Written by Lisandra Paraguaso
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil and Nicaragua expelled each other’s ambassadors on Thursday in a tit-for-tat move as relations between the two formerly allied leftist governments deteriorate.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has decided to expel Nicaragua’s ambassador to Brasilia after Daniel Ortega’s government ordered the Brazilian ambassador in Managua to leave the country, Lula’s chief of staff said.
The dispute underscores the deteriorating relations between Brazil’s Lula da Silva and some other leftist governments in Latin America, which have been exacerbated by divisions over Venezuela’s disputed presidential election. Lula has criticized the Venezuelan government for not publishing the election results.
“In diplomacy there is reciprocity. Since the Brazilian ambassador there was asked to leave the country, reciprocity in this case means that the ambassador here also left the country,” Chief of Staff Rui Costa told reporters.
He said Brazil wanted peace and good relations with everyone, but could not accept the harassment of its ambassadors.
Nicaraguan diplomat Patricia Castro Matos has been ordered to leave Brazil because her government expelled Brazilian Ambassador Breno de Souza da Costa after threats to do so three weeks ago, a Brazilian official said.
Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo later confirmed that the Brazilian ambassador had left the capital Managua earlier that day and that the Nicaraguan diplomat in Brazil would return to take up a post in the Central American nation’s economy ministry.
Last month, the Brazilian ambassador angered the Nicaraguan government by not attending celebrations marking the 45th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution, leading to threats of expulsion and severing of diplomatic relations, which is now expected to happen.
Relations between Brazil and Nicaragua have deteriorated since Lula tried to broker the release from prison last year of Catholic bishop and outspoken Ortega critic Rolando Jose Alvarez at the request of Pope Francis.
Lula recently told foreign journalists that he tried to contact Ortega last year, after the pope asked him to intervene, but the Nicaraguan president did not accept the call.
Since then, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry has kept its relations with Nicaragua to a minimum, only to deal with the needs of Brazilian citizens in Managua.