Top US diplomat to Nicaragua returns after US pick for ambassador rejected

Oct 13 - The acting US envoy to Nicaragua, Elias Baumann, has returned to Washington "for critical consultations" after officials in the country rejected the US pick for ambassador, Natasha Franceschi, the State Department said on Tuesday.

The decision by co-Presidents Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo "demonstrates the hypocrisy of their rhetoric of mutual respect and their desire to engage in political theater at the expense of the Nicaraguan people," the statement added.

The Nicaraguan Presidency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ortega has accused the United States government of attempting to intervene in the country's affairs, including through bodies such as the Central American Parliament and the Organization of American States.

Nicaragua has been in the grip of a political crisis since April 2018, and the government has said that the country will no longer hold elections.

The United States has previously said that security services from an unnamed "non-hemispheric" nation are training Nicaraguan police and sharing intelligence. Nicaragua has security cooperation agreements with Russia and China. REUTERS