Vice President Rosario Murillo announced this Thursday, July 13, that her government has ratified the “welcome” to the ambassador of the European Union in Nicaragua, fernando ponzafter having revoked designee approval by the European bloc in April 2023.
“Our government has sent a note to the European service for foreign action of the European Union ratifying the approval granted to Mr. Fernando Ponz as ambassador of the European Union in our Nicaragua,” the government spokesperson said in her speech by official media.
On April 18, the Ortega Murillo administration withdrew the approval of the designated EU ambassador in Managua in response to his criticism of the repression in the Central American country, on the fifth anniversary of the start of the protests against the Sandinista government.
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At that time, in the framework of the outbreak of April 2018, the European bloc reiterated its willingness to “support a democratic, peaceful and negotiated solution to the prolonged political crisis in Nicaragua.”
Likewise, the organization highlighted that “five years have passed since thousands of Nicaraguan citizens took to the streets to express their legitimate demand for human rights (…). Instead of their demands being heard and respected, the people of Nicaragua have been facing systemic repression ever since.”
For its part, the Sandinista administration classified the EU statement as an “interfering, daring and insolent” act and branded the organization as “imperialist and colonialist.”
In this sense, it is a “surprise” that the Ortega Murillo regime has retracted its decision and three months later, ratified the approval for the EU ambassador in Managua.
The second in command of the dictatorship also reported that her designated Cesar Augusto Castañeda Lacayo has been approved as Nicaragua’s ambassador to the EU, in Brussels.
According to his LinkedIn profile, the Ortega official has been holding the position of Counselor with Consular Functions of the Embassy of the Republic of Nicaragua in the Kingdom of Belgium, since February 2022.
César Castañeda Lacayo also held the position of cooperation advisor for the Managua Mayor’s Office between 2010 and 2023. In addition, he was coordinator of projects for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), from 2007 to 2009.
