25 de julio 2023
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Daniel Ortega's regime will open an embassy in North Korea and in reciprocity, that country will also send its representative to Nicaragua, confirmed the vice president and spokeswoman of the dictatorship, Rosario Murillo, who valued the fact as a sign of the strengthening of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
“We met with the ambassador or representative of brother Kim Jong Un, president of North Korea, who also sent us a beautiful message, and we assumed the commitment to open embassies,” expressed Murillo.
The co-governor said that they have already submitted the request for the approval of the person who will assume the diplomatic post in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. In turn, Kim Jong Un's regime will send its representative to the country.
“We are going in a reciprocal manner to work together from those representations in social, cultural, diplomatic policies, strengthen our relations that are decades old,” Murillo said.
Greetings from Comrade Kim Jong Un
On July 17, Kim Jong Un greeted the Ortega regime on the 44th anniversary of the Sandinista People's Revolution. “I extend my congratulations to you, the government, and the people of Nicaragua, and wish you every success in your efforts to achieve progress and prosperity by defending the sovereignty of the country,” he said in the letter.
Relations between North Korea -considered a country that violates multiple civil and human rights- and the Ortega regime date back to the 1980s. They were suspended during the liberal governments and resumed when Ortega returned to power in 2007.
However, in the midst of a context of greater international isolation, the Ortega dictatorship is trying to show diplomatic advances with ideologically and autocratically like-minded nations, such as North Korea, Iran, Syria, Russia, and some African countries, also identified as authoritarian regimes that violate human rights.
Ortega's actions are based on the idea that “the enemies of my enemies are my friends, which indicates his profound anti-Americanism in relation to the United States,” says opposition leader and former politician Felix Maradiaga.
“A new embassy in North Korea goes hand in hand with Ortega's support for Russia in its war against Ukraine, his close ties with Iran, and the strengthening of his historical alliances with Cuba and Venezuela,” explained opposition member Juan Diego Barberena.
“It aims to maintain a foreign policy based on the narrative of the constant aggressions of the United States against the revolution, but, this time, from a geostrategic framework,” he stressed.
If Murillo's announcement becomes a reality, Nicaragua would be the only Central American country and the fifth Latin American country after Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba, and Brazil to have diplomatic representation in Pyongyang.
“This decision reinforces its desire to form dangerous alliances on a negative geopolitical axis, with the objective of consolidating its dictatorship in the country and strengthening its position vis-à-vis the United States. However, it is important to emphasize that this strategy can have negative consequences, both for the Nicaraguan people and for international relations” warned Maradiaga.
Ortega and his group of authoritarian allies
This week the Ortega dictatorship also aligned itself with other authoritarian governments by signing a “memorandum of understanding on political consultations and a cooperation framework agreement” with the regime of Burkina Faso.
The agreement was signed by Foreign Minister Denis Moncada Colindres on behalf of the regime and the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, Apollinaire Joachimson Kyélem De Tambèla, who participated in the events related to the 44th anniversary of the Revolution.
Burkina Faso is governed by a military regime, after suffering two coups d'état in 2022. It is a country that is subdued by armed groups and government armed forces, which has led to a climate of constant violence and human rights violations.
Likewise, the Ortega-Murillo family appointed Ramón Moncada Colindres, brother of Foreign Minister Denis Moncada, as Nicaragua's ambassador to Iran and Syria. And Murillo herself, also indicated that they requested the approval for an ambassador to Ethiopia, headquarters of the African Union, who will also be concurrent for other nations in the region.
The position will be filled by Lautaro Sandino, who was the regime's representative to the European Union. "He would move -Sandino- to move from there -Ethiopia- also to represent this people of ours, to represent us all and further develop the historical relations of our Sandinista people's revolution and our Nicaragua with that burning Africa," Murillo said.
“Partnering with totalitarian countries can affect Nicaragua's commercial interests. Instead of seeking alliances with dictatorships, it would be more beneficial for the country to open trade relations with the consolidated Western economies of Europe and the United States,” Maradiaga said.
“This would allow us to promote economic development and improve the quality of life of Nicaraguans, based on democratic principles and respect for human rights,” he said.
In the same vein, Barberena explains that the most recent diplomatic relations with countries considered autocracies, violators of human rights, and with authoritarian regimes in power, a reflection of the isolation of the dictatorship, unable to have relations with democratic states.
“This is a sign that these regimes will always try to defend each other and will always have their rigid nucleus against democracies with which they cannot have relations,” expressed the opponent.
This article was originally published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by our staff.
