Nicaragua's Ortega regime expels European Union ambassador

The European Union's (EU) ambassador to Nicaragua, Bettina Muscheidt, was reportedly expelled by Daniel Ortega's communist regime after being notified by a state official from the country's Foreign Ministry, international media reported Wednesday. 

Muscheidt was reportedly informed that the regime considered her "persona non grata" due to an alleged "interference and disrespect to national sovereignty," according to sources linked to the European Parliament and the authorities of the Central American country.

Bettina Muscheidt is of German origin and assumed the post of ambassador to the EU in Nicaragua on Sept. 20, 2021.

So far the regime has not issued an official statement justifying the decision taken with the high-ranking official.

The Ortega regime's action comes days after the European Parliament demanded the "immediate release" of Nicaraguan bishop Rolando Alvarez. With 538 votes in favor, 16 against and 28 abstentions, the European Parliament urged the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship and its institutions "to restore full respect for all human rights, including freedom of expression, religion and belief."

The EU delegation also demanded that the Ortega dictatorship release all political prisoners last week at the United Nations. 

"The Nicaraguan authorities must put an end to repression, including that against political opponents, clergy, independent media, civil society and human rights defenders," an EU representative said in his speech.

On Monday, Nicaragua described the sanctions and economic blockades it faces as "criminal" implying they were retribution for rejecting "the imperialist model," in the face of what it described as "docile" indifference of international organizations.

"It is time to reject the criminal blockades, the aggressions called sanctions that are illegal, arbitrary, and illicit that are further evidence of a system, an imperialist and capitalist model that continues to punish and bleed the world," said the Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada, during a speech at the U.N. 

Bettina Muscheidt is purportedly the third diplomatic official expelled from Nicaragua since 2018. The first two were the former ambassador of Colombia, Alfredo Suarez, and the Vatican representative, Waldemar Stalislaw Sommertag.

Despite the events that have put European embassies in Managua on alert, neither the European Parliament nor Muscheidt's team have confirmed the information.

In the last four years, the United States and the EU have applied migratory and economic sanctions to dozens of officials, relatives, family members and companies linked to the Nicaraguan regime of Daniel Ortega, for acts of corruption and human rights violations.

The measures were implemented following the crackdown on 2018 opposition protests calling for the resignation of Ortega, a 76-year-old former guerrilla who has ruled since 2007 after coming to power in three successive re-elections.

According to the OAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the repression left at least 355 dead, while the Nicaraguan dictatorship only recognizes 200, among them several police officers and supporters it claims were victims of opposition violence.

Ortega has dismissed reports issued by the OAS and UN, calling for the regime to respect human rights and release more than 200 imprisoned opponents, among them seven former presidential candidates from opposition parties.