(Reuters) -Nicaragua has recalled its ambassadors to Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Costa Rica for “consultations,” the government said on Monday, deepening the Central American country’s international isolation over its crackdowns on the opposition.
The recall comes after similar moves by the four countries against Nicaragua, the government of President Daniel Ortega said in a statement broadcast by state media.
Mexico, Argentina and Colombia recently recalled their ambassadors to protest against moves to clamp down on the opposition in Nicaragua, while Costa Rica a few weeks ago suspended the appointment of its ambassador to the country.
Arguing that Nicaragua had “suffered and successfully combated all forms of intervention” in its affairs and on its territory, the statement said the Ortega administration categorically rejected such “unacceptable” foreign moves.
On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Ortega of taking new “undemocratic, authoritarian actions.” Blinken also singled out Ortega’s wife, Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo, and said the two were seeking to hold on to power “at all costs” with a strategy of disqualifying potential opposition candidates.
Nicaragua is due to hold presidential elections in November in which Ortega is seeking a fourth consecutive term.
The Ortega administration has argued it is upholding the law, stopping would-be candidates from receiving foreign funds or the publication of information the government deems false.
(Reporting by Diego Ore in Mexico City, writing by Laura GottesdienerEditing by Matthew Lewis)
