Story by Abigirl Tembo
VICE President General (Retired) Dr Constantino Chiwenga is in Managua, Nicaragua for celebrations to mark the country’s 45th Sandinista revolution.
Vice President Chiwenga says the revolution which marked the end of the Somoza dictatorship in July 1979 has a significant historical connection with Zimbabwe’s struggle for independence, hence the need to cherish the friendship between the two countries.
“The Sandinista revolution as we know it was wedged during the same time we wedged our war of independence.
“They got their independence on the 19th of July 1979 we were all together out in the bush, we were fighting to remove the Ian Smith regime and they were fighting to remove the Somoza family and so we are all revolutionaries and they have invited us under that same script.
“President Ortega came to Zimbabwe in 1980 and also the foreign minister came to the funeral of our founding father, President Robert Gabriel Mugabe, and just now they have opened an embassy in Harare so our friendship with Nicaragua is quite great. It all stems from the war of liberation.”
Vice President Chiwenga also emphasised the potential for cooperation between the two nations, particularly in the face of the illegal sanctions imposed by the West.
“As you are aware we are all under sanctions we are all under the so-called restrictive measures and we have got areas which we think we can cooperate very well with Nicaragua, especially in the field of tourism, agriculture, and mining.
“Those are the areas which we can share with Nicaragua, they have done a lot in terms of tourism, and they are doing quite well in their region in terms of agriculture so I think we should be able to share in those areas. We also have our areas which we think they will benefit. That way the two countries will benefit from each other on a win-win basis.”
More than 700 guests from Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean are expected to attend the celebrations with several engagements expected to take place over the next few days.
