América Latina

Now, we will finish this discussion with the internationalist solidarity shown to the Palestinian people. Before we arrived at the July 19th festival, we saw a park called “Parque Palestina,” which is beautifully lit and has a Palestinian flag flying alongside the FSLN and Nicaraguan flag. This park was recently built as a symbol of solidarity with the Palestinian struggle against the Zionist entity [in the Middle East].

On the night of July 19, this solidarity was brought to the fore as we learned that the honored guest speaker of the night was none other than Palestinian freedom fighter Leila Khaled. The honor of being able to hear this valiant, militant member of the Political Bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine was too much. But in the midst of the excitement, it was beautiful to hear her discuss the longstanding solidarity that the Sandinistas have shown with the Palestinian people.

We know that Patrick Argüello, a close comrade of Khaled’s, was with her during an operation to hijack a plane in 1970 to demand the release of Palestinian hostages held by the Zionist entity. He was Nicaraguan and a Sandinista who was martyred by Israeli security forces. Thus, the Sandinistas have not only shown symbolic and material solidarity with the Palestinian struggle, but Nicaraguan blood has been shed in the valiant struggle for Palestinian national liberation.

In his speech, Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega condemned the U.S. backing of the Zionist entity’s genocide in Palestine and emphasized that these two struggles — of Nicaraguans and Palestinians — are intertwined. It was a beautiful moment to hear tens of thousands of Sandinistas chanting “Viva Palestina!” and showing solidarity with Leila Khaled and the Palestinian people.

To end this article, I would just say that going to visit Nicaragua on this delegation was a life-changing experience. It was very important, because it allowed me to see through a lot of the [neo]imperialist propaganda that targets the Sandinista Revolution and the presidency of Daniel Ortega. Where I was supposed to find a dictatorship, I found a society in which the people are the leaders, where the popular masses are in struggle against [neo]imperialism and are building their nation.

That is why the United States continues to wage war against Nicaragua — because they are afraid of the power of the masses. They know that with the Sandinista Revolution, the masses are in power, and they will refuse to be exploited by U.S. corporate capital. Truly, it was amazing to speak to Nicaraguans and learn about the importance of the revolution and its manifestation in everyday life. I cannot wait to visit this beautiful nation again and still feel reinvigorated and even more dedicated to the anti-imperialist struggle after my time in the land of Sandino.