Nicaragua announced Thursday that it is severing diplomatic ties with Italy, escalating a dispute rooted in the decades-old assassination of a former Italian prime minister.
According to Nicaragua’s foreign ministry, the break was prompted by remarks made by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who publicly criticized Nicaragua for sheltering Alessio Casimirri — a former member of the far-left Red Brigades who was convicted in connection with the 1978 killing of former Prime Minister Aldo Moro.
Tajani had taken issue with Nicaragua’s decision to extend citizenship to Casimirri, effectively shielding him from extradition to Italy.
Moro, who had served as Italy’s prime minister and led the country’s Christian Democratic party, was abducted by the Red Brigades in March 1978. The militant group demanded the release of their jailed comrades in exchange for Moro’s life. That exchange never happened, and roughly two months after his kidnapping, Moro’s body was discovered in the trunk of a car.
Italy’s foreign ministry responded to Nicaragua’s move by standing firmly behind Tajani’s demand that Casimirri be handed over. Tajani made the country’s position clear: “We tell Nicaragua that granting immunity to a criminal is unacceptable.”
