Solidarity Events and Military Revelations Mark Nicaraguan Week

The Peace Ship's visit to Nicaragua, the expressions of solidarity with Venezuela and Cuba and the revelations about a likely Colombian military aggression made headlines in the past week here.

With 950 passengers and a 300-member crew, the Peace Ship put into the Nicaraguan Pacific on July 22 looking for first hand knowledge about government-promoted social and cultural programs and take part in solidarity gatherings.

In a gathering to celebrate the Japanese Peace Ship initiative, President Daniel Ortega defended the elimination of nuclear power plants worldwide because of the serious risks they pose to human life and the planet in general, and referred to the need to broaden the use of renewable sources of energy to replace those nuclear stations. Meanwhile, the Sandinista youth organization July 19, legislators and diplomats expressed their support to Venezuela on occasion of the Day of World Solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution led by Commander Hugo Chavez.

Progress made in education and health, as well as the increase of international cooperation aimed at curbing poverty in the continent were among most highlighted aspects of the Venezuelan government and people.

The Nicaraguan Executive also valued highly the significance of the Cuban Revolution to Latin America on July 26, on occasion of National Rebelliousness Day in Cuba.

Meanwhile, press reports considered worrying this week the revelation made by Colombian Luis Felipe Rios, given a 16-year prison sentence in Nicaragua for espionage. In remarks to the Army, he gave details of a likely military aggression to Nicaragua organized by Colombia.

The spy told about weapons recently acquired by Colombian military forces in order to attack directly Nicaraguan military bases, the coordinates of which he was supposed to establish along with the operational state of tanks and defensive missile systems.

According to Rios, the Colombian intelligence service requested to gather information about the defensive system, national security and military cooperation among Nicaragua, Venezuela, Russia, Cuba and Iran.

He also said that the information he gathered for several months, as he pretended to be a Spanish magazine correspondent, was shared with the United States and Costa Rica.