Managua - A Nicaraguan government delegation headed by Vice
President Jaime Morales Carazo is to visit Taiwan in mid August,
officials said Thursday in Managua.
Morales Carazo office said in a statement that he plans to travel
to Taipei on August 12 for a 4-day visit to include meeting with
Taiwan government officials. He will also attend an international
gathering.
The trip comes in response to an invitation from Taiwanese
President Chen Shui-bian, the statement said.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has insisted that he intends to
maintain formal ties with Taiwan even after last month's move by
Central American neighbour Costa Rica to establish diplomatic
relations with Beijing, thereby cutting official relations with
Taipei.
Ortega said that Morales Carazo's visit 'will contribute in a
positive way to preserving and increasing the fraternal relations of
friendship and solidarity and valuable cooperation between both
nations,' the statement said.
While in Taipei, Morales Carazo is to participate in the Second
General Assembly of the Democratic Pacific Union (DPU), chaired by
Taiwan Vice President Annette Lu.
The DPU, formed in August 2005, has 28 member countries and seeks
to promote international dialogue for democracy and peace.
Nicaragua is one of 24 mostly small countries - half of them in
Latin America and the Caribbean - with ties with Taiwan. China, which
sees Taiwan as its breakaway province, is wooing these countries to
drop Taipei and recognize Beijing.
The Taiwanese government recently donated 30 million dollars to
Nicaragua to build a thermoelectric plant.
Taiwanese President Chen is set to attend the Sixth Taiwan-Central
American and the Dominican Republic Leaders' Summit, scheduled for
August 23-25 in Honduras.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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