In a largely symbolic move, Ortega’s government denounced Israeli leaders as ‘fascist’ and ‘genocidal’ for the war in Gaza.
The Nicaraguan government announced that it would sever diplomatic ties with Israel, and the war in the Gaza Strip is deepening Nicaragua’s isolation on the world stage.
Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo made the announcement to state media on Friday after the Nicaraguan Congress passed a resolution calling for action on Oct. 7 to mark the one-year anniversary of the Gaza war.
Murillo, the wife of President Daniel Ortega, said her husband had instructed the government to “sever diplomatic relations with the fascist and genocidal government of Israel.”
The announcement is largely symbolic, as Israel has no ambassador to Nicaragua’s capital, Managua, and relations between the two countries are virtually non-existent.
Nonetheless, the announcement comes as Israel comes under diplomatic scrutiny. brutal campaign Attacks are expanding throughout the Middle East, including the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 42,000, with thousands more killed in bombings in Lebanon over the past few weeks.
Nicaragua’s government on Friday condemned Israel’s war on Gaza, saying the fighting had now expanded into Lebanon and seriously threatened Syria, Yemen and Iran.
Opposition to the Gaza war is relatively widespread in Latin America, with leftist leaders in countries such as Brazil, Colombia and Chile emerging as outspoken critics of Israel.
The Palestinian mission to the United Nations announced Friday that the three countries helped lead a letter of support for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who declared Israel persona non grata last week.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro severed diplomatic ties with Israel in May, calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration a “genocide.” Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also compared the war in Gaza to the Holocaust in a reminiscence of Brazil’s ambassador to Israel that same month.
The Ortega government submitted a request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to halt German arms sales to Israel, but the court rejected the request in April.
Nicaragua faces its own problems of deepening diplomatic isolation in Latin America as Ortega and his allies step up repressive measures against dissidents and government opponents.
