MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Nearly a month after presenting his credentials as U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua, Robert J. Callahan told The Nica Times this week that the relationship between the United States and Nicaragua is “fraught with difficulty,” but that there's no “reason for undo concern.”

“I can't sit here and say we don't have problems. We do. And probably more problems than we have with certain other countries, certainly in the region,” Callahan told The Nica Times in his first exclusive sit-down interview in Nicaragua.

Still, Callahan said, the U.S. government maintains a high level of interest in Nicaragua and a commitment to work with the government of President Daniel Ortega.

“There are clearly disagreements in how we look at the world, and how we choose our friends and allies, and how we choose to speak to each other, but it's something that we are perfectly aware of. It's one of the things that I am down here to improve, if possible,” he said.

Don't miss tomorrow's Nica Times, an eight-page publication of The Tico Times, for the full exclusive interview.