Nicaragua on Friday broke off diplomatic relations with the Netherlands over accusations of interventionism, hours after it said it would deny entry to the new US ambassador because of his “interfering” attitude.
“Nicaragua, faced with the repeated meddling, interventionist and neocolonialist position of the Kingdom of the Netherlands that has offended ... with threats and suspensions of works for the common good, communicates to the Government of that country our decision to immediately discontinue diplomatic relations,” the Nicaraguan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega lashed out at the European nation after learning it would not fund a long-promised hospital.
Photo: AFP / NICARAGUAN PRESIDENCY / JAIRO CAJINA
“Those who come to disrespect our people, our homeland, they should not appear again in Nicaragua. And we do not want relations with that interventionist government,” Ortega said in reference to Dutch Ambassador for Central America Christine Pirenne, who is based in Costa Rica.
Ortega said Pirenne visited the capital, Managua, on Thursday and informed Nicaraguan Minister of Foreign Affairs Denis Moncada that the Netherlands would no longer be financing a hospital they promised to build years ago.
“The ambassador came to speak to Nicaraguans as if Nicaragua is a Dutch colony,” Ortega said.
The Netherlands closed its offices in Managua in 2013 and conducts all its Central American diplomatic work from Costa Rica.
Before Ortega’s remarks, his wife, Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo, on Friday said that designated US ambassador to Nicaragua Hugo Rodriguez “will not under any circumstances be admitted into our Nicaragua.”
“Let that be clear to the imperialists,” she added, reading a statement from the foreign ministry on state media.
The US Senate confirmed Rodriguez’s ambassador posting on Thursday, despite Nicaragua in July saying it would reject him.
Nicaragua said it decided to withdraw its approval of Rodriguez because of “disrespectful” comments he made in a hearing before the Senate.
Rodriguez had described Nicaragua as a “pariah state in the region” and branded Ortega’s government a “dictatorship.”
The announcement came after the government on Wednesday asked EU Ambassador to Nicaragua Bettina Muscheidt to leave the country without giving any reasons and Ortega branded the Catholic Church a “perfect dictatorship,” reflecting ongoing tensions between his government and the Vatican over 2018 protests, which the president said were backed by church officials.
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