A Dutch member of the European parliament was ordered to leave Nicaragua on Wednesday for allegedly involving himself in local issues.

Liberal (VVD) MEP Hans van Baalen is on a tour of Central America in his new role as president of Liberal International, a global alliance of over 100 Liberal parties.
‘The deputy minister of the Sandinista regime Valdrack Jaenstke said I had to leave the country for meddling in internal affairs,’ Van Baalen told a news conference in the Nicaraguan capital Managua.
Van Baalen had accused president Daniel Ortega of violating the constitution and called on Liberal parties to unite in opposition against him. Last month, Nicaragua’s supreme court scrapped a clause in the constitution which said the president can only govern one term.
According to Liberal International’s website: ‘Van Baalen urged all Nicaraguan liberals to unite, not to work with Daniel Ortega and to put forward one candidate for the 2011 presidential elections. Liberal International will support the liberal leader who is chosen as the presidential candidate through a free and fair process.’
‘Liberals have to defend the Nicaraguan constitution which Ortega violates,’ the website quoted al Van Baalen as saying.
For a Nicaraguan report on the incident, click here