Daniel Ortega expels the ambassador of the Netherlands and denies entry to the United States

First modification: 10/01/2022 – 11:33

President Daniel Ortega accused the Netherlands of maintaining an “interventionist and neocolonial” attitude, for which he decided to “immediately discontinue” diplomatic relations with the European Union member country.

Managua’s decision came after the Dutch ambassador for Central America, Christine Pirenne, during a visit to Managua on Thursday, reported that her country will not finance the construction of a hospital in a Caribbean community that had been engaged. Neither the Netherlands nor Nicaragua specified the reasons for the withdrawal. But the Nicaraguan government took the incident as an affront.

Just yesterday the Nicaraguan vice president, Rosario Murillo, warned that her government will not accept the entry into the country of Hugo Rodríguez, ambassador confirmed by the US Senate to Nicaragua. After reading a note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Murillo stressed that “Mr. Hugo Rodríguez, we repeat, will not be admitted to Nicaragua under any circumstances.”

Managua accuses the US envoy of making “disrespectful” statements to Nicaragua before the Senate of his country. For the same reason, the Ortega government decided to withdraw the placet last July from his appointment.

The vice president considered Washington’s decision to maintain Rodriguez’s candidacy “unusual” despite her country’s disagreement. Hugo Rodriguez was nominated to occupy Washington’s diplomatic representation in Managua by President Joe Biden last May.

The decisions of the Ortega-Murillo government deepen the diplomatic isolation of the country, characterized by the expulsion of foreign representatives and missions in Nicaragua. The most recent of these measures occurred last Wednesday when the government demanded the departure of the ambassador of the European Union in Nicaragua. According to the local press, said departure should take place this Saturday. The move is a response to statements by a European delegation calling for “an end to the repression” in the country.

Last March it was the turn of the Vatican ambassador, Nuncio Waldemar Sommertag, an unprecedented decision of which the Vatican declared its “incomprehension”;

Also in March, the head of the mission of the Committee of the International Red Cross was expelled.

the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS), of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) were closed earlier.