Brazil expects Nicaragua to expel its ambassador on Thursday and the Brazilian government was considering retaliating in kind, a Brazilian Foreign Ministry official said, as relations continue to deteriorate following the contested elections in Venezuela.
The government of Daniel Ortega has decided to expel the Brazilian ambassador, Breno de Souza da Costa, after having threatened to do so three weeks ago, said the official with knowledge of the matter.
The Nicaraguan government has not commented on the matter.
The expulsion would confirm the deterioration of relations between Brazil’s leftist president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and some left-wing Latin American governments, which has increased with the Division over Venezuela’s disputed electionswhich Lula has criticized for not disclosing the minutes of the results.
The source told Reuters the ambassador was informed on Thursday that he had to leave the country, and Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira will consult Lula on whether he should order the departure of the Nicaraguan envoy in Brasilia in response.
Last month, Costa angered the Nicaraguan government by not attending the celebrations of 45th anniversary of the Sandinista revolutionprompting threats of expulsion and a diplomatic break-up that is now expected to occur.
Relations between Brazil and Nicaragua have been deteriorating since Lula tried to mediate last year, at the request of Pope Francis, in the release of the Catholic bishop and Rolando José Álvarez, a declared critic of Ortega.
Lula recently told foreign media that he tried to call Ortega last year after Pope Francis asked him to intervene, but the Nicaraguan president did not accept the call.
Since then, the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has kept relations with Nicaragua to a minimum in order to meet the needs of Brazilian citizens in Managua.
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