TODAY NICARAGUA – Russian Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigú, revealed during the IX International Security Conference in Moscow that the Government of Nicaragua requested the support of his country for the equipment of modern weapons and preparation of the military in order to face complex conditions, including what they call “terrorism threats.”
“Historically we developed the association with Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and other countries. They are nations that for years have faced different forms of pressure and even threats of the use of force,” said Shoigú, according to Sputnik, the Russian news agency.
The Russian Defense Minister stated that the support of his country is necessary in Latin America, but especially in those “Latin American countries where there is a threat of terrorism and color revolutions demand the support of Russia.”
Shoigú stressed that problems and others such as terrorism linked to drug trafficking or the constant attempts at revolutions also affect different regions of the world.
Shoigú also referred to the pressure methods used in different regions of the world and found that “economic and financial sanctions are widely used and are complemented by the use of force, the provocation of military incidents and disinformation campaigns of the population.
Samcam: “A desperate attempt by Ortega”
In the opinion of the Major in Retirement of the Ejército Popular Sandinista (EPS) – Sandinista Popular Army (EPS), Roberto Samcam, Ortega’s request to Russia is a “desperate attempt by Ortega to draw attention to the United States,” because he remembers that he does not need any additional agreement to the one that exists from October 30, 2013, which was agreed between Daniel Ortega and the secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nicolás Pátrushev.
“In it they had agreed to expand investments and bilateral economic and military cooperation between the Russian Federation and Nicaragua, so the fact of asking for weapons and training is more than an outrage in order to attract the attention of the United States. The US, because putting opponents in prison so that the US will sit down to negotiate with the regime did not work for him,” said Samcam.
The Major insists that what Ortega is doing is “the tantrum of the spoiled child who wants to attract attention, and starts throwing frets, ornaments, to throw the tantrum so that they turn to see him, that is what Ortega is doing, he wants to get the attention of the US, he wants to negotiate”.
Samcam commented on the Reborn Act project that was approved on Tuesday, June 22, by the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “Rather, they approved Renacer with a powerful amendment such as the review of the assets of the U.S. Army. Ortega believes that the only thing that can move the will of the United States is meddling with the Russians, because it is something very sensitive for the American Government,” he said.
Samcam insists that the U.S. considers Russia to be an “evil external actor” that is being used by the Daniel Ortega regime to “presume a close relationship with an adversary of the US Government by getting into the horse’s foot”.
He also questioned that for what weaponry? Yes, in 2016 Russia gave him 50 T-72B war tanks, “which no country in Central America has, there are more than 200 thousand weapons in stock, anti-aircraft, anti-terrestrial weapons, we do not know against Who is going to fight Ortega speaks of revolution, when what took place in 2018 was a civic insurrection that was crushed with blood and fire. Ortega is getting into the horse’s leg forcing him to be sanctioned. Ortega is like a wild horse”.
Finally, Samcam affirms that Shoigú’s statements place Nicaragua once again in the focus of alarms in Latin America, but particularly in the United States.
“Ortega miscalculates, because Russia is not going to get into Nicaragua to defend it, there is no oil here, there is nothing. In geopolitical terms it is that he will see Nicaragua as a threat to the national security of the United States, the Caatsa Law sanctions anyone who is making and maintaining dangerous relationships with adversaries, a dangerous friendship class in which he is getting involved, Ortega is an irresponsible one putting the country back into a conflict of two powers, which in the end will leave it hanging by the brush as it happened in 1989,” he concluded.
What the Reborn Act says about Russian influence in Nicaragua
The Reborn Act proposes to apply pressure and sanctions to the Ortega regime to guarantee free and controlled presidential elections, next November.
In particular, two of the scope of the legislation refer to “Russian influence”, in principle they request that the US Secretary of State include a separate section on the activities of the Russian Government in Nicaragua and for this they require a report required classified including:
- Cooperation between Russian and Nicaraguan military personnel, intelligence services, security forces, and Russian private security contractors.
- Cooperation related to telecommunications and satellite navigation.
- Other political and economic cooperation.
- The threats and risks that such activities pose to the national interests and national security of the United States.
With the new amendment, the measure also invokes the application of sanctions under section 231 of the United States Law to counteract adversaries through sanctions (Caatsa), and establishes that no later than 90 days after of the date of promulgation of this law, the Secretary of State, acting through the Office of Intelligence and Investigation of the Department of State, and in coordination with the Director of National Intelligence and the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, will present a report to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Relations Committee.
Article originally appeared on Today Nicaragua and is republished here with permission.
