Brazil, Nicaragua expel each other's ambassadors amid rising tensions

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
9 Aug 2024 08:31

Brazil and Nicaragua have entered a new phase of diplomatic debacle, with both nations expelling each other's ambassadors.

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Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega delivering a speech in September 2022 (AFP/Getty Images)

Brazil and Nicaragua expelled each other's ambassadors on Thursday, as souring relations between the two Latin American nations deepened into a fresh diplomatic feud.

A Brazilian diplomatic source told AFP that the latest flareup in tensions came after Brazil's ambassador to Nicaragua skipped an official ceremony in Managua.

The event was the July 19 commemoration of Nicaragua's Sandinista revolution that would eventually lead to President Daniel Ortega coming to power, several exiled Nicaraguan opposition media reported.

Brazil's ambassador was not the only diplomat absent from the ceremony, the source noted.

Nicaragua nonetheless asked the Brazilian ambassador to leave the country, leading Brasilia to reciprocate on Thursday.

Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo, who is also the wife of President Daniel Ortega, announced on state media that Brazil's ambassador "has left our country, our Nicaragua" and that their own ambassador "is on her way to our homeland."

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Relations between the two governments have soured since Ortega dismissed Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's efforts to mediate, at Pope Francis' request, talks aimed at securing the release of an imprisoned bishop. In January, Nicaragua sent two Roman Catholic bishops, 13 priests, and three seminarians to Rome.

Yesterday, the Nicaraguan government announced deporting to Rome seven Catholic priests detained in July, Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo said.

These priests were among a group of 13 Nicaraguan clergy who had been placed under house arrest in Matagalpa, a city in the north.

"Yesterday, Wednesday, August 7, seven Nicaraguan priests left Nicaragua for Rome, they arrived safely and were received by the Holy See," Murillo told Nicaraguan broadcaster Canal 4 on Thursday.

Nicaraguan media reported, citing sources, that the deported clergy were detained between July 26 and August 5. At the same time, four more priests reportedly remain in custody in the country.

In 2023, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega accused the Catholic Church of attempting a coup. According to the president, some of the priests in the country urged worshipers to carry out a coup, talked about the capture of military units, and called for the physical elimination of Ortega himself. This was followed by the arrests and deportations of a number of clergymen to the Vatican.

Attempted coups are no stranger to Nicaragua, as in 2018, riots broke out in the country with Ortega's government depicting them as a US-backed coup attempt.