Meet 5 Latin American allies of Putin 3:15
(CNN Spanish) -
The Deputy Assistant Secretary of State of the United States for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Emily Mendrala, expressed this Wednesday during a virtual conference with independent media that it is "very worrying" that the President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, and his wife and Vice President Rosario Murillo have aligned themselves with Russia after President Vladimir Putin recognized the Donetsk and Lugansk territories as independent republics.
“It is very worrying that the Ortega-Murillo regime has chosen to align itself with the authoritarian government of Russia and followed its script of repression,” said Undersecretary Mendrala.
"The United States will continue to support the people of Nicaragua... We strongly condemn President Putin's decision to recognize the so-called Donetsk and Lugansk republics as independent, that decision represents a complete rejection of Russia's commitments under the Minsk agreements, it is a attack on the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine,” said the State Department official.
What are the Minsk agreements?
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On Monday, President Daniel Ortega expressed his support for the Russian president, who recognized the independence of the self-proclaimed separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, both located in eastern Ukraine.
"President Putin has taken a step today, where what he has done is recognize some republics that since the 2014 coup, these republics that border Russia, did not recognize the coup governments and they created their government, established their government there and they have given battle," Ortega said on national television.
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Latin America reacts to the Russia-Ukraine conflict 1:16
The president also justified the fact that Russia has sent a military presence, at a time of the escalation of the conflict with the United States and several European countries, given the threat of invading Ukraine.
"Logically, this brings military support so that these governments have security," said Ortega.
In recent years, Nicaragua has strengthened its relationship with Russia, a country that has donated vaccines against covid-19 and has donated hundreds of public transport units.
Global Challenges: The conflict between Russia and Ukraine... and its scope in Latin America
In November of last year, Putin greeted Daniel Ortega after his victory in the disputed elections and said that Nicaragua is a very important partner of Russia in Latin America.
The following month, Laureano Ortega Murillo, son of the presidential couple and adviser on investment matters, signed, during a visit to Moscow, an agreement to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, applied to energy, medicine, agriculture, according to the Government of Nicaragua reported in its media.
Another sign of the rapprochement between Moscow and Managua is that at the end of 2020 Nicaragua established a consulate in Crimea, a Ukrainian territory that Russia annexed, which of course provoked Ukraine's rejection.
Russian and Ukrainian war
