The Diplomat
The PP yesterday called on the government to take a firmer stance against Daniel Ortega’s regime and for the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, to appear before the Congress of Deputies to explain the government’s position on the criticisms and accusations made against Spain by the Nicaraguan authorities.
In a statement released by the Foreign Affairs spokesperson in the Lower House, Valentina Martínez, she demands that Albares come to Congress urgently to explain “what concrete actions and measures he is going to take with regard to Nicaragua”.
Martínez considers that the government’s decision announced on Wednesday to recall the ambassador in Managua, Mar Fernández-Palacios, for consultations in protest at Daniel Ortega’s accusations is “not enough”. “The position of our country must be firmer, more forceful and with a more extensive response”, she says.
The ‘popular’ MP added that “it is time for Spain to have a real foreign policy of defending our interests and values in Latin America as well”, and said that some members of the government “are in favour of Daniel Ortega’s dictatorship in Nicaragua and defend the regime that has imprisoned all the opponents who wanted to stand in the elections”.
After pointing out that “the defence of freedom and democracy is exercised actively”, Valentina Martínez demanded that Pedro Sánchez’s government should “lead the international response in defence of freedom, democracy and human rights in Nicaragua, just as the PP has been calling on the government to do in other Latin American countries, such as Cuba and Venezuela”.
Finally, he recalled that last June the Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee approved a non-legislative proposal promoted by the PP – and endorsed by the PSOE – in which the Government was urged to promote international action against Nicaragua. He therefore called on the government to comply with this parliamentary mandate.
On Wednesday, Albares ordered the recall of the ambassador to Nicaragua for consultations in response to a harsh communiqué from the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry in which Spain’s interference was denounced and the GAL and Catalonia were used to criticise the government.
Hours later, Daniel Ortega’s regime issued a new note ratifying the accusations against Spain, calling on it to “comply with all its obligations in terms of human rights and democracy, in a non-repressive legal framework that guarantees social, political, electoral and citizen processes in this Spain that appears so arrogant, boastful and false”.
Furthermore, it demands that Spain “comply with its own international commitments, especially with regard to the many crimes that have not been recognised or investigated, and for which justice has yet to be done for the victims”.
For the moment, Managua has not responded to the Spanish ambassador’s call for consultations by adopting a similar measure, and has not decided to call its ambassador in Madrid, Carlos Midence, for consultations.
