The regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo withdrew the credentials of the Colombian ambassador to Nicaragua, Alfredo Rangel Suárez. The measure occurred hours after the Colombian government ordered its diplomatic representative return to the country after the Nicaraguan president accused of “narco-state” to the Administration of Iván Duque.
Colombia ordered its ambassador “to present a note of protest to the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry,” in which, according to Foreign Minister Denis Moncada Colindres, Rangel Suárez “insolently makes value judgments about the internal affairs of Nicaragua and impudently offends the Nicaraguan State and its people.” ”.
“These statements show that your ambassador is not fulfilling the objectives for which his accreditation was granted in Nicaragua, so we are proceeding to withdraw his credentials,” Moncada reported in a letter to his Colombian counterpart, Marta Lucía Ramírez de Rincón. .
Words from Ortega and Colombia
Last Monday, during the commemoration of the 88th anniversary of the death of General Augusto César Sandino, the Nicaraguan president commented that “the way in which Colombian brothers are assassinated is something truly impressive,” referring to the crimes against the social leaders.
He also assured that “Colombia is a narco-state” and also criticized the United States, where, he pointed out, “the drug enters through the ports, penetrates through aviation, and also penetrates through border crossings.”
The Colombian Foreign Ministry responded that the Duque government rejects “these statements that unsuccessfully seek to distract the attention of the international community from the critical human rights situation and the multiple violations suffered by Nicaraguan citizens, political parties and opponents of the Ortega regime. , of which the whole world is witness”.
The intl community is well aware that those who have openly opposed the regime over the last year have ended up in jail for the sole fact of wanting to present themselves as a legitimate and democratic option.
– Colombian Foreign Ministry (@CancilleriaCol) February 23, 2022
“The international community is well aware that those who have openly opposed the regime over the last year have ended up in jail for the sole fact of wanting to present themselves as a legitimate and democratic option,” added the Foreign Ministry, in a statement posted on Twitter. .
“Power in Nicaragua,” he continued, “is in the hands of a regime that does not have legitimacy or recognition from the international community, precisely because of the multiple violations of the rights and political self-determination of the Nicaraguan people.”
Tense bilateral relationship
Nicaragua and Colombia maintain tense diplomatic relations. Last July 28, the Colombian Government called Rangel Suárez for consultationswho presented his credentials in December 2020.
On that occasion, the Colombian Foreign Ministry expressed its rejection of what it considers a “systematic persecution” against the Nicaraguan political opposition, journalism and social leadership.
In addition, the Colombian government has rejected the result of the last elections —in which Ortega and Murillo arranged a more consecutive period—, considering them an “announced fraud”.
In the case of Nicaragua, this is the second time that Ortega has highlighted the drug trafficking situation in Colombia. On December 16, he assured that the Andean nation is “a narco-state, where they kill every day.”
