Brazil expels Nicaraguan ambassador in retaliation as rift between leaders grows

Associated Press

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s government has kicked out Nicaragua’s ambassador to the nation in retaliation for a similar move by the Central American country’s President Daniel Ortega. Brazil’s foreign ministry confirmed Thursday to The Associated Press that it had decided to expel Nicaraguan ambassador Fulvia Patricia Castro Matu. It said Brazil’s ambassador to Nicaragua, Breno da Costa, was expelled Monday. The office said da Costa was kicked out for failing to attend the 45th anniversary celebrations of Nicaragua’s Sandinista revolution. Ortega was a guerrilla fighter in that movement. A rift between Ortega and Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, two former allies, has grown over the last year.