The Nicaraguan regime discreetly made official the installation of a new ambassador in Colombia, despite criticism from the government of Gustavo Petro and his Foreign Ministry, which have been “concerned” about the violent situation in the Central American country due to the targeted repression by the State headed by Daniel Ortega.
Through the presidential agreement number 137-2022 published this September 21 in The Gazette, Daniel Ortega appointed Gadiel Francisco Arce Mairena as “extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of the Republic of Nicaragua before the Government of the Republic of Colombia.” Arce’s appointment as the new ambassador to the southern country comes after a year since the regime called for “consultations” with its representatives in Argentina, Mexico, Costa Rica and Colombia.
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Arce was the Nicaraguan ambassador to Iran and later worked as the Sandinista international relations representative in the former Yugoslavia. In addition, he accompanied Tomás Borge during his functions as ambassador to Peru. Arce served as personal assistant to the late Sandinista guerrilla, according to information collected by the now-defunct El Nuevo Diario.
In his career, it also stands out that in 2009, Arce was appointed as consul general with diplomatic equivalence of minister counselor of the Republic of Nicaragua in Quito and in 2013 he was appointed as first consul with diplomatic equivalence of counselor of the Consulate of the Republic of Nicaragua before the City of Liberia, Province of Guanacaste, Republic of Costa Rica.
Before the diplomat, the position was held by Yara Suhyén Pérez Calero, who was dismissed on December 10, 2021 after being in that position since February 2016. Ortega did not provide further details of her retirement, but the friction between the two countries could cause the withdrawal of ambassadors.
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Recently, Colombian Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva Durán said that the situation in Nicaragua is “the last straw. A juncture arose because we interpreted that it was time to call Mr. (Daniel) Ortega’s attention, that public order things cannot be dealt with by kicking them, putting friends in jail, ending all the national defense associations of human rights. This has been outrageous », he referred.
In addition, Colombia signed on September 14 the declaration that rejects the violation of human rights in Nicaragua together with 40 countries in the United Nations. Despite this, the Petro administration has been criticized by the international community for keeping a low profile in the face of condemnation of the situation in the Central American country.
