San José, Aug. 07 (EFE) – Former Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States Arturo McFields confirmed Wednesday that Daniel Ortega’s government ordered the expulsion of the Brazilian ambassador to Nicaragua, Breno Souza da Costa, for not attending the celebration of the 45th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution on July 19.
McFields Yescas, who rebelled against the Ortega government during a virtual meeting of the OAS in March 2022, said in X that “the dictatorship” gave the Brazilian ambassador an “ultimatum to leave Nicaragua.”
A source in the Brazilian Foreign Ministry told local media that the Nicaraguan government complained after Brazil did not send a representative to the anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution, celebrated on July 19.
According to the same report, the ambassador did not attend the event because Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva froze diplomatic relations between Brazil and Nicaragua for a year in retaliation for the persecution of priests and bishops by Ortega’s government.
Ortega disregards Lula
On July 22, Lula revealed that Ortega had not answered his phone after Pope Francis asked the Brazilian president to intervene in the situation of a bishop in the Central American country.
“I spoke with the Pope; he asked me to speak with Ortega about a bishop who was imprisoned,” Lula said in an interview with foreign correspondents, referring to Rolando Alvárez, arrested for his opposition to the Nicaraguan government.
“The concrete thing is that Ortega did not answer the phone and did not want to talk to me. So I never spoke to him again,” Lula added. EFE
mg/mcd
