Russia says the measure is “routine” and that troops will be in Nicaragua for training, law enforcement or emergency response purposes.
The government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has authorized the deployment of Russian troops, aircraft and ships to Nicaragua for training, law enforcement or emergency response purposes.
In a decree published this week and confirmed by Russia on Thursday, Ortega will authorize Russian troops to carry out law enforcement, “humanitarian aid, rescue and search missions in the event of an emergency or disaster. natural”.
The Nicaraguan government has also authorized the presence of small contingents of Russian troops for “the exchange of experiences and training”.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russian media Sputnik the measure was “routine”.
“We are talking about a routine procedure – twice a year – for the adoption of a Nicaraguan law on the temporary admission of foreign military personnel to its territory in order to develop cooperation in various fields, including humanitarian responses and urgently, the fight against organized crime and drug trafficking,” said Zakharova.
Nicaragua also said it would allow the presence of “naval and air forces” from Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Mexico, El Salvador and the United States. The authorization is valid for the second half of 2022, according to a report by Russian state news agency Tass.
Ortega has been a staunch Russian ally since his days leading the 1979 revolution that toppled dictator Anastasio Somoza. Ortega served as president from 1985 to 1990, before being re-elected to power in 2007.
Dozens of political opposition leaders were arrested, including most potential presidential candidates, in the months before Ortega was re-elected to a fourth consecutive term last year. His government has shut down dozens of nongovernmental groups it accuses of working on behalf of foreign interests to destabilize its government. Tens of thousands of Nicaraguans have been driven into exile.
