MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil expels Nicaraguan ambassador in reciprocity for Managua's gesture

Ortega never replied to Lula's requests for direct talks regarding an incarcerated clergyman

The Brazilian Government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Thursday expelled Nicaragua's Ambassador Fulvia Patricia Castro Matus from Brasilia in retaliation for Managua's decision to send Breno Dias da Costa home for failing to show up at the 45th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution on July 19, Agencia Brasil reported.

The Daniel Ortega regime told Itamaraty a fortnight ago about its decision regarding Dias da Costa. However, Brazil's Foreign Ministry explained that these measures did not represent a diplomatic breakup and that all consultancy services provided to the Brazilian population living in Nicaragua would be maintained. Some 180 Brazilians are estimated to live in the Central American country.

In practice, the expulsion of ambassadors reduces the level of representation of Nicaragua in Brazil and Brazil in Nicaragua. This is because the ambassador is the highest level of representation of a country in another nation. In international relations, the expulsion of an ambassador is a political gesture that usually expresses dissatisfaction, Agencia Brasil also explained.

The relationship between Brasilia and Managua has been frayed since Lula acting on a request from Pope Francis tried to broker the release of a bishop who had been imprisoned by the Nicaraguan authorities. Lula told foreign reporters last month that Ortega had not returned his requests for a conversation.

Nicaragua has been under criticism from international human rights organizations and some countries, especially the United States, which accuse Ortega of repressing the opposition and persecuting critics with arbitrary imprisonment.

“At least 119 people continue to be arbitrarily detained after unfair trials, including Rolando Álvarez, the Catholic bishop of Matagalpa, who was sentenced to 26 years in prison for conspiracy and spreading false news,” Amnesty International claimed earlier this year.

Nicaragua is also suffering international isolation, which includes economic sanctions imposed by the United States in an attempt to economically isolate the Central American nation.

In 1979, the uprising headed by Ortega overthrew the 40-year dictatorship of the Somoza family.