Managua, May 6 (RHC)-- The Government of Nicaragua announced its decision to withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in rejection of the award given to the newspaper La Prensa, known for promoting violence, foreign interference, and anti-values ​​throughout its history.

In a statement, the Sandinista government called the newspaper a "representative of vile treason" against the homeland and accused it of serving as an "instrument for the promotion and defense of U.S. military and political interventions in Nicaragua."

The statement called it "shameful" that UNESCO, with this recognition, endorses actions that "offend and attack the deepest values ​​of Nicaraguan national identity and culture."

It also stated that This decision causes the international organization to lose objectivity and disqualify itself.  The Nicaraguan government based its decision on Article 2, Paragraph 6 of the UNESCO Constitution.  It also emphasized the "sovereign and irrevocable" nature of its decision.

The Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize is named after Colombian journalist Guillermo Cano Isaza, editor of El Espectador, who was murdered on December 17, 1986, outside his newspaper's offices in Bogotá for denouncing drug trafficking and corruption.