BRASILIA - Brazil expects Nicaragua to expel its ambassador on Thursday and the Brazilian government was considering retaliating in kind, an official at Brazil's foreign ministry said, as relations continued to deteriorate following Venezuela's contested election.

The government of Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega has decided to expel Brazilian Ambassador Breno de Souza da Costa after threats to do so three weeks ago, the official with knowledge of the matter said.

The Nicaraguan government has not commented on the matter.

The expulsion would confirm declining relations between Brazil's leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and some Latin American left-wing governments that has increased with division over Venezuela's contested election which Lula has criticized for not releasing the results.

The source told Reuters the ambassador was informed on Thursday that he should leave the country, and Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira will consult Lula on whether to order the Nicaraguan envoy in Brasilia to leave in response.

Last month, Costa angered the Nicaragua government by not attending celebrations of the 45th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution, leading to threats of expulsion and diplomatic rupture that is now expected to happen.

Relations between Brazil and Nicaragua have been deteriorating since Lula tried to broker the release from jail of Catholic bishop and vocal Ortega critic Rolando Jose Alvarez last year at the request of Pope Francis.

Lula told foreign reporters recently that he tried to call Ortega last year, after the Pope asked him to intervene, but the Nicaragua president did not accept the call.

Since then, Brazil's foreign ministry has kept relations with Nicaragua at bare minimum to deal with the needs of Brazilian citizens in Managua.

  - Reuters