Ortega: The People Rule Nicaragua

President Daniel Ortega officially installed the so-called People's Power Councils (CPC) as the highest authority in Nicaragua, asserting that his Government will abide by what these popular organizations decide.

"Full sovereignty relies on the people, not in the President, ministers, deputies, mayors or councilpersons, because it is the people who have the final say on the system they want," said Ortega, who led the mass gathering marking the installation of the national CPC Cabinet at the Revolution Square on Saturday, when he also received credentials of ambassadors of France, Colombia, Guinea, Canada and South Africa.

In his closing speech, Ortega stressed that the "councils" are not partisan institutions, as claimed by opponents of the governing Sandinista National Liberation Front.

The doors of the CPC are open to all citizens, said Ortega, who added that these organizations are a point for all Nicaraguans to meet and exercise true direct democracy.