MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th March, 2023) Nicaragua has suspended diplomatic relations with the Vatican, the external affairs ministry of the Central American nation announced Sunday, after media reported that it closed its embassy in Rome.
"In light of the information disclosed by sources apparently linked to the Catholic Church, the Government... states that relations between the Vatican State and Nicaragua have been suspended," the ministry said.
Tensions between the leftist government of President Daniel Ortega and the Catholic Church escalated last month after a court in Managua sentenced Nicaragua's Bishop Rolando Alvarez to more than 26 years in jail for attempts to undermine national integrity. Pope Francis called Nicaragua a "dictatorship" in an interview with Infobae on Friday.
