The regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo welcomed the new Spanish ambassador to Managua, Pilar Terrenwho this Wednesday, July 27, presented his copies of style to the Nicaraguan Foreign Minister, Denis Moncada, after a year of diplomatic tension that even led to the withdrawal of the ambassadors of both countries.
“We welcome Pilar, our government, our people, the Nicaraguan families and her husband, Mr. José María García Moya, greeting her, greeting them, with affection and wishing them success in this Nicaragua that is of dignity, that is of sovereignty”, Murillo said, in his customary evening address.
Similarly, Foreign Minister Moncada spoke with the new ambassador “about the interests” of Nicaragua and diplomatic relations, in order to strengthen “friendship, cooperation, exchange, investment, solidarity, sovereign equality of States, respect for principles of non-interference in the internal affairs of our countries”.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Terrén – who arrived in Managua a year after the Ortega regime prevented the return of her predecessor María del Mar Fernández, after being called for consultation by the Spanish Government – said that “it is a great honor” to represent to their country in Nicaragua, a country with which they have woven “relations of brotherhood and friendship.”
“Spain has always had a solid, firm and very significant commitment to the people of Nicaragua, which has been evidenced in numerous cooperation projects that Spain has been developing throughout all these years in Nicaragua and take into account, Mr. Chancellor , that the people of Nicaragua can continue to count on the commitment of the Spanish people to be able to progress along this line of cooperation and friendly relations between our peoples,” Terrén said.
diplomatic tension
The diplomatic relationship between Nicaragua and Spain was at a low point and the tension between the two countries began to increase in June 2021, due to the illegal arrests of opposition leaders in the context of the November 7 vote, in which Ortega was re-elected without political competition, against which Spain reacted several times with energetic protests .
In the midst of these tensions, on August 11 of last year, the Spanish Government called for inquiries to its ambassador María del Mar Fernández-Palacios in response to a statement published the day before by the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry that contained, according to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “gross falsehoods about Spanish judicial and electoral processes.” Since then, the Nicaraguan regime has prevented the Spanish diplomat from returning to the country.
Last March, the Ortega regime also withdrew the Nicaraguan ambassador to Spain, Carlos Midence, on the grounds that he was allegedly being subjected to “continuous pressure and interventionist threats.”
the new ambassador
The new ambassador of Spain in Nicaragua is a law graduate and career diplomat, who at the time of her appointment was acting as deputy director general of the Chancellery of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.
Terrén had already been assigned to the region previously. She was in Mexico twice, once as deputy consul at the Consulate General, and another as first secretary of the embassy. She also in El Salvador, she as the second head of the Spanish diplomatic headquarters.
Additionally, the new ambassador of Spain in Nicaragua served as advisory member of the Cabinet of the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, General Inspector of Services, Head of Service and Area of the General Subdirectorate of North Africa, and Deputy Head of the Department of Protocol of the Presidency of the Government.
