The Colombian ambassador in Nicaragua, León Fredy Muñoz, has responded to criticism for having participated on July 7 in a celebratory march of the 1979 Sandinista Revolution and the Daniel Ortega regime. “It is my obligation as ambassador to participate in important activities for the Sandinista government, since I must make a strategic presence to take care of Colombia’s national interests in Nicaragua,” he said Monday night. it’s a statement. The Foreign Ministry led by Álvaro Leyva, however, does not seem to agree: he has called him to give explanations in Bogotá.
The controversy broke out on Monday afternoon, when it began to circulate on social networks. a video showing Muñoz during the July 7 celebration. He not only wears a cap and scarf belonging to the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), the party of a regime accused by the international community of systematic violations of human rights. He also verbally expresses his support for Ortega, leader of the revolution that overthrew the dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979: “It is a happy, beautiful, kind people and, above all, a people that is convinced of its revolution. The truth is that I am pleasantly surprised”. According to Muñoz, the celebration was “a wonderful thing.”
The statements drew attention in a context of tense relations between Colombia and Nicaragua. Both countries have been holding a border dispute in the Caribbean Sea for years that involves the sovereignty of the waters surrounding the San Andrés and Providencia archipelago. In this context, Muñoz’s participation in the celebrations occurred at the worst possible moment: the International Court of Justice in The Hague will issue its ruling on the limits of the continental shelves on Thursday.
Muñoz argues that his work in defense of national interests must go beyond “legal strategies in The Hague or in multilateral organizations.” That is the last point of his statement, which has no more references to the march than those already mentioned.
The diplomat, who was a congressman for Alianza Verde between 2018 and 2022, uses most of the two pages of the statement to list the aspects that he sees as achievements of his administration. According to him, the embassy has managed to get more than 20 Colombians exempted from migratory fines, has improved the situation of compatriots imprisoned in Nicaragua, has prioritized the granting of tourist visas, has encouraged exchanges of scientific experiences and has taken steps to improve air and sea connectivity. “We have exhibited the best of Colombian music”, he remarks.
The video has generated an uncomfortable situation in a government that has had some false starts in its relationship with the Nicaraguan regime. As soon as Petro took office, last August, Colombia was absent from an OAS session that was convened to repudiate the persecution of the press and the imprisonment of opponents. However, in February, the Foreign Ministry firmly joined the international condemnation of the expulsion of hundreds of political prisoners. Although it took longer than its counterparts in other countries in the region, the government condemned the exile as “surprising and inhumane” and offered Colombian citizenship to opponents stripped of their nationality.
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The Foreign Ministry has confirmed to this newspaper that Muñoz has been summoned to give explanations. However, he has pointed out that there is still no set date.
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