FILE PHOTO: Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega greets supporters during the opening ceremony of a highway overpass in Managua, Nicaragua March 21, 2019. REUTERS/Oswaldo Rivas/File Photo

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The Nicaraguan government on Sunday issued a statement denouncing what it called a “coup” in Bolivia after the South American country’s president, Evo Morales, stepped down amid protests over a disputed election.

“The Government of Nicaragua ... denounces and strongly condemns the coup d’etat that was realized today,” the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, a veteran leftist, said in a statement.

“We express our rejection and repudiation of fascist practices that ignore the constitution, laws and institutionalism that govern the democratic life of nations.”