The Vatican finally ruled this Saturday after the decision of the government of Daniel Ortega to expel his envoy to Managua, the Pole Waldemar Stanislaw Sommmertag, and described it as “serious” and unjustified.
“The Holy See has received with surprise and pain the communication that the Government of Nicaragua has decided to withdraw the approval (agrément) of His Eminence Monsignor Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, Apostolic Nuncio in Managua since 2018, imposing him to immediately leave the country after notifying him that measure,” says the notice issued by the Vatican.
the apostolic nuncio left Nicaragua on March 6 amid secrecy and unclear information, however, the president of the Episcopal Conference, Carlos Herrera, told a local media outlet in Managua, channel 10that relations between the government and the diplomat “were not good.”
Sommmertag arrived in Nicaragua in May 2018, just as the anti-government protests began, leaving more than 300 dead and thousands injured and exiled.
In fact, the Vatican envoy played a fundamental role at that time managing the release of a large group of political prisoners and served as an interlocutor between the opponents and the government.
However, after the demonstrations placated by Ortega with violence and arrests, relations between the Catholic Church and the government they deteriorated to the point that the Sandinista president branded the religious leaders as “satanic” and “coup plotters”.
diplomatic onslaught
The nuncio’s expulsion comes amid other similar measures taken by the administration of leftist Daniel Ortega. February 24 The president withdrew the credentials of the Colombian ambassador in Nicaragua, Alfredo Rangel.
Likewise, it was known that Ortega withdrew its ambassador to SpainCarlos Midence, after the diplomat María del Mar Fernández was not allowed to return to the country either, for which Spain warned that it would apply the “principle of reciprocity.”
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