Nicaragua: the Ortega regime authorizes the entry of Russian troops for “humanitarian” missions.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega authorized the entry into the country of military personnel, ships and aircraft from Russia starting next month, as well as the departure of military forces and vehicles from the Central American country on specific missions.

The provision is contained in a presidential decree published on 7 June in the Official Gazette and was confirmed on Thursday by the official Russian press.

The decree authorized entry “to participate training exercises and exchange of operations humanitarian aid, search, rescue and rescue missions in emergency situations or natural disasters ”. The activities will be carried out with the land, air and naval forces of Nicaragua from 1 July to 31 December of this year, the document specifies.

Ortega also authorized the entry of the Russian army and media to participate in joint operations with the local armed forces. “against the offense” in the maritime spaces of Nicaragua in the Caribbean Sea and in the jurisdictional waters of the Pacific Ocean, has been indicated.

faithful ally

In the same period, Nicaragua will allow the rotational entry of 80 soldiers, ships and planes to participate in “exchange of experiences and training exercises in humanitarian aid”, and another 50 Russian soldiers, ships and planes to carry out “confrontation tasks. and fight against drug trafficking and organized crime ”.

The decree also authorized for the second half of this year “the transit or parking” of military forces from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, the United States, Mexico, Venezuela and Cuba, “for exchange and humanitarian assistance purposes of mutual benefit, in case of emergency situations, ” said La Gaceta.

Daniel Ortega has been a staunch ally of Russia since its first government in the 1980s. when it received important economic and military aid of the then Soviet Union and other countries of the Communist bloc to face the “contra” rebels.

After his return to power in 2007, he concluded several economic, scientific-technical and military cooperation agreements with Moscow.

Russian explanation

The Russian government reacted to the publication through the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, who argued that the entry of foreign troops and military assets into Nicaragua It is a “routine” thing.

As Zakharova told Sputnik news agency, the procedure is already “established in the laws of Nicaragua for the temporary entry of military personnel to develop cooperation in various fields, including humanitarian and emergency aid and the fight against organized crime and drug trafficking ”.

Last February, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov visited Managua and announced that the Kremlin wanted to strengthen this cooperation. “For more than 40 years we have provided technological and military support to your army, and we will continue to offer our support and continue to work in this direction as well, ” said the senior Russian official.

Ortega, for his part, offered immediate public support for the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, justifying the positions of pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk and Lugansk, in the Donbas region, where Moscow has strengthened its control through intense bombing in recent weeks. .

Agency AP

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