Khaya Moyo hails Nicaragua’s Ortega

In a solidarity message he delivered on Tuesday ahead of Cde Ortega’s inauguration, Cde Khaya Moyo described the Nicaraguan leader’s rise to power as significant because he is a revolutionary.
“To us in Zimbabwe, President Ortega is not only a revolutionary but a living legend,” he said. “The Sandinista National Liberation Front and Zanu-PF enjoy excellent and fraternal relationship. We share the same values, principles, liberation war credentials and a common destiny. This therefore is a special day and a momentous occasion for all of us.”
Cde Khaya Moyo said Zimbabweans salute the courageous people of Nicaragua “and wish President Daniel Ortega, good health, wise leadership and a prosperous future for this great country”. He said Zimbabwe would remain resolute against forces of imperialism and neo-colonisation.
Cde Khaya Moyo represented President Mugabe at the inauguration.
He was accompanied by Zanu-PF national secretary for security Cde Sydney Sekeramayi.
Cde Ortega led a Marxist government that nationalised mines and expelled foreign mining firms after his Sandinista guerrillas attained power in 1979. On assuming office, Cde Ortega launched an ambitious pro-people economic programme that included the expulsion of foreign mining firms and nationalisation of the mines. His pro-people approach put him at loggerheads with the US. that imposed an embargo that made it nearly impossible for the new mines to trade or acquire spare parts for US-made mining equipment.
The mining firms’ woes were also compounded by attacks from US-backed Contra rebels, who were being bankrolled to overthrow the Sandinistas.
The Sandinistas were voted out of office in 1990 and subsequent governments privatised the gold mines, but after disastrous experiments with pro-US regimes, Nicaragua learnt its lesson and re-elected Ortega in 2006, his record saw him win a third five-year term last November with over 64 percent of the votes cast.