The Nicaraguan government reiterated this Friday that it will not allow Hugo Rodríguez, President Joe Biden’s nominee to be Washington’s ambassador in Managua, to enter the country, one day after he was ratified in the United States Senate.
According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Rodríguez will not be admitted under any circumstances” in Nicaragua because he is considered “as an exponent of the worst forms of an offensive and irreverent modality of relations between States.”
Nicaragua had already withdrawn its approval from Rodríguez on July 28 after accusing him of “interference” after the diplomat addressed the situation in the Central American country during a confirmation hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and said that he would press for bring about democratic changes in the country.
Despite the disagreement, the White House informed VOA that he maintained his support for Rodríguez, considering that he acted “faithfully and respectfully to the policy of the United States,” which has criticized the administration of Daniel Ortega for undermining democracy and violating human rights.
In fact, three days after its publication, Ortega ruled on that newspaper article from the voice of america in a public act.
“In the Voice of the United States [sic] they were reporting that they had interviewed a State Department official and that he had said that they were going to keep as ambassador [a Hugo Rodríguez]… he hasn’t even come to the country and has already started to rant, so he should stay outside,” Ortega harangued.
The US is Nicaragua’s main trading partner
According to former Nicaraguan diplomat Arturo McFields, the US could consider applying a “reciprocity” measure and say that Managua “doesn’t want an ambassador in Washington either, and leave the bilateral relationship at the charge d’affaires level.
Currently the United States is Nicaragua’s main trading partner after the entry into force of a free trade agreement in 2006. About 60% of total Nicaraguan exports go to the US, according to embassy data.
But with the decision, according to Mcfields, “the dictatorship is thrown into the ravine.”
Hugo Rodríguez is an American diplomat and has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs.
He served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of the United States in Asunción, Paraguay, from July 2016 to April 2019, and as Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy from January 2017 to March 2018.
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