The dictator Daniel Ortega has ordered the change of ambassador in Panama after the Panamanian president José Raúl Mulino warned the Managua regime that he would not tolerate the fact that the Nicaraguan diplomatic headquarters in that country was being used as a “center for political meetings” by the convicted former president. for corruption Ricardo Martinelli, protected in that diplomatic headquarters as a “political asylum.”
Panamanian media and international news agencies released information this week that the current ambassador in the Canal capital, Consuelo Sandoval, had submitted her resignation from the position.
The resignation would have been presented by Sandoval on December 26. Immediately afterwards, the Sandinista Foreign Ministry asked its Panamanian counterpart for approval as the new ambassador for Jessica Padilla Leiva, currently designated as Ortega’s diplomatic representative in the Dominican Republic.
This sudden replacement of the ambassador occurs precisely in the midst of the diplomatic tension generated for several weeks by the convicted former president of Panama Martinelli, who is sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for money laundering and is “asylumped” in the Nicaraguan embassy. from where he has maintained political activity despite being a convict and being in Nicaraguan territory, in accordance with international diplomatic norms.
Ortega, who has become the protector of corrupt former presidents in the region, as he already protects two former Salvadoran leaders, also granted political asylum to Martinelli.
However, Martinelli has maintained an active participation in politics, using the Pinolera diplomatic headquarters as a kind of command post with diplomatic immunity.
As the first reaction of the canal authorities at the beginning of November, the Panamanian Foreign Minister, Javier Martínez-Acha, publicly expressed his concern that the Nicaraguan diplomatic headquarters would become “the focus of political meetings” for Martinelli, which goes beyond the scope of humanitarian asylum. and violates diplomatic practice.
Faced with this situation, the Foreign Ministry of Panama officially summoned Ambassador Consuelo Sandoval, to make known the disagreement of that Government with the activities of Martinelli within the embassy under her charge.
Days later, President Mulino himself, at a press conference on December 13, was clear and emphatic when he warned the Sandinista regime that the call to Sandoval to the Foreign Ministry is the “first warning” given by the Executive to “put a little of order there (in the Nicaraguan embassy).
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The Panamanian president recommended that the Managua regime “comply with the international asylum conventions, as simple as that,” while warning that “we should not transform that or any embassy into a political center of political-partisan activity or in favor of nor against anyone.
“I hope that the Republic of Nicaragua understands that and it is the first warning we make in that sense,” the president firmly reiterated.
The dictators Ortega and Murillo, who do not usually remain silent when a foreign leader challenges them, this time remained completely silent and the first reaction known so far is the change of ambassador.
