Nicaragua has ended diplomatic relations with Italy after a sharp dispute over Alessio Casimirri, a former member of the Red Brigades.
The government in Managua accused Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani of making aggressive and irresponsible statements.
Rome says Nicaragua has protected a man convicted over one of the darkest crimes in modern Italian history.
The disagreement has now grown into a full diplomatic rupture.
Tajani demands Casimirri’s extradition
Tajani raised the case during a European People’s Party meeting in Madrid.
He called on Nicaragua to extradite Casimirri, who has lived in the Central American country since 1983.
Casimirri later received Nicaraguan citizenship.
Italian courts sentenced him to six life terms for his alleged role in the 1978 kidnapping and killing of former Prime Minister Aldo Moro.
Nicaragua rejected Tajani’s public pressure. Its Foreign Ministry described his remarks as unjustified and hostile.
Italy says terrorism victims cannot be forgotten
Italy’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that Managua had informed Rome of its decision to cut ties.
The Italian government said it would continue seeking accountability for crimes committed against the state and its citizens.
That position includes the Casimirri case.
Rome views the Red Brigades violence as a national wound that remains open decades later.
From Nicaragua, we see a dispute shaped by history, sovereignty and competing demands for justice.
The killing that shook Italy
Aldo Moro led Italy’s Christian Democratic Party when Red Brigades members abducted him in Rome in March 1978.
The attackers killed five members of his security team during the operation.
Moro remained captive for 55 days.
His body was later found inside a car in central Rome.
The killing became one of the defining acts of political violence during Italy’s so-called Years of Lead.
The Red Brigades carried out kidnappings, assassinations and attacks as part of an armed far-left campaign against the Italian state.
Relations collapse after decades of tension
Casimirri’s presence in Nicaragua has troubled relations with Italy for years.
Italian authorities want him returned to serve his sentences. Nicaragua has allowed him to remain as a citizen.
The latest exchange pushed that old conflict past the diplomatic breaking point.
Embassy operations, consular work and official political dialogue could now face disruption.
For both governments, the dispute is no longer only about one man. It has become a test of national authority, historical memory and the limits of diplomatic pressure.