Q24N (EFE) The president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, granted full powers to his ambassador in Moscow, Alba Azucena Torres Mejía, on Tuesday to sign an agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters with Russia.
Through presidential agreement number 182-2022, Ortega granted full powers to the diplomat so that, acting in the name and representation of Managua, she signs the “Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Nicaragua on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters.
“The certification of this presidential agreement is sufficient to accredit the power” of the Managua ambassador in Moscow “to act on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Nicaragua,” the Nicaraguan president indicated in the document, published in the government publication, La Gaceta.
The presidential agreement, which entered into force today, does not provide details on the content of the cooperation and mutual assistance agreement in customs matters to be signed by both allied countries, nor the place or date of signing.
On November 25, Ortega authorized the Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Nicaragua, Iván Acosta, to sign that agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters with Russia.
Through a presidential agreement, the president also granted those full powers to Acosta, who is sanctioned by the United States, to sign that same agreement.
The United States Department of the Treasury imposed financial sanctions on Minister Acosta in May 2020, arguing that he “has continued to organize significant financial support for the Ortega regime” and helped to dismantle Nicaragua’s institutions and democracy.
Last September, Acosta, who is co-chairman of the Nicaragua-Russia mixed commission, led a delegation from the Government of Managua that participated in the VII Eastern Economic Forum of Russia.
Russia is an old ally of Nicaragua that during the first Sandinista government (1979-1990) provided Soviet weapons to the Nicaraguan Armed Forces.
Nicaragua is one of the few countries, along with Venezuela and the small island states of Nauru and Tuvalu, that have joined Russia in recognizing the independence of the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and that has received senior Russian officials since that country invaded Ukraine.
In addition, at the end of 2020 Nicaragua established a consulate in Crimea, a Ukrainian territory annexed to Russia, which led to the rejection of Ukraine.
