The next two posts show the contrast in response to the coronavirus in Nicaragua: this translation of the declarations of the Vice President, peppered with language of trust in God, encourages people to continue their Holy Week gatherings, and were given the same day that the government sponsored a march of people called “Love in Times of coronavirus”, in stark contrast to the social distancing recommended by other governments and public health experts.
The government also sent children to meet a cruise ship that docked in San Juan del Sur which unloaded 700 tourists from Germany and Sweden (see pictures of these events from the press).
The post after this one is a press release by the National Coalition critical of the government´s response to coronavirus.
Declarations of Rosario, Vice President of Nicaragua, in the Midday Edition of Multinoticias, Channel 4 on March 14, 2020
[see original Spanish caps in original]
Very good afternoon, Compañero; good afternoon, Dear Families of Our All Sweet Nicaragua[1], Our Nicaragua that shows the shining Face of Jesus in the Love that moves us every day to advance, to walk, to transcend, to live in Peace.
Compañer@s, today is Saturday, full of Activities, thanks to God, in a Blessed Nicaragua , Always Blessed and Always with Faith and Trust in God. More than 2,800 Activities including Religious, Sports, Recreational, Cultural, Gastronomical, Tourist events, in this Nicaragua that, as we say with Pride, is All Sweet and lives full of Love, promoting Peace and Well-being!
More than 2,800 Activities being held throughout the Country, and Life, Compañer@s, the Good Life, the Life of the Nicaraguan People, that knows how to invoke God to increase Hope, to encourage us, to animate us, every day, go Forward!
We are working with Responsibility, with Serenity, with Prudence, and we know that we have a People full of Trust in God, with everything essential to ensure transcendency, which is the calm in first place, Good Sense, Tranquility, the Responsibility of the State, the Government, Institutions and each Citizen, in this moment in which the entire World is concerned, and each State, each Government is taking their Measures, according to their situations, their circumstances.
Thanks to God, with the Responsibility that characterizes us as a People of God, with the Serenity that characterizes us, with the Strength of Spirit, of Soul, with Good Sense, Calm, Tranquility, We are Moving Forward…We are Moving Forward!
We have been in communication with all the Health Authorities throughout the Country. Thanks to God, up to now we are fine, and we hope, Through God, with the Favor of God, to continue fine. This does not mean that we are not keeping all the Activities of what we are calling Preventive, Ongoing Education, with all the Sectors of our Population, with Families, Communities, in ongoing Coordination and the reproduction of the indications of the PAHO/WHO.
We give thanks to God, we know that we are privileged on having this Social Model, this Health Model, of Education, that is organized from the Community; a Model that is organized from the Family, Village, Community and this helps us to work these situations better. And always invoking God, and with His Favor, his Hand, there we go, walking.
Above all we want to convey to all Families that what is primary in these Times of global challenges for the entire World, is the sense of responsibility, being watchful of information; taking seriously the Measures that emanate from International and National Health Authorities, and being calm, serene, prudent, peaceful, sane, and above all keeping high the Trust that we have in God, and the Trust that we have among Families, about our Capacity to assume the Citizen Responsibilities with the highest seriousness.
So it is that, Compañer@s, we were saying, we have been in communication with the entire Country and thanks to God, up to now, blessed, everything fine; always in preparation and living also with a lot of Joy that all the activities are being carried out in absolute calm, normality and Hope. With Hope on high.
Thus we are, thus we are going in our All Sweet Nicaragua, that with Love presents itself and lives, and presents itself to the Peoples of the World, promoting already now all the advantages of a Country that knows how to live with Affection, receive visitors with Affection, promoting what we call Summer, but this year we say, Our Nicaragua is All Sweet. And we offer this Sweetness with Love for Brother and Sister Peoples, and with Love for us here, the visits of Families to their relatives in other Municipalities, Villages, Communities, Neighborhoods, and then the visits also to all the Recreational Centers, for Entertainment.
We know that in these Times of Summer we enjoy the Food, we enjoy Religious Traditions, we are a People of Faith and Trust in God, we also enjoy the Spaces for Recreation, and all this makes us cheerful, a People capable of working with Love, of advancing with Love, and of living with Faith, Love and Hope, with the Trust that grows in God Our Lord.
We are in communication, Compañer@s, as we tell you, amazed at seeing ourselves as going, step by step, with Humility, Serenity, without fanfare, with Prudence, as We Go Forward, invoking God in each moment of our Lives.
A lot of Affection from our Commandante Daniel. We are watchful, to the second, to the minute, of any event that could represent an Alert, a threat for Families. Up to now we are peaceful, receiving 800 Tourists that arrived in Corinto in a Cruise Ship this morning, and who are also visiting Patrimonial, Cultural Sites in the West, in Peace and with the Affection that the Nicaraguan People give them.
Brothers and Sisters all, thanks to the Lord, Forward in our Nicaragua, where we are Going Forward because we trust in God and where we are Going Forward, Always Farther On, with the ever growing Hope and with the knowledge that we are a People capable of transcending and a People capable of living promoting, each day, Harmonious Co-existence, Citizen Responsibility, serving one another, loving one another, everywhere, confronting the challenges together, together.
We have to know how to confront the challenges together, the challenges together, and transcend together, because our Nicaragua lives all Times with love, and with Love also these
Times of Alerts and Global Threats with COVID-19.
We have said, together, all together, working with Love and Responsibility, with a lot of Seriousness, a lot of Prudence, a lot of Calm, a lot of Peacefulness, we transcend. And always our Prayers and Solidarity for all Countries and Peoples of the World, where there are Special
Alerts, Extreme Alerts, deceased Brothers and Sisters, grieving Families, and well, each Country taking their Measures in accordance with their circumstances. With that absolute Respect that characterizes us, to the Measures and the ways that each People has, each State, to transcend these difficult Times.
Always, Always Farther On, Compañer@s! Our Commandante Daniel greets and hugs all Nicaraguan Families, in the certainty that we are a People that knows how to work with Joy, that knows how to struggle with Joy and Hope, and that knows how to vanquish with Humility.
Wisdom, that is what the Nicaraguan People have, what we have received throughout our History as a Legacy that makes us great, and great in the Spiritual sense, and humble in the sense of our Transit through this Plane of Life that we must make harmoniously with all.
Thanks, Compañer@s. Let us have a Saturday and Sunday of Family Unity, of Invocation of the Almighty; many Churches in Prayer, asking God that he continue blessing us, that he protect us, that he accompany us, that he guide us, because it is with His Favor, with His Love that We Can Do Everything!
Thanks, Brothers and Sisters. We are Moving Forward, with Faith, that Faith that makes us invincible. Thanks, Compañer@s.
[1] Refers to the name of a slogan for a promotional tourism campaign of Nicaragua for the summer.