Ambassador Speeches

Remarks by Robert J. Callahan
U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua

August 27, 2008
Matagalpa, Nicaragua

I would first like to thank President Ortega for accepting my credentials within a week of my arrival in this fascinating country and in this beautiful city of Matagalpa.  It was a generous gesture that I, my colleagues in the embassy, and the American government sincerely appreciate.  It allows me to begin to work in earnest with the government and people of Nicaragua in an official capacity and to represent the interests of the United States here.   It is also a pleasure to share this evening with my fellow ambassador from Germany and my wife Debbie and colleagues from the Embassy.

One of my primary responsibilities as ambassador is to describe, explain, and promote American policies toward Nicaragua, and I can identify those policies briefly:  the United States seeks to support Nicaraguans as you endeavor to strengthen your democracy and develop your economy, all on a basis of mutual respect and mature dialogue.

Our commitment with the Nicaraguan people is not mere rhetoric.  It is policy translated into deeds, words that result in programs, intentions made real.  Working closely with Nicaraguans in government, civil society, business, the military and law enforcement, education and health, among other fields, we have scores of joint projects that support Nicaraguans every day and in every way. 

When we calculate the value of this bilateral cooperation – direct aid and the Millennium Challenge Account – and add to it the economic benefits that derive from the work of the Peace Corps, direct investment, remittances, tourism, military and educational exchanges, we arrive at a figure that easily exceeds a half a billion dollars a year.

We read these figures and we move on.  But what do they really mean, how do they really help Nicaraguans and Americans come closer together?

Think first of 23-year old Peace Corps volunteer Nicole Headquist working in San Dionisio.  She is teaching environmental education and nutrition in the public schools of Susulí Central, El Jicaro 1, and El Llano.  But she is also living among Matagalpans, getting to know them and their families, their traditions and their concerns, and they hers.  When she leaves here, she’ll tell Americans in her hometown of Walled Lake, Minnesota about what she saw and heard and learned, and the Nicaraguans will remember her as the face of America, as a friend and colleague.

Think of 16 year old Emilio Jose Velasquez from the municipality of Rancho Grande.  He and 100 other Nicaraguan youth attended the Embassy’s English emersion camp this year in Managua.  They are now better prepared to study abroad and, in the future, compete for higher paying jobs that require English.
Think of the child in Puerto Cabezas who was born with a cleft palate and last week had an operation to repair it.  And think also of the doctor from the Kearsage who performed the surgery, and the satisfaction he has found in helping a little boy.  That child was not just a Nicaraguan, any more than that doctor was only an American.  They were joined by their common humanity.

Think of the Nicaraguan mother who found a good paying job in the Cone Denim factory near Managua, which you helped to inaugurate this April, Mr. President.  She can provide housing, food, and education for her family, and now has the pride and dignity that every hard-working person enjoys.

Think of the Nicaraguan police officers who last week participated in the arrest of drug traffickers and the seizure of over 1,800 kilos of cocaine in Managua.  He has helped to disrupt a nefarious business and keep these poisonous drugs off the streets of cities in the United States and Latin America.     

These are the very real results of cooperation between the United States and Nicaragua, the kind of benefits that a harmonious and collaborative relationship brings to all our citizens.

We must continue to build on these successes, seek more and better ways to demonstrate our commitment to, and reliance on, each other as people and nations. 

But as we pursue these worthy ends, we should keep in mind that we will not always agree on everything.  In fact, we almost surely will disagree.  Sovereign nations, even those with the best of intentions, often see things from contradictory perspectives.  But when that happens, I hope we can discuss our differences in a sober, civil manner, find an acceptable compromise, and move on.  

After all, what unites us – from our location as neighbors in this hemisphere to business and family ties to our love of baseball – is much greater and far more important than what divides us. 

Thank you.