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The European Union (EU) today declared the head of the Nicaraguan Mission to the EU, Zoila Müller, “persona non grata” in response to the expulsion ordered by President Daniel Ortega of the bloc’s ambassador in Managua, Bettina Muscheidt. For its part, the United States expressed its outrage at the Nicaraguan government’s “contempt” for human rights.
Through a statement, the EU Council reported its decision, which was discussed at the request of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, with the idea of determining the consideration of the bloc towards the Nicaraguan diplomat.
“This is a reciprocal response to the decision adopted by the Nicaraguan government on September 28 to declare the head of the EU Delegation in Nicaragua ‘persona non grata’,” said the Council, which called the decision “unjustified.” decision of the Government of Daniel Ortega.
However, through the statement, the 27 member states assured that the Union “remains open to dialogue with Nicaragua, provided that it is carried out in a respectful manner.”
After learning of Muscheidt’s expulsion from Managua, Borrell said on October 2 that it was an “unjustified and unilateral” decision, warned that such action would bring “greater international isolation” to Nicaragua, and announced that the EU was responding “firmly and proportional”.
The EU statement was published after the EU delegation to the United Nations urged Ortega to “return the sovereignty of Nicaragua to the Nicaraguan people and restore democracy in the country.”
Similarly, in mid-September the European Parliament approved a majority resolution on the repression of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, specifically to request the release of Bishop Rolando Álvarez and the country’s political prisoners.
By February 2021, the EU also declared Claudia Salerno, Venezuela’s representative to the EU, as ‘persona non grata’, in response to the expulsion of the Union’s representative in Caracas, Isabel Brilhante.
During the last four years, relations between the EU and Nicaragua have remained tense due to the sanctions imposed on relatives and associates of Ortega, as well as public officials after accusing them of committing human rights violations.
A year ago, on October 12, 2021, the European Council renewed the sanctions regime against Nicaraguan officials due to “concerns about the deteriorated political and social situation” in that country.
Similarly, at the beginning of this year, seven public officials were added to the list of sanctioned officials, including two sons and advisers to President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo.
The US rejects what it considers “contempt” for the DD. H H. In Nicaragua
For his part, the head of the United States Department of State for Latin America, Brian Nichols, said that his country is outraged by the “contempt” for human rights by the Ortega government.
“We continue to be outraged by the Ortega regime’s contempt for the rights of its people,” the secretary said in a message.
Likewise, Nichols stressed that during the OAS General Assembly, held last week in Lima, the Government of his country “joined an overwhelming majority of members in a resolution that condemns the continuing human rights abuses in Nicaragua.”
Closing the Assembly, the OAS asked the Government of Nicaragua to “cease all violent action” against the population of its country and to “fully restore civic and political rights, religious freedoms and the rule of law” in its territory.
Ortega compared Nichols on September 28 to a “bulldog”, assuring that the United States “has made him bark against Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.”
The Central American country has been experiencing a strong sociopolitical crisis since 2018. On November 7, 2021, Daniel Ortega was re-elected under allegations of electoral fraud for his fifth and fourth consecutive term, completing more than 15 years in power.
With EFE and AFP
