PublishedJuly 29, 2022, 03:04
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NicaraguaNew US Ambassador Banned From Entry
Nicaraguan authorities said on Thursday that the new US ambassador was no longer welcome in the small Central American country.
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Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.
–AFP
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The government of Nicaragua on Thursday withdrew the authorization to enter the territory to the new ambassador of the United States, Hugo Rodríguez, whom it accuses of “interference” and “disrespect”.
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“The Nicaraguan government, in the use of its powers and in the exercise of its national sovereignty, immediately withdraws the authorization granted to Hugo Rodríguez,” Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada said in a statement. Managua justified this measure by the “statements of interference and disrespect for the country” made Thursday by Hugo Rodríguez before the Foreign Relations Committee of the United States Senate.
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Last May, US President Joe Biden appointed Hugo Rodríguez as ambassador to Managua, but this appointment must be ratified by the Nicaraguan Parliament. Nicaragua and the United States have had strained relations since opposition protests against Daniel Ortega’s government in 2018 which, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), left 355 people dead.
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They have become even more tense since the re-election last year of President Ortega to a fourth consecutive term, deemed fraudulent by Washington, in particular because of the incarceration or exile of his rivals.
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Thursday, before the senatorial commission, Hugo Rodríguez had affirmed that Nicaragua “is becoming more and more a pariah state in the region”. He also felt that “getting Nicaragua out of the CAFTA (Free Trade Agreement between Central America, the Dominican Republic and the United States) is a potentially very powerful tool and something that we must seriously consider”. to sanction Mr. Ortega.
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Hugo Rodríguez “cannot meddle in national issues that only concern Nicaraguans,” castigated Foreign Minister Denis Moncada.
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(AFP)
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