The government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has allowed Russian troops, planes and ships to be stationed in Nicaragua for training, law enforcement or emergency response.
In a decree issued this week and confirmed by Russia on Thursday, Ortega will allow Russian troops to carry out their law enforcement duties, “humanitarian aid, rescue and search missions in emergencies or natural disasters.”
The Nicaraguan government has also allowed the presence of small contingents of Russian troops to “exchange experience and training.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the Russian newspaper Sputnik that the measure was “routine”.
We are talking about a routine – twice a year – procedure for the adoption of a Nicaraguan law on the temporary admission of foreign military personnel on its territory, in order to develop cooperation in various fields, including humanitarian and emergency response, the fight against organized crime and drug trafficking “Zakharova said.
She noted that the law also allows troops from the United States, Mexico and other Central American countries for such purposes.
Ortega has been a staunch ally of Russia since his days in the leadership of the 1979 revolution that toppled dictator Anastasio Somosa. Ortega was president from 1985 to 1990, before being re-elected in 2007.
Ortega’s government arrested dozens of opposition political leaders, including most potential presidential candidates, in the months leading up to his re-election for a fourth consecutive term last year. His government has shut down dozens of non-governmental groups he accuses of working on behalf of foreign interests to destabilize his government. Tens of thousands of Nicaraguans have been exiled.
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