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Nicaragua’s Sandinista-controlled National Assembly (Parliament) on Tuesday authorized the entry of troops, ships, and aircraft of the Russian Armed Forces, at the urgent request of the country’s dictator, Daniel Ortega.
The entry of Russian troops, a country that is engaged in a war in Ukraine, was authorized with the vote of 78 Sandinista legislators and their allies, out of the 91 deputies that make up the Parliament.
The head of the Defense and Security Committee, Sandinista Filiberto Rodríguez, criticizes the U.S. Undersecretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Brian Nichols, for objecting to the entry of the Russian military into Nicaragua.
“[Nichols] doesn’t remember, ignores, or is uninformed, that this is a tradition,” argued Rodríguez, who rejected that Nicaragua is a threat to regional security.
For his part, Sandinista deputy Wálmaro Gutiérrez accused the international press of promoting a campaign with the entry of the Russian military “with the objective of distorting and distracting national and international public opinion.”
“The intervening troops that (Russia) has brought (to Nicaragua) are cabs, buses, and training for the National Police”, declared, for his part, also Sandinista Moisés Absalón Pastora.
Russia’s participation in operations
Ortega, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, authorized the entry of Russian troops during the second semester of this year to participate in operations “against illicit activities” in the Caribbean Sea and in the Nicaraguan Pacific Ocean, according to the decree.
It also authorizes the entry, on a rotating basis, of 80 Russian military personnel to participate with the elite corps of the Nicaraguan Army “in the exchange of experiences and training exercises in humanitarian aid operations”.
It further allows the entry of 50 Russian military personnel, on a rotating basis, to participate with members of the Naval Force, Air Force, and Transmissions Corps “in the exchange of experiences and operational communication with ships and aircraft of the Nicaraguan Army in confrontation and fight against drug trafficking and transnational organized crime.”
In total, the Sandinista leader authorized an undetermined number of Russian military personnel, ships, and aircraft to enter Nicaragua from July 1 to December 31 of this year, who will participate, among others, in “exchange of experience and training in security tasks.”
