The Organization of American States (OAS) concluded on Wednesday that Nicaragua does not respect its commitments under the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and urged the government of Daniel Ortega to accept a mission of good offices to “reestablish” compliance with the regional document in defense of the institutionality.
The resolution, approved during an extraordinary session of the OAS Permanent Council, was supported by 25 of the 34 active members of the regional bloc, with the only contrary vote of Nicaragua. Eight countries abstained: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Honduras, Mexico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Saint Lucia.
The text, sponsored by Antigua and Barbuda, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the United States and Guyana, calls on Nicaragua to “urgently” release all detained opponents, and to initiate a process with a view to holding “free elections.” impartial and transparent, with credible international observation. “
The recent General Assembly of the OAS it ignored the legitimacy of the November 7 elections in Nicaragua, said that democratic institutions in that country were “seriously undermined” by the Ortega government, and instructed the Permanent Council to carry out an “immediate collective assessment” of the situation.
As a result of this, Ortega, who obtained a fourth consecutive term with seven of his possible rivals imprisoned on charges of conspiracy and other crimes formulated prior to the elections, asked on November 19 for his country to leave the OAS.
But the process to finalize the withdrawal takes two years, during which Nicaragua’s obligations to the OAS and its instruments remain in force.
“Devilish game” or “good start”
Wednesday’s resolution was energetically rejected by Nicaragua, whose representative, Michael René Campbell, denounced “another interventionist event by the OAS,” which he accused of submission to “US imperialism.”
“This is another diabolical game of this subject and satellite organization of the U.S“, he claimed.
Without responding to these comments, the delegate of the United States, Bradley Freden, highlighted the decision of the OAS as “a good start to return democracy to the Nicaraguan people,” and urged the government of Ortega and his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo, to “change course.”
“We must be willing to support a substantive and productive commitment to democratic solutions to this institutional crisis. We must be equally willing to respond if we see continued refusal to participate,” he said.
According to the resolution, the secretary general of the OAS, Luis Almagro, must inform the Permanent Council of his efforts with the Nicaraguan government before December 17.
The abstentions in Wednesday’s vote did not differ much from those of the General Assembly on November 12, with the exception of Argentina, which then supported the resolution and now did not.
“Argentina rejects the application of sanctions and any other measure that may exacerbate a conflict, (…) thereby generating additional tensions that can even be used to justify a greater external intervention,” said Ambassador Carlos Raimundi, questioning “credibility “of the current leadership of the OAS to carry out the dialogue.
Mexico, which again abstained on Wednesday as it did in the General Assembly, attacked Almagro, without naming him.
“We regret that the approved resolution is destined to be one more, another resolution without results since it ignores that the designated interlocutor does not have the minimum necessary credentials to seek a constructive and viable dialogue,” said Mexican Ambassador Luz Elena Baños.
The Inter-American Democratic Charter, adopted on September 11, 2001 in Lima, is an OAS instrument to guarantee respect for representative democracy in member countries.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx