Daniel Ortega Quotations

We grew up in a situation where we didn't know what freedom or justice were, and therefore we didn't know what democracy was.

The fact is that the United States is behind what has happened in Nicaragua, and what they did was to promote a confrontation between Nicaraguans.

The people of Nicaragua were suffering oppression. This made us develop an awareness which eventually led us to commit ourselves to the struggle against the domination of the capitalists of our country in collusion with the U.S. government, i.e. imperialism.

What we asked for were weapons so that we could defend ourselves -- that's what we asked of the Soviet Union, of the socialist countries of Eastern Europe, of the Algerians, of the Vietnamese; and that's what we received so that we could arm the Nicaraguan people and defend ourselves in that war imposed on us by Ronald Reagan's Administration over a number of years.

Of course, the kind of support that Cuba could give us was very limited when it came to building up our army, since they didn't manufacture armaments in the quantities that we required. So we turned to Algeria and the Soviet Union for support.

Today the winds of hope blow through Latin America and the Caribbean.

We had explored the possibility of the French sending us Mirage, and the French were willing; and when this became known, the Americans reacted by announcing publicly that they would not allow those armaments to enter Nicaragua and that they would bomb the Nicaraguan ports.

We are going to wait for the moment of the debate, and we'll make the decision,

This subject brings pain and sadness, and also indignation at the manipulation,

Rambo only exists in the movies.

Legalisation doesn't make sense.

Before consulting the hotheads who present various military options such as a military invasion: remember, President Reagan, Rambo only exists in the movies.

One has to bear in mind that during my childhood and adolescence, I suffered the repression of the Somoza dictatorship in every way: economically, socially, as well as at the hands of the police -- because if we went out on the street to play baseball, for example, the police would come and beat us up and put us in prison.

Without the United States, there simply would not have been an armed uprising in our country.

My idol was Sandino, and also Christ. I was brought up a Christian, but I regarded Christ as a rebel, a revolutionary.

We are close to God when we are close to people. If we think of God as something in favor of the betterment of human beings, and if we act in a way that brings about that betterment-if we do not cling to riches, selfishness, or greed-then I believe we are getting closer to God.

If we do not cling to riches, selfishness or greed-then I believe we are getting closer to God.

To be selected as one of the top 25 players in your age group in the nation says a lot.

During the meeting with President Carter, we proposed the development of a new kind of relationship with the United States.

There was a conviction that the socialist cause was a just one, and so wherever there were struggles against colonialism, imperialism and neocolonialism, the Soviet Union would support those struggles and those causes, in the form of economic and military help. The economic assistance that the Soviet Union gave Nicaragua was invaluable.

Conditions are ripe for triumph. We will win. And we will wield great power here.

Conditions are ripe for triumph, ... We will win. And we will wield great power here.

It wasn't a completely free election because there was open interference from the United States, from President Bush, in the form of financial and political support to our opponents, as well as threats that the blockade would not be lifted and all the rest of it if UNO didn't win. The decisive moment was the invasion of Panama.

Civil rights in reverse is what I call it. What about our civil rights?

His intelligence. He?s skillful and he?s very, very intelligent. He always just makes that right play.