The dictators of Nicaragua and Cuba, Daniel Ortega and Miguel Díaz-Canel (REUTERS)
No political or sentimental relationship is perfect, even in paradise there are some storms and storms. Reagan and Thatcher with the Malvinas case, Russia and Cuba with the missile crisis, Mussolini and Hitler in World War II, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian and now the Castro dictatorship with Ortega-Murillo.
Since the protests broke out in April 2018 Nicaragua has become an uncomfortable stone in the shoe. The so-called countries of the new Latin American left have sent discreet and contradictory private and public messages to the Ortega regime, asking it to release the 180 political prisoners or at least to make some gestures of respect for human rights. Mexico, Argentina and Bolivia have made public comments, while the most radical, Venezuela and Cuba, have timidly and coyly suggested at least keep up appearances. Managua’s reaction was sometimes angry and sometimes indifferent.
Kill the messenger
The Nicaraguan ambassadors in these 21st century left-wing countries transmitted these coded messages from their cronies to Managua and paid a very high price for their work. They do not believe me. In 6 months Nicaragua had 4 ambassadors in Cuba: Wilfredo Jarquín, Reynaldo Lacayo, Sidhartha Marín (12 days in office), Luis Cabrera (12 years). Let’s not forget that the relationship with Cuba was a historical relationship and today it has become a hysterical relationship. The ambassadors of Managua in Argentina and Venezuela suffered a similar fate.
But back to Cuba. This is one of the 5 embassies jealously guarded with an iron fist by the dictatorship, be careful, not the State Department. No diplomat, no government official is good enough here. They are all expendable, and decisions are often made that the ambassadors themselves do not know or even suspect. These diplomats live in a cycle of use, abuse, discard and replacement.
Dangerous Friendships
Cuba has spent years honing an international diplomatic strategy with global medical brigades and the largest solidarity networks in the world. Europeans and Americans melt away with passion and romance when they talk about their visits to Havana and appreciate some treasures as precious jewels and one or the other photo with the Castro brothers. If you don’t believe me, ask Andrés Manuel López Obrador. after i said that Ortega-Murillo’s grotesque and cruel diplomacy embarrasses his Cuban partners, those who often cannot defend the untenable. Nicaragua is that friend who comes to the party, eats all the food, gets drunk, and fights with all the guests. The comrades on the left have nothing to do with Nicaragua, and neither do those on the right.
Diplomats cannot conduct diplomacy
The main task of an ambassador is to represent and monitor the interests of a state or country. According to the manual, a diplomat sends the communications to his authorities and provides a brief analysis or assessment. in Nicaragua, The ambassadors are yelled at and insulted as they convey the truth and the demands of the international community. Some get fired and others just stop sending those messages.
Let’s continue with Cuba. Havana has a successful and Machiavellian propaganda that makes it possible to garner overwhelming and almost unanimous support in the United Nations when the blockade is raised, and massive silent support in the Organization of American States even without being there in person. In contrast to The Nicaraguan dictatorship has received diplomatic beatings in the European Parliament, the United States Congress, the United Nations, the OAS, the SICA and even among its friends from ALMA, sorry ALBA.
Although Cuba has always sought a heavenly relationship with Nicaragua, some encrypted messages did not please Carmen and therefore they do not punish the Cuban dictatorship but leave them out to their ambassadors. Despite these damage control measures, malaise and gastritis are becoming more common, and it is beginning to show that there are already some problems in paradise.
*The author was Nicaraguan Ambassador to the OAS
Source noises in the relationship between Cuba and Nicaragua: from love to hysteria