Given the refusal of the Managua government to accept the appointment of Hugo Rodríguez as the new US ambassador to Nicaragua, the Biden Administration has decided to keep its current representative, Kevin Sullivan, at the head of the diplomatic mission, as confirmed to the voice of america a State Department spokesman.
After Managua withdraw the “placet” to Rodríguez, after accusing him of “interfering” for declaring in Congress that he would pressure the administration of President Daniel Ortega to restore democracy in the Central American country, Washington has decided to keep Sullivan to “continue leading our mission while we assess the situation,” the spokesman said.
“The arrival of an ambassador requires that the host government accept their credentials in order to carry out official functions in the country of destination,” added the US official, something that has not happened with the administration of President Ortega, who has reiterated on several occasions his refusal to the arrival of the nominee of President Biden.
According to the spokesman, for the US government, maintaining a fully functioning and committed diplomatic mission in Managua “is important to promote our mutual interests with Nicaragua.”
Therefore, they assured that they plan to maintain a diplomatic presence in Nicaragua “to protect US citizens and support the Nicaraguan people to strengthen their democratic institutions and their accountability, promote economic growth and promote human rights,” said the Department of state to VOA.
The US government concluded by assuring that the actions of the Ortega government with respect to the US diplomatic missions “further undermine the interests of the Nicaraguan people.”
The position of Washington’s ambassador in Managua has been held by Kevin Sullivan since 2018, the year in which the protests against Ortega broke out.
Sullivan has also not escaped criticism from Ortega for the critical position of the United States against his administration, which has imposed a good number of penalties for human rights violations.
In October 2021, the Nicaraguan Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked Sullivan to cease “his covert attacks” and said that it was “an example of the continuous, perverse, detestable invasive interference of the United States.”
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