EU Ambassador to Nicaragua Bettina Muscheidt (Social Media)

Days after the EU delegate to the UN Charles Michel condemned the Nicaraguan government and urged its president, Daniel Ortega, to "restore democracy," the Nicaraguan government considered the EU ambassador to Nicaragua, Bettina Muscheidt, persona non grata, and ordered her to leave the country.

Confidencial, a daily Nicaraguan paper, reported, following a tip from "sources linked to the European Parliament," that the Nicaraguan government has declared the EU ambassador to Nicaragua, Bettina Muscheidt, persona non grata. The report came from a tip by “sources linked to the European Parliament.”

Bettina was expelled on grounds of "interference and disrespect for national sovereignty" on behalf of the EU the newspaper reported.

It is worth noting, however, that no formal statement has been issued as of yet.

The UNGA speeches

Earlier, Michel had earlier taken advantage of the United Nations General Assembly to criticize the Nicaraguan President and infringing on the nation's sovereignty by urging him to "return the sovereignty of Nicaragua to the Nicaraguan people," adding that "The EU urges the Nicaraguan authorities to comply with their own commitments, the Nicaraguan Constitution and international human rights laws and standards."

Furthermore, and on the same note the EU delegation continued “The Nicaraguan authorities must end all repression, including repression against political opponents, clergy, independent media, civil society and human rights defenders, and guarantee full respect for human rights, including freedom of assembly, association, expression, and religion or belief.”

Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada Colindres, during his UNGA speech, condemned "colonialist imperialism" and the “criminal blockades … the aggressions, called sanctions, illegal, arbitrary, illicit, that highlight the perversion of a system and a model, imperialist and capitalist, that continues and intends to continue 'punishing' and bleeding to the world.”

The FM added that "It is time to bring the rights of peoples closer to a United Nations Organization that represents us all and that does not submit to the designs of any imperialist power," Moncada said. “It is time to ensure that the United Nations Charter, and so many organizations that should serve to bring us together, are valid for everyone and respect the rights of everyone.”

Nicaragua and the imperialist history of the US

Since the socialist group defeated the US-backed Somoza family dictatorship and instituted a system of popular democracy in the late 1970s, Western nations have fought the ascent of Ortega and the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). Because some candidates who took part in disturbances sparked by US-backed organizations had their candidacies ruled unlawful, the US and its allies responded by deeming Ortega's reelection in November 2021 void, and they later renounced the results. Under the auspices of Nicaragua's Adherence to Conditions for Electoral Reform (RENACER) Act, the US enacted harsh sanctions.

Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, pulled out of groups like the Organization of American States (OAS), largely dominated by US foreign policy interests, following the implementation of US sanctions against the nation, and expelled figures and groups accused of undermining the Nicaraguan government by working for foreign powers.