Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Nicaraguan Government on recent protests in that country.

The UK has been very clear with the Nicaraguan Government that they must take responsibility for ending the current violence and protecting human rights, particularly the rights to freedom of expression and assembly.

These messages have been delivered in two meetings between the Head of Latin America Department and the Presidential Advisor on International Relations, and in a public statement by the British Ambassador to Nicaragua on 5 June that was featured by the Nicaraguan press. We also raised our concerns at the Organisation of American States General Assembly on 5 June in Washington where the UK is a Permanent Observer.

We will continue to monitor the situation closely and raise our concerns with the Nicaraguan Government at every opportunity.