in the following sentence, that those coup promoting traitors: They will not Prevail! They Won’t Prevail! They Won’t Be Able To!, referring to the fact they will not be able to return.
Throughout his address, he mentioned three very important things: he spoke about elections with Dignity, our elections, the elections of Nicaraguans. So, these elements are the ones that we set out with, and with which we began to build this presentation which we are going to make to you today.
That is to say, he constantly maintained these three Concepts, and these are the Concepts that guide us in this Electoral Reform; rather, these three principles: Stability, Security and Peace. Stability, Security and Peace.
Now, these three intertwined principles seek an objective defined by Comandante Daniel, by Compañera Rosario, by the Sandinista Front and assumed by all of us, and directed by the main instrument that Nicaraguans have, which is the State under our Government of Reconciliation and National Unity.
What is the goal? The fight against Poverty, that’s the exact goal. As long as we fail to overcome Poverty, we cannot say that we are free.
That is to say, our fundamental task, our goal is the fight against Poverty, is to emerge victorious from Poverty.
Overcoming Poverty, by overcoming Poverty we are really breaking the chains that could, in a moment, be replaced and remade. But here the main thing that to be restored are the Rights of Nicaraguans together with the triumph over Poverty. So, overcoming poverty needs Stability, it needs Security and it needs Peace.
At one of the meetings with the productive sectors there was a proposal, a reference. A compañera said, “I propose that it be first, Peace.” And she is right, because when you review Peace, it is the most precious good, desired and aspired by Nicaraguans.
But the thing is that this is not to do with any order of priorities or importance, this is intertwined. So, we can either say Peace, Security and Stability, or Peace, Stability and Security. The three things, but those three things are what will allow us to win through.
To understand what we are talking about, we began to review history, and this is our history: Nicaragua was built on a permanent struggle against foreign interference.
It was our turn first to fight against Spanish colonialism, from the 1500s and so on until 1821, when we formally achieved Independence; that is to say, we are talking about 300 years of struggle of Nicaraguans, since the time we removed Gil González, which Diriangén and Nicarao did together, they expelled Gil González.
And then comes the whole history of struggle, in 300 years, and there we go through Adiact, through Agateyte, through all those caciques who fought and were killed by Spanish colonialism.
Well, in the nineteenth century too, the only thing that changed was the face, the expression of foreign domination. So, then in 1821 we said, We are independent of the Spanish Crown, we are going to start building.
Then came all the internal struggles; everyone who wanted their own way, they could not consolidate Central America, everyone wanted to be a country, and from that time, at the very moment when Yankee expansionism began, William Walker appeared and Cornelius Vanderbilt and Byron Cole appeared, and they all appeared.
In that attack of the Yankee filibusters, they imposed on us a President, William Walker, he imposed himself, and the first thing he did, the great decree he issued, was to restore slavery. He established himself as President and restored slavery, we are talking about 1854, 1855 and 1856, and a new phase of struggle began for us Nicaraguans.
In this case it was not against Spanish colonialism, it was now against Yankee imperialism since its very inception. And Estrada appeared, Andrés Castro appeared; they managed to defeat Walker. We Nicaraguans managed to unite Central America, and we Central Americans did not allow Walker, later on, to succeed in the attempts he made to resume the invasion of Nicaragua.
This is how we made it through and arrived at the Liberal Revolution, led by General José Santos Zelaya, who is a National Hero. And it really was a revolution that disrupted the roots of what existed at the time.
Until that time, until Zelaya, that is to say, the only marriage that was valid was by the Church, civil rights did not exist. Only people who were baptized, or people who recognized the power of the Church could be buried in a cemetery; in all that time up until the Liberal Revolution.
But there was also a central element that Nicaraguans have had, which is the idea of the Canal. So, Zelaya started working in that direction, which is the same idea that attracted the filibusters, the same idea that Cornelius Vanderbilt thought about, because that was his business, shipping.
And when Zelaya wanted to democratize and set about making the Canal a National Project, the gringos fell on him and there appeared the Knox Note, in 1909 we are talking about, and it appeared. But Benjamin Zeledón, a military officer and a leader of the Liberal Revolution, appeared as well and rose up against the Yankee intervention of 1912.
Where is Benjamin Zeledon buried? Where is his body? Because he transited to immortality together with so many others, remaining in the heart of all of us. But where is he?
Remember that we go to visit him at the entrance of the Catarina cemetery. We don’t go into Catarina’s cemetery to see him, he lies outside. They did not allow him to be buried inside, because the Yankees gave orders to the Church, and the Church did not allow his burial in the cemetery, because it was forbidden to bury people designated as outlaws.
Some say he was a Freemason and, so maybe it was also for being a Freemason; others say… in other words, there are a thousand stories, but the truth is that the Yankees, the power at the time did not let them bury him rather, thank God, they placed him closer to the people, closer to his People.
But Zeledón helped Sandino realize what the Yankee intervention meant, because he watched when they dragged Zeledon’s body through Catarina, thus he made his commitment, which is another part of the story. That’s when we arrive in 1927, at the Espino Negro Pact, about which one always hears, all of us have heard but, moreover, we remember how on that May 4th Sandino comes along and says instead: “I’m not selling out or surrendering,” and he left with 30 men.
And then you see what happened on January 28th; we have mentioned the Espino Negro Pact in 2027; on January in 2028, why this long story? Because we came to this, the US marines cam along and they controlled the Electoral Districts and, among other things, they appointed Brigadier General Frank Ross McCoy as President of the National Elections Council, General Moncada became President of the country, with an absolutely pro-US Government.
In 1928, in 1930 and in 1932, elections were organized and supervised by military occupation troops. Why do we mention this? Because we are putting together the history and it is all true. It is the reality of this country, the elections after 2027, when the gringos promised Moncada that he would be President, as long as he surrendered, were directed by the gringos, by the Army of Occupation; indeed, completely shamelessly.
They had already been shameless enough to appoint William Walker 100 years earlier; well, 100 years later they were shameless enough to say: “Yes, we are going to hold Elections and the President of the Electoral Council, then it was called the National Electoral Council, is going to be General Ross McCoy, that’s the person who is going to head it.”
Moreover, there is the Decree where it says that his understudy has to be another gringo, he cannot be a Nicaraguan. And both gringos were appointed by the President of the United States; as we will see.
But this historical part is important so that we can see the transcendental step that the Revolution, and that Comandante Daniel and Compañera Rosario are guiding us to take, and that all of us are taking, which is to do away with intervention completely.
But, that was not all, at that point, since the heads of the polling stations… that’s why they were told to take over the Electoral Districts, because the heads of the polling stations in the elections were the gringos; we had heard this in speeches by the Comandante, but, well, we took it upon ourselves to lay it all out fully.
And this does not start in 1928, Compañeros and Compañeras, but had been going on since 1923. That is to say, all this ignominious period of Nicaragua’s history; this had been coming since 1923.
An Electoral Law was enacted that the gringos ordered to be made, they wanted an Electoral Law to be prepared, and the Electoral Law of Nicaragua was known as Dodd’s Law. There was a Mr. Dodd, who was an academic from the United States, whom the State Department sent to advise the President of Nicaragua, who was Adolfo Díaz, to prepare this Dodd’s Law.
This Law established the National Elections Council; that is to say, it created what is the National Elections Council, and the Law sought to institutionalize Bipartisanship, that is, the Anglo-Saxon concept of Democracy, what we know exists in the United States, Bipartisanship.
And that was what existed from 1928 to 1978, because the Revolution broke with all that; what we learned as children, the Historical Parallels. And there it is, this is an Official Ballot Paper of the Historical Parallels.
You can see what’s here: Conservative Party, Nationalist Liberal Party, Presidential Candidate, Adolfo Díaz; Presidential candidate, Juan Bautista Sacasa, the one of Sandino’s last supper.
These were the Historical Parallels and this was the ballot paper of that time. And one can say: what’s written there, it’s a photo, a slide… No, there it is, there are the Official Gazettes, here is the reference. Here is the Official Gazette with the Dodd’s Act Gazette, this is the Gazette of Tuesday, April 3, 1923, and this is Dodd’s Act.
Here’s the part where it talks about the Electoral Cantons, the Electoral Districts; it is true that this was 100 years ago, but imagine, so that you can see what the existing Democracy was at that time.
The Electoral Universe, the Register was like this, a very small one. Why? Because out of every 100 Nicaraguans, the right to vote belonged only to Nicaraguan men aged 21 or older; Men. You’re talking about, out of every 100 Nicaraguans, probably 48 were men; so, it’s already an Electoral Roll with 48% of Nicaraguans, but they also had to be over 21 years old.
At that time, the population aged 20 and under was approximately 60% of the population; that is, out of every 100 Nicaraguans, 48% were men, and of that 48%, 20% or 22% were over 21 years old. That was the voting population.
However, in addition, if you were 18 years of age or older, you could vote if you were married, married by the Church for sure; and, in addition, if you knew how to read and write. With the level of illiteracy that the Revolution encountered, imagine, this was the voting population. Who were those voting? The ones we see in the photo, in suits and bowler hats, and probably, as they said, their employees. That was the logic of the democracy the Revolution found.
That’s why we want to include this historical part, so that we can see the whole transformation process. But even this was not enough for them, because once this law came into effect, a decree was made to reform it, which is this one that is here, which is a decree now actually from 1928. And it says:
“Be it known that the Supreme Court of Justice, by Agreement Number 17 of this month has named General Frank Ross McCoy as President of the National Elections Council replacing Dr. Joaquín Gómez who submitted his resignation.
And that this high Official, in that capacity, because he was appointed by the President of the United States, shall direct the 1928 Election of Supreme Authorities, as agreed, so as to put an end to the Civil War ravaging Nicaragua.”
That was democracy. The Yankee President appointed this Yankee General, to be the president of the National Council of Nicaragua, and to direct the Elections. Why? So as to elect Moncada. So, they call this the McCoy Act. First, Dodd’s Act, and the McCoy Act is the one that reforms the Dodd’s Act.
But after so much struggle, so much blood, after the assassination, after his immortal return and his taking possession heart and soul of all Nicaraguans, Sandino, after that, and the birth of the Sandinista Front, and all the struggle and everything that took place… We come to this Article One of last year’s Constitution, of last year’s Constitutional Reform, which is the political guide for what we are doing now.
This is Article One of our Constitution, right now, the one that stands and is the one that must become a Guide for all of us.
“Article One: Independence, Sovereignty, National Self-Determination, Security and Peace are inalienable rights of the People and Foundations of the Nicaraguan Nation.
Any foreign interference in the internal affairs of Nicaragua, or any attempt to undermine its Rights, threatens the life of the People. It is the duty of all Nicaraguans to preserve and defend these rights.
Consequently, all those who violate these sacred Rights of the Nicaraguan People will be considered traitors to the Nation.”
That is Article One of the Constitution, we must always bear that in mind, always in our heart, always in our actions.
And, in fulfillment of this Article, based on the effort and permanent struggle to do away with all that history of ignominy and betrayal from where we came, and since only the Revolution has managed to offer us an exit from it, we have elaborated six Concepts for this Reform, which are the ones that we want to propose to you.
The first Concept was mentioned by Comandante Daniel when he said: They will not prevail! They Won’t Be Able To!, They Won’t Be Able To!, which reminds us of our slogan, our rallying cry: They Could Not Prevail Nor Will They!, and we have this fixed well in our thought and in our heart.
Such that, so we don’t forget, we labelled it as what might be the First Article of the Reform, we have called it, to keep it in mind: They Won’t Prevail!”
And the Constitution says: “Citizens have the right to choose and be elected, and to run for public office, except for the limitations contemplated in this Political Constitution.” This is Article 47 of the Constitution.
But we make it clearer: They may not be candidates for positions of Popular Election, nor may they hold public offices by appointment of the Presidency of the Republic or Election of the National Assembly. Who are they?
The coup plotters, those who commit or have committed acts that undermine the Independence, Sovereignty and Self-determination of Nicaragua; traitors to the Nation, the traitors whom we already know, those already named, but also any other traitor to the Nation.
Because a traitor to the Nation is anyone who is condemned for being a traitor after all the elements to commit the crime of treason are demonstrated in their case and they are found guilty. As soon as they are found guilty of treason, they cease to be Nicaraguan, because they becomes stateless and cannot participate in national life.
And, in addition, there is added, “those who violate or have violated the Fundamental Principles contemplated in this Political Constitution.”
In the concept “They Will Not Prevail”, where it says “incur”, there goes a proposal for the wording that defines the term very well, so there are no doubts: “Those who incur or have incurred in acts that undermine the Independence, Sovereignty and Self-Determination of Nicaragua”.
But, to be very clear, those who incite or promote foreign interference, call for military intervention, organize with financing from abroad, propose actions or support economic, commercial or financial blockades, and sanctions against the State of Nicaragua, its Institutions and its Citizens.
And that makes it clear, because it is logical, how can someone going around saying that such-and-such is happening here, that there is no democracy and asking for military intervention, but they are still going to participate in elections? No! Or call to sanction the government? and they are going to participate in elections? It cannot be, this is incompatible, absolutely incompatible. Why? Because these are national elections that defend national interests.
One cannot tolerate that any person attacking the national interests and the country, the Republic and the Nation, then goes on to participate in an electoral exercise totally directed and supervised by the People of Nicaragua.
The second Concept is part of the basic initial concepts, Stability; this is so that we do not forget. So, what are the electoral reforms? One, They Won’t Prevail! Two, Stability.
The period established in the Political Constitution of the Republic of Nicaragua for the positions of popular election and for those of election or ratification by the National Assembly, will be seven years; that gives us Stability; it is quite a long period, we might say, and I did not want to use the word stability again. But it is a period that gives us a sufficiently broad sense of stability, and is really not that long.
Now, around the world there are ten-year periods, there are ten-year periods; there are seven-year periods in a fairly significant number of countries; there are six-year periods, we had six until recently.
There are countries in Central America that went from five to six. There are periods of five. At one point we had five years ourselves, and there are four-year periods. Periods of four years, where many times what they do is four plus four meaning eight years. Lately, in one of those countries it was suggested, four times four.
But here seven years is a period in which you can develop projects that already go beyond the medium term, Projects that can be established, so that you can develop all the efforts for getting ahead. What is the main objective? To get ahead and to be able to combat Poverty.
Three to four years is the average that these large projects take, such as, for example, the ones I am familiar with, the large hospitals with 500 beds, four years.
Four years financed with national funds, and when you start to use loans for this, then it may take a little longer, because so-and-so, I don’t know who… but anyway, seven years is a good period.
“Cohesion and Security” is the other concept, Security. If we are going to change the period of Government, and popularly elected posts then so too the positions appointed by the President, or approved by the National Assembly, ratified by the National Assembly, if they are seven years, then the Commanders, the Commander-in-Chief of the Military Forces and the Heads of the Police Forces should also be for seven years. So, that gives Cohesion, but we are also talking about Security. That’s another element.
As you can see, we already have three, what could be three Articles of the Reform: the first, They Will Not Prevail!; the second, Stability; and the third, Security. Certainly, these articles are ready and all the legal vocabulary is prepared.
The fourth, so that we do not forget, we can call “Guarantee of our Electoral Democracy”, which is the Concept referring to the Supreme Electoral Council.
And we give this Guarantee of our Electoral Democracy because, first, in order to reinforce the Concept of Democracy, we believe that elections are a very small part of Democracy. There is electoral democracy, but true democracy goes further.
Imagine that the electoral democracy that I presented to you was a Democracy in which 48% of the Nicaraguan population could vote, and only men; because women were not citizens. Of that 48%, approximately less than 40% could do it because they were not over 21 years old. You could do it if you were 18, but only if you could read and write or were married by the Church. So, there you were with just 20% of your existing electoral population.
But, besides that, you were not secure; if you were an employee it depended on the boss whether he took you to vote or not; and if he took you to vote you had to do so in front of your boss.
That is to say, that is the Democracy they are talking about, that is Electoral Democracy, but also with a gringo supervising the polling station, with an armed marine taking care of the ballot box, and with a vote counted by a Gringo General. Some Democracy!
So, we don’t much believe in that kind of Democracy, because Electoral Democracy is just minor part. We believe in Democracy that gives people the Right to go and get health care and to be taken care of as a People President, this is the Concept of our Democracy; to be taken care of as of Right as the President People and not to be charged for it; there is no economic barrier to obtain that Right.
That people can send their children to school, and they won’t be rejected because they do not wear the uniform, that they are not rejected and when they attend class that they get their school lunch, and, when they get their grades, they receive them and are not denied them, or that they are not allowed to take an exam because they have not paid to do so.
That is to say, removing all those barriers is democracy, real Democracy, the Democracy whereby you can make ends meet with bus fares at just C$2.50, you can make ends meet because you can afford C$5 of tortillas, and at one time it was impossible to make ends meet.
So, you have a large subsidy for public urban transport, you can use transport to go to work without being unable to afford other things you need. That is our democracy.
Or democracy for Bilwi, which is that now people on the Caribbean Coast can come and go readily; one day they come, do what they are have to do and return the next day. It wasn’t like that before.
And what does that mean? Comandante Daniel fulfilled the eternal aspiration of the Caribbean people.
Bluefields, the same. And just as Bilwi now has its regional hospital, Bluefields is also going to have a regional hospital; the one in Bluefields has already begun to be built. In the same way, with 300 beds; there are now CAT scanners, in Bluefields and there are CAT scanners in Bilwi so they don’t have to…
That is to say, when one sees this process of transformation, that is Democracy; so it is not only an electoral matter. Ah, but indeed and of course we are going to guarantee electoral democracy, but the guarantee of electoral democracy is the electoral democracy of Nicaraguans, not that of the Yankees, nor that of any European, nor that of any foreign country.
It is a democracy of we Nicaraguans, and that is why it says there in Article 152 of the Constitution, which is the one that refers to the attributions of the Supreme Electoral Council. In the first sub section it says, it is reformed, and it says so as: “To organize and direct the National, Municipal and Regional Elections every seven years, in the corresponding Electoral Year.”
So, when we read this, it’s every seven years, and in the corresponding election year, they hold each of the three elections. First the National ones, the following year the Municipal ones and the following year the Regional ones. Every seven years, in the corresponding Election Year.
So that we can get this in our heads, if this proposed change is approved and not changed, this gives us seven years since the last elections so it will be 2028 for the National ones; 2029 for the Municipal ones; and in 2030 the Regional ones or in 2031. But the Supreme Electoral Council also has to guarantee the changes we are making.
Then, in Article 152, paragraph 12 is amended, so as to read: “It is added as a responsibility of the Supreme Electoral Council, as an attribution, not to grant Legal Personality to political parties constituted with foreign financing, or when one of their Directors has violated the Fundamental Principles of this Constitution.
To Cancel the Legal Personality of the party when it, its Directors or Candidates receive foreign funding, or have violated these Principles.”
That’s paragraph 12.
So, it said before this that it was the Council’s prerogative to grant or deny Legal Personality, and that remains the prerogative. But to this is added as a Mandate, not to grant Legal Personality to Political Parties constituted with foreign financing, and all the other mortal sins we have already mentioned, and also to be able to cancel it.
And the third point, which is in paragraph 14 of Article 152, where it is an attribution of the Electoral Council to verify and impose the corresponding Sanctions on any Candidate, Official of the Electoral Body or member of the Boards of Political Parties who commit or have committed acts that undermine the Independence, Sovereignty and Self-Determination of Nicaragua.
And the paragraph is repeated again, the one that I read to you earlier, where it specifies as offenses, calling for military intervention, or calling for sanctions. This is repeated again so that it is emphasized that all these are mortal sins, at the level of treachery.
Then, so that we don’t forget, we named a concept “PAX”. Which is PEACE, but with the name of that beautiful poem by Ruben, PAX. It is a pure mnemonic so that we do not forget, but it is also a spiritual mnemonic. We do not forget, but remember it from the heart.
So then, we have They Will Not Prevail, we need Stability, we need Cohesion and Security, then the defense of the guarantees of our Democracy and then we need Peace. And what does this mean? That we are going to restore an Honor which our National Hero and Universal Poet, Rubén Darío, deserves, who was born on January 18th. How so? Because in Articles 123 and 130 of the Constitution, it now says that the Inauguration is on January 10th and that the Deputies and the Assembly are installed on the 9th.
So here we change this. The date of the Inauguration of the Co-Presidents of the Republic will be January 18th in Tribute to Our National Hero and Universal Poet, Rubén Darío.
And Article 130 will say that the National Assembly will be installed on January 17th, because the Assembly, after being installed, is the one holds the inauguration in a Session of the Assembly. Let’s not forget this, such that we now have all the Concepts there.
But we add too another Concept that is necessary, which is the Concept of “Coherence”. Why? Because everyone is wondering, and perhaps even more you are anxious and wondering: “Oh, but what is going to happen to you now? Yes, it is true that the term is increased to seven years, the elections will be held after seven years and the Constitution, they will say you were elected for five years and then this went to six years. You, Deputies; you, Mayors; you, Regional official; you and those who are appointed, everyone.”
So, to make that clear and to ensure there are no arguments, by Mandate and in strict observance of Constitutional Supremacy, the Constitution is the fundamental basis of the entire order of Nicaraguans, of the country.
Thus the reform says: The terms of the Authorities elected by Popular Vote in the last General, Municipal and Regional elections in force, are extended to seven years from the last Election.
This is what we were explaining to you; so it’s seven years after the last election. After that, the term of office of the positions appointed by the President of the Republic or by election or ratification of the National Assembly is also extended to seven years from the date of that appointment, election or ratification.
We had already mentioned the Army and the Police, but there is also the Attorney General of Justice. There they are: the Army Commander in Chief, the Police Forces, Judges of the Supreme Court, Judges of the Supreme Electoral Council, Attorney General of Justice, the Members of the Superior Council of the Comptroller, President of the Central Bank of Nicaragua.
Members of the Monetary and Financial Council, the Superintendents or the Superintendent and the Deputy Superintendent General of Banks and other Financial Institutions, Presidents and Members of the Board of Directors of the Development Bank, Members of the Board of Directors of the National Microfinance Commission.
Members of the Administrative Tax Customs Tribunal, Members of the National Council of Administration and Judicial Career, Members of the Board of Directors of the INE, Director or Executive Director of the National Water Authority and Members of the Civil Service Appeal Commission.
All of these, that’s why we talk about Coherence, and also, just in case, in the current National Legislation on the Civil Service. These are Public Offices, because in one presentation there was a question from a compañero who said: “And why not include Cooperatives there? Why don’t they change to seven years?” Because this is for Public Service, it is not for the Private Sector.
So then, all current National Legislation on the civil service, where a period of functions is stipulated or regulated, shall be understood as fully reformed, and it will be read that the said period is seven years.
So, we are left with that logic, seven years from when? In some cases, from the date of their election; in others, from the date of their appointment; it is at the term of seven years. On that, the most recent appointment that I remember is that of the Compañera Superintendent of Banks; a week ago, Sara Amelia.
That is to say, from her election, seven years; that is the case for her, and so on for everyone, which was another of the doubts they presented, that if they were all going to be changed at once. No, each in their own way.
In the same way that the National Elections after seven years will be celebrated on the 2028, with the Inauguration in 2029; the same happens with the Municipalities, the Election is the following year and the Inauguration is celebrated on in 2030. And for the Regional Councils, the Election is in 2030 and the Inauguration is celebrated in March 2031, respecting the 7 years.
That’s the logic, the Election is in March of the 2031 and the Inauguration is after the Election; yes, usually in May, that’s right.
So, there it is. It’s taken us 40 minutes, more or less. Well, I thank you and now you know, try not to forget: firstly, that terrible history that we are changing, in a relatively short time, because really that history changed just 47 years ago. They made an attempt against it, but that changed with the Revolution. Then they made another attempt to make things regress, they couldn’t prevail, though they’ve made several attempts. They Could Not Prevail, Nor Will They! So, that’s the first thing.
Secondly, this story is very well documented, it’s not an invention, it’s a reality, about which we all have to be clear.
Thirdly, to change that history, we are going to carry out a Reform that is based on achieving Stability, Security and Peace, all aimed at triumphing over Poverty.
This Reform has six Concepts that you should not forget:
“They Will Not Prevail.”
It Gives Stability.
It gives Cohesion and Security.
PAX.
It ensures electoral democracy guaranteed by the Nicaraguan Supreme Electoral Council.
And six, it gives coherence with the current positions and those enacted. That’s it.
And whereas the story was put about that there were going to be no Elections, now we are clear that they swallowed an ellipsis from the Commander: “There will be no Elections… about three or four suspense dots, and then “so they don’t come back, so they can’t, because they won’t be able to,” and that was how all the bluster began.
So, we are clear that there are elections, which is the question that we were discussing with Daniel, and questions also came up in one of your media programs at one point.
Are there going to be elections? Yes. Are the elections going to be Nicaraguan, national? Will there be observers? There will be accompaniment, as the law says, indeed. Will the elections create instability for us? No, the elections are going to give us stability.
Will the coup plotters be able to participate? No. Will traitors to the Nation be able to participate? No. Will all those violators of the Constitution be able to participate? No. Will all those who call for military intervention be able to participate? No. Will all those who applaud sanctions against Nicaragua be able to participate? No. Or all those who want foreign interference? No, they won’t be able to.
Who, then, are going to participate? All Nicaraguans, all honest, free Nicaraguans regardless of their political views, regardless of their religious creed, their religious belief, regardless of their ethnicity, regardless of all that.
If someone is a Nicaraguan and a patriotic Nicaraguan, they are going to participate. And how long is the election going to be for? It’s going to be every seven years. For my part I’m going also going to be asking more questions.
So, I want to thank you for your presence, I understand that there is an on line connection with other compañeros and compañeras, those that we are seeing there on the screen. And we would like to hear from you, I don’t know how Compañero Daniel Edmundo wants to handle the participation or the comments.
Thank you.
Comments and Questions about the Consultation Process
of the Reform to the Political Constitution.
Compañero Daniel Edmundo Ortega:
Good morning, Compañeros, Compañeras. To give continuity to the presentation that Brother, Compañero Doctor Gustavo Porras, President of the National Assembly, has just given us, we would like to ask all the compañeros and compañeras communicators present here if they have any comments or any queries about the presentation we have just seen.
Compañera Kenia Doña, Press Coordinator of Channel 4 and Correspondent of Telesur, we are attentive to you.
Compañera Kenia Doña:
Good morning, Dr. Gustavo Porras; good morning, Compañeras and Compañeros of the Special Commission in charge of this great important and historical task for our Nicaragua.
Fellow Sandinista Communicators committed to the Nation; Compañeras and Compañeros who are also watching us at the nationally, communicating with this conference, which for me has been very important, to know how in our history, the interference of the United States has sought to intervene and decide for the Nicaraguan people.
But now times have changed, and it has been thanks to the Sandinista Revolution that today we can see vindicated the Rights of the People, who are the Protagonists in deciding their Authorities.
It is we Nicaraguans who have to decide for Peace, for Security and to give continuity to our progress, which we have managed to see to date.
Well, I have a big job, as Compañero Daniel said, being the Telesur Correspondent for Nicaragua for the last four years, and it has been a great commitment for me to demonstrate and answer all the falsehoods said about Nicaragua internationally.
We demonstrate this every day and this great Consultation that is being held on the partial Reform of the Constitution, which has to do with our Election Process also makes clear to us, I repeat, how the history of US interference in our country has been.
The current context in which this Reform is taking place, on which Comandante Daniel already remarked on July 19th is so as to give no space to the coup plotters, to those traitors to the Nation, to those who have sold out our Nation.
And it has been the Nicaraguan people who have suffered all these consequences, but now time’s are different; such that how are we currently means that Nicaragua can give continuity to this Reform, which, as we said and we are clear, represents Peace, Stability and Security. To give continuity to the gains the Nicaraguan people have been conquering in recent years and that is what the People want, the Progress and Stability of Nicaragua.
And, well, for us communicators this is important, to know it and to be clear that this should give stability to our Nicaragua in the coming years. To give continuity to all these projects, to that other Nicaragua that can be seen internationally today.
There are several colleagues, Silvana, from RT, too, who has been highlighting all this work, and here we are joining together as journalists, as communicators and also as international correspondents to explain to foreigners, to citizens who are outside our country, what this Process means for Nicaraguans.
That there will be no more interference in Nicaragua by the United States and how they have managed and governed other nations, how they have intervened and enslaved other countries.
No, Nicaragua is not like that. Why? Because there is a Sandinista Revolution that has given preeminence to the Nicaraguan people. Because it is the Nicaraguan people who are going to decide their next elections and give continuity to this Program, to this Process which only the Revolution has guaranteed, and will continue to guarantee.
I’m going to give space to my colleague Silvana, from RT in Spanish, who is also going to comment, about her experience and highlight this work which strengthens our communication by learning from all these Consultations that Dr. Porras has given us.
Comrade Silvana Jarquín
Thank you very much, Kenia. Good morning, Colleagues of this Special Commission, thank you all. I, more than asking a question, would like to thank this opportunity offered to Nicaraguan Journalists.
We have, it seems to me, from the First Article of the Political Constitution, the duty to defend, and we have, thanks to God and to our Revolution, a great deal to defend.
From our role in communication we have accompanied this Process from the formation of the Special Commission, from each of the Consultations that have been carried out. And we have witnessed how this opportunity has been given to the People, for Entrepreneurs and others.
I was very struck listening to the families who said: We want Stability, and that is achieved thanks to Peace. Thanks to the Sandinista Government we have employment, we have this Security, we have this country that is advancing and they themselves recognize it. And it seems to me a task that has been given to us, thanks to our Leadership, to be able to report that True Truth.
Because there are many international media that are unfortunately, associated with all this falsehood, selling out the Nation on behalf of all of those who are stateless, as the Compañera said in her message, are shameful, in reality, for all Nicaraguans, and thank God they are no longer Nicaraguans.
And they can say outside whatever they want, as the song says, but we have this mission here and we are going to respect it, we are going to fulfill it in the best way possible, because we have the vocation of service for our People, of being loyal to the orientation of General Sandino, of every one of our Heroes.
Their blood that has been spilled has not been in vain, we now have a lot to defend and I thank you that all we communicators are allowed to learn firsthand and also transmit, not only to the Nicaraguan People.
I am also a journalist for Tu Nueva Radio Ya and, for three years now, I have been assigned this mission of bringing all the progress of our families via RT.
In each of the advances and progress, we see it in a very real way, in the mass fumigation, which is something very easy for our People, in the National Literacy Crusade and in the children themselves who receive their School Lunch.
This is a task that has been entrusted to us by our Good Government and we are fulfilling it, by also carrying that message through the international media. Thank you very much!
Compañero Daniel Edmundo Ortega
Thank you, colleagues, for your comments.
