Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Nicaragua
Newsline: Vatican closes embassy in Nicaragua
The Vatican said Saturday it had closed its embassy in Nicaragua after the country’s government proposed suspending diplomatic relations, the latest episode in a yearslong crackdown on the Catholic Church by the administration of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. The Vatican’s representative to Managua, Monsignor Marcel Diouf, also left the country Friday, bound for Costa Rica, a Vatican official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. (https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/politics/article/vatican-closes-embassy-in-nicaragua-after-17847042.php) The Vatican action came a week after the Nicaraguan government proposed suspending relations with the Holy See, and a year after Nicaragua forced the papal ambassador at the time to leave.
Newsline: Nicaragua closes embassy to Vatican and Vatican embassy in Managua
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has ordered the closure of the Vatican Embassy in Managua and that of the Nicaraguan Embassy to the Vatican in Rome, a senior Vatican source said on Sunday. (https://neuters.de/world/americas/nicaragua-closes-vatican-embassy-managua-nicaraguan-embassy-vatican-source-2023-03-12/) Nicaragua signalled that the move, which came a few days after Pope Francis compared the Nicaraguan government to a dictatorship, was “a suspension” of diplomatic relations. The Vatican source said that while the closures do not automatically mean a total break of relations between Managua and the Holy See, they are serious steps towards that possibility. Bishop Rolando Alvarez, a vocal critic of Ortega, was sentenced to more than 26 years in prison in Nicaragua last month on charges that included treason, undermining national integrity and spreading false news. Alvazez was convicted after he refused to leave the country along with 200 political prisoners released by Ortega’s government and sent to the United States. Alvarez refused to board the plane and was stripped of his citizenship. In an interview published last week with Latin American online news outlet Infobae ahead of Monday’s 10th anniversary of his pontificate, the pope pointed to Alvarez’s imprisonment and likened what was happening in Nicaragua to the “1917 Communist dictatorship or that of Hitler in 1935”. Staff in both embassies had been down to barebones for years with only a chargé d’affaires for the Vatican in Managua and almost no one for Nicaragua in Rome.
Newsline: EU ambassador left Nicaragua
European Union Ambassador Bettina Muscheidt left Nicaragua on Saturday, just three days after being declared “persona non grata” by the government of President Daniel Ortega. Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada verbally notified Muscheidt that she should leave the country after the EU delegation demanded freedom for “political prisoners” at the United Nations General Assembly last week. Ortega’s government also announced on Friday that it was suspending diplomatic ties with the Netherlands. “The Netherlands regrets the disproportionate decision by Nicaragua to break off diplomatic relations,” Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said via Twitter on Saturday. “We will discuss our next steps with the EU,” he added. (https://whtc.com/2022/10/01/eu-ambassador-leaves-nicaragua-in-week-of-diplomatic-tensions/) Nicaragua’s Vice President Rosario Murillo also announced this week that the Central American country would not accept the new U.S.-appointed ambassador Hugo Rodriguez as its representative in Managua. In March, Ortega’s government expelled the Vatican’s ambassador to Managua, Waldemar Sommertag.
Newsline: United States Condemns Nicaragua’s Threats Against U.S. Ambassador
In the context of the terrible arson attack against an historic shrine at the Managua Cathedral last Friday, the U.S. government is especially concerned about a death threat made against U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua Kevin Sullivan on Facebook earlier this week by individuals associated with Nicaragua’s ruling party. (https://usoas.usmission.gov/united-states-condemns-nicaraguas-threats-against-the-church-and-u-s-ambassador/) Kevin is a friend of many present today – stemming from his tenure serving as Interim and Deputy Permanent Representative in the U.S. Mission to the OAS. Anyone who knows Kevin can attest to his commitment to respect, inclusive dialogue, and democratic values. The U.S. government finds it outrageous that the Government of Nicaragua has failed to condemn or even disavow this public threat against a senior diplomatic representative by one of its militants.
Newsline: Brazil recalls ambassador in Nicaragua after death of Brazilian
Brazil condemned the violence against anti-government protesters in Nicaragua and recalled its ambassador in Managua after the death of a Brazilian student. Raynéia Gabrielle Lima, a medical student at the American University in Managua, was killed by gunshots in unclear circumstances on Monday, a Brazilian foreign ministry statement said. “The Nicaraguan ambassador was called in to give an explanation and our ambassador has been recalled from Managua,” a ministry spokesperson said.
Newsline: U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua reports gunfire near her house
The U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua said she’s heard gunfire at her Managua home amid violence throughout the country in recent days. Sunday, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights reported at least 14 people were killed in the cities of Diriamba, Jinotepe and Dolores in attacks carried out by pro-government paramilitaries against anti-government groups. Other reports have the weekend death toll up to 20.
Newsline: USA Shuts Down its Nicaragua Embassy
As Nicaragua slips deeper into violent chaos with the Ortega-Murillo government clinging to power amid massive protests, the US Embassy in Managua just closed its doors today, June 1st. An embassy statement said that the continuous unrest in all Nicaragua, including interruptions in traffic, has impacted the operations of the US Embassy, which will remain closed as of June 1, 2018 until further notice. Some limited consular services will still be attended to by phone, said the embassy. “The scheduled appointments for visa applications will be reprogrammed as soon as possible.” The statement advises US government personnel in Nicaragua to remain in their homes and avoid unnecessary travel in the capital, avoiding the main downtown roundabouts and areas around the universities.
Newsline: U.S. curbs embassy services, staff in Nicaragua
The U.S. State department authorized the departure of U.S. government employees and curbed consular services. A State Department official said the embassy in Managua would shutter many of its operations until further notice but that it would continue to provide services to U.S. citizens and visa applicants. Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in the capital of Nicaragua on Monday to demand the resignation of the country’s president after a violent crackdown by police on protests that have left at least nine dead. Demonstrators waved blue and white Nicaraguan flags and chanted “President, get out!” as they rallied in several points around the capital of Managua. But the government kept police back from the demonstrations after the violence of recent days.
https://www.nasdaq.com/article/us-curbs-embassy-services-staff-in-nicaragua-20180423-00846
Newsline: Colombia recalls ambassador to Nicaragua over maritime dispute
Colombia has recalled its ambassador to Nicaragua for consultations over an ongoing territorial dispute that a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in favor of the Central American country has failed to resolve, Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin said Wednesday. “We have decided to call our ambassador, Luz Stella Jara, who should be arriving tomorrow, so she can report on why it is impossible to have a dialogue with Nicaragua,” Holguin told a press conference. The ICJ affirmed last year that a series of islands strategic for fishing, the San Andres archipelago, belong to Colombia, but at the same time extended Nicaragua’s jurisdiction in the Caribbean waters, angering the South American country. Colombia has refused to abide by the decision, saying its borders must be set by treaties and not by court verdicts, leading Nicaragua to present a new lawsuit at the ICJ Tuesday. Nicaragua’s most recent suit demands Colombia respect the initial ICJ ruling, which gives it rights over 75,000 square kilometers of formerly Colombian waters. On Nov. 27, 2012, Colombia withdrew from the American Treaty on Pacific Settlement (Pact of Bogota), under which it recognized the jurisdiction of the international court. However, its withdrawal didn’t go into effect until Wednesday.
Newsline: Nicaraguan Embassy in Russia Receives Snowden’s Asylum Bid
Nicaragua’s embassy in Moscow has received an official asylum request from fugitive former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, an embassy spokesperson confirmed to RIA Novosti. A Nicaraguan radio station on July 6 published what it claims is Snowden’s asylum request, although Nicaraguan officials have not publicly confirmed that the document is real. Snowden, who is wanted by the US for leaking details of secret state surveillance programs, has submitted more than 20 requests for asylum. Most have been rejected or countries have told Snowden that he would have to file the application while on their soil. On Friday, Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega was reported as saying that, “if circumstances permit,” his country would “receive Snowden with pleasure.” Venezuela and Bolivia have also said that they are willing to grant him asylum. Snowden is thought to have arrived in Russia on a Hong Kong – Moscow flight on June 23. The United States has revoked his passport, and he is now believed to be holed up in the transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport ever since. Russia was one of the countries to which Snowden initially submitted an asylum application, but he withdrew it after President Vladimir Putin said on July 1 that Snowden would only be able to stay if he “stopped his work aimed at harming our US partners.”
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