Coreligionists and companions:

I come before you after three years of intrepid struggle to invite you once again to continue the liberating action that our army has sustained since the treason of José María Moncada committed against our Liberal party, entering into agreements with the Yankee invaders on May 4, 1927. The result of that betrayal of the Liberal party by Moncada was that the Yankee invaders have imposed him as president of the Republic for the period from 1929 to 1932.

With Moncada's imposition it appears as if the Liberal party is willing to accept the sell-out of Nicaragua to the Yankees made by the Conservatives, but this is not true, because what distinguishes Liberals from Conservatives is that we Liberals have always opposed and will always continue to oppose the Yankee intervention, and we have condemned and will always condemn the selling of our country to the filibusters that has been carried out by the Conservatives.

The thrusting of Moncada, so often a traitor to our Liberal party, into the presidency of the Republic gives him the opportunity to satisfy his ambitions for personal profit. Proof of this is that on May 5, 1927, in La Cruz de Teustepe, Moncada told me in the presence of my general staff that I should not commit the insane act of sacrificing myself for the people, that the people are not grateful, that he was speaking from experience, that the duty of every man is to make money, to acquire comfort and personal well-being, without any concern for others, that life ends and the country remains, and it was for this reason that he felt no remorse when he sold his rifles at a moment when our cause had triumphed. This is Moncada; this is the traitor who makes promises to the people, and who calls himself a Liberal. If what Moncada said to me is not enough evidence to brand him as an opportunist, history shows that he has never been a Liberal. On several occasions he has stated that he is not a Liberal, that "Liberal" signifies robbery, assassination, infamy. It was he who as minister of the interior in 1910 ordered the machine-gunning of the people of León. As a result of this act by Moncada against the freedom of the people of León, the young Luis Somarriba died, clutching the Liberal banner, which he did not release from his grip until Moncada's myrmidons had cut off his hands with machetes. Moncada's whole life has been one of treachery toward our party, and to put things simply, Moncada is Adolfo Díaz himself with a red sash.

For the good of the country our army has preserved the honor and dignity of the nation and of the Liberal party in the face of the invaders, the Conservative sell-outs of their country, and the traitor José María Moncada.

Faced by the Yankee pirates' imposition of Moncada, we are ready to drive him from power with bullets, until we have again established our own national government. Like the Conservatives, Moncada will concern himself only with the Yankees' interests because they have given him power. The national government that we proclaim today will look out for the interests of the nation's sans, and not the interests pirates. We will not fire a single shot against Liberalism, and we do not think that there is a Liberal who will fire upon us. We will use our weapons of liberation only against the traitor Moncada and against those who follow him, because they are not Liberals, but traitors to their country and to their party. Our weapons of liberation are ready to drive Moncada the power that the invaders have given him as a reward for his treason. The traitor Moncada will not be able to resist our army's power, and he will not hesitate to ask for Yankee intervention. With everything I have said I have defined my position regarding the traitor Moncada, and that position will not change for as long as we do not see our nation free of invaders and sell-outs of their country.

El Chipotón, January 1, 1929
Patria y Libertad.
A. C. SANDINO