Nicaraguan government says it won’t accept US-appointed ambassador – 09/30/2022

The government of Daniel Ortega warned on Friday that the new US ambassador to Nicaragua, Hugo Rodriguez, will not be “allowed” into the country because of his “interventionist positions”, reiterating its decision not to approve him.

“Mr. Hugo Rodríguez will not be allowed in our Nicaragua under any circumstances, so the imperialist men are clear: Hugo Rodríguez does not enter here,” said Vice President Rosario Murillo, reading a presidential note in the official press. .

Rosario stated the government’s position after learning that the US Senate confirmed Rodriguez as ambassador to Nicaragua yesterday, despite Nicaragua rejecting the appointment on July 28, citing “disrespectful statements” made by the diplomat during a Senate hearing. .

Rodriguez said Nicaragua was “increasingly becoming a massive country within the region” and called the Ortega government a dictatorship. He also supported Nicaragua’s withdrawal from CAFTA (the Free Trade Agreement between Central America, the Dominican Republic and the United States).

This Friday, Rosario Murillo considered the United States’ decision to uphold Rodriguez’s candidacy “extraordinary,” calling it a “disrespectful intervention and not diplomatic.” He read a memo from the State Department rejecting the visit of the diplomat, who was nominated for the position in May by President Joe Biden.

“We reiterate not only our rejection, but also our inflexibility of national dignity to completely ignore intervention and imperialist measures,” Rosario said.

Last Wednesday, the Ortega government asked the European Union (EU) ambassador to Nicaragua, Bettina Musheid, to leave, according to diplomatic sources and local press. The reason for the action is unknown.

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© Agence France-Presse