Nicaragua Withdraws From UNESCO After Exiled Newspaper Wins Press Freedom Award | rssama.com

PARIS (AP) — UNESCO connected Sunday announced nan withdrawal of Nicaragua from nan U.N. taste and acquisition assemblage because of nan awarding of a UNESCO prize celebrating property state to a Nicaraguan newspaper, La Prensa.

UNESCO’s head general, Audrey Azoulay, announced that she had received a missive Sunday greeting from nan Nicaraguan authorities announcing its withdrawal because of nan attribution of nan UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.

“I regret this decision, which will deprive nan group of Nicaragua of nan benefits of cooperation, peculiarly successful nan fields of acquisition and culture. UNESCO is afloat wrong its instruction erstwhile it defends state of look and property state astir nan world,” Azoulay said successful a statement.

Nicaragua was 1 of 194 personnel states successful nan U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. UNESCO members group up nan property state prize successful 1997, and nan 2025 grant was attributed Saturday to La Prensa connected nan proposal of an world assemblage of media professionals.

La Prensa was founded almost a period ago, successful 1926, UNESCO noted.

It said that “since 2021, pursuing nan imprisonment and expulsion of its leaders from nan state arsenic good arsenic nan confiscation of its assets, La Prensa has continued to pass nan Nicaraguan organization online, pinch astir of its squad successful exile and operating from Costa Rica, Spain, Mexico, Germany and nan United States.”

In announcing their UNESCO withdrawal, Nicaraguan authorities accused La Prensa of promoting “military and governmental interventions by nan United States successful Nicaragua” and denounced nan grant of nan prize arsenic nan “diabolical look of a traitorous anti-patriotic sentiment,” UNESCO said.

Nicaragua’s angry departure is simply a rustle for nan statement that is besides successful nan crosshairs of U.S. President Donald Trump.

In an executive bid successful February, Trump called for a review of American engagement successful UNESCO. In his first word arsenic president, nan Trump management successful 2017 announced that nan U.S. would retreat from UNESCO, citing anti-Israel bias. That determination took effect a twelvemonth later.