The Nicaraguan government withdrew its support for Fernando Ponz's candidacy for the role of EU ambassador after the European Union accused the country's establishment of persecution.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the EU claimed that the people of Nicaragua are subjected to "systemic repression".

In response to the EU statement, the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry said, "Faced with your interventionist, daring and insolent statement of today, which ratifies the imperialist and colonialist positions that characterize the European Union, on this 18th April, on the eve of National Peace Day, the Sovereign and Dignified Government of the Republic of Nicaragua... has decided to suspend the Plácet that had been granted to Mr. Fernando Ponz, as Ambassador of that unbearable Power."

The ministry accused the EU of neocolonialism and condemned its "historical genocide", adding that it demanded justice and reparations for these crimes. 

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It further elaborated that their riches and cultures were subjected to greedy and rapacious looting.

"In these circumstances and in the face of the permanent siege of our People's Right to National Sovereignty, we will not receive your Representative," the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry's statement concluded.

Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega has in recent months taken several steps with the aim of undermining Western influence in his country.

Last month, the Ministry of external affairs of Nicaragua announced it would suspend ties with the Vatican.

Relations between the Vatican and the government of President Daniel Ortega fell to an all-time low in February after a court in Managua sentenced Nicaragua's Bishop Rolando Alvarez to more than 26 years in jail for alleged attempts of undermining national integrity.

On September 29, 2022, the Nicaraguan government considered the EU ambassador to Nicaragua, Bettina Muscheidt, persona non grata, and ordered her to leave the country over a lack of respect for Nicaragua's sovereignty.

This happened days after the EU delegate to the UN, Charles Michel, condemned the Nicaraguan government and urged its President to "restore democracy."

On October 1st, 2022, Ortega banned US envoy Hugo Rodrigues from entering Nicaragua on account of his "interfering" behavior.