DutchNews.nl - Dutch MEP thrown out of Nicaragua

A Dutch member of the European parliament was ordered to leave Nicaragua on Wednesday for allegedly involving himself in local issues.

Liberal (VVD) MEP Hans van Baalen is on a tour of Central America in his new role as president of Liberal International, a global alliance of over 100 Liberal parties.

'The deputy minister of the Sandinista regime Valdrack Jaenstke said I had to leave the country for meddling in internal affairs,' Van Baalen told a news conference in the Nicaraguan capital Managua.

Van Baalen had accused president Daniel Ortega of violating the constitution and called on Liberal parties to unite in opposition against him. Last month, Nicaragua's supreme court scrapped a clause in the constitution which said the president can only govern one term.

According to Liberal International's website: 'Van Baalen urged all Nicaraguan liberals to unite, not to work with Daniel Ortega and to put forward one candidate for the 2011 presidential elections. Liberal International will support the liberal leader who is chosen as the presidential candidate through a free and fair process.'

'Liberals have to defend the Nicaraguan constitution which Ortega violates,' the website quoted al Van Baalen as saying.

Apparently, the Nicaraguan government does not understand the concepts of either globalization or opposition. Van Baalen went there, as head of Liberal International, to meet their fellow liberals. He ask the Nicaraguan liberals to join and work as opposition.
It is incredible that they take the concept of "opposition" literally as confrotation, rather than the political contestant of decisions.

I understood from the Nicaraguan report that their vice chancellor also insulted The Netherlands. For less than this insult, other ambassadors have been called to their countries.

I wonder what the Dutch would do. Probably best is to ignore the regime.

By Benito Camelas | November 12, 2009 3:25 PM

Corruption in Nicaragua is far beyond any limits. Ortega's children are living in Costa Rica in a large estate owned by Roberto Rivas, president of the supreme electoral body (Consejo Supremo Electoral): http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2009/noviembre/02/pais2141888.html

By Lastenia Rojas Alpizar | November 12, 2009 8:46 PM

You wouldn't want U.S. agents interfering in your government. It's a simple matter. They did the right thing to expel Hans van Baalen.

By tony | November 13, 2009 5:29 AM