Nicaragua announces its departure from the OAS

The Government of Nicaragua denounced this Friday the Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS) and announced its departure from that body, after it disqualified the general elections of November 7, in which President Daniel Ortega prevailed for a fifth term.

“We are resigning and disassociating ourselves from the Organization of American States, terminating the link between the Nicaraguan State and the OAS,” said the Nicaraguan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Denis Moncada, in a press appearance from the headquarters of the Foreign Ministry, in Managua. .

Moncada said that with the instruction of President Ortega he sent a communication today to the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, in which they denounce the Charter of that continental body. With it, “we are separating ourselves from the OAS,” he ratified.

“In accordance with Article 67 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties”, I officially notify “our unwavering decision to denounce the OAS Charter, in accordance with its Article 143, which initiates the definitive withdrawal and resignation of Nicaragua from this organization, ”Foreign Minister Moncada explained in the letter.

Nicaragua: OAS is an instrument of the United States.

In the document, Managua accused the OAS of failing to comply with, irresponsibly disregarding, and transgressing its own Charter on respect for the sovereign equality of States, non-interference in internal affairs, and non-imposition of unilateral, illegal, and coercive measures.

“The OAS has been designed as a diplomatic political forum that was born under the influence of the United States as an instrument of interference and intervention, and its action against Nicaragua has shown that this organization, which operates permanently in Washington, has the mission of facilitating the hegemony of the United States. With its interventionism on the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean ”, according to the text of the complaint.

For Nicaragua, this “is unacceptable, we reject it and we condemn it,” Moncada continued.

He recalled that his country has repeatedly expressed its condemnation and rejection of the “interventionist action” of the OAS and that Nicaragua does not recognize itself as a colony of any power. “We claim national dignity and decorum, in legitimate defense of our independence, sovereignty and self-determination,” he said.

“The people and government worthy of Nicaragua renounce being part of this captive organization in Washington, instrumentalized in favor of North American interests, becoming a builder of interference and disagreements to the detriment of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean,” he added.

They ask for the cessation of international effects

This note constitutes “our unwavering manifesto and decision to denounce the OAS Charter, so that its harmful international effects against Nicaragua cease,” explained Moncada.

For this reason, he added, he asked Almagro to immediately communicate to the member states “the Nicaraguan decision of denunciation and irrevocable, dignified and patriotic resignation in the face of the interference, unfriendly and aggressive actions of that organization, the subordinate governments of the United States and The secretary general”.

Nicaragua argued that it made its decision based on its Constitution and on the request of the other three powers of the State: Legislative, Judicial and Electoral, which urged Ortega to denounce the OAS Charter after rejecting the legitimacy of the recent elections.

Nicaragua’s decision comes after the 51st General Assembly of the OAS, in a resolution approved last Friday, considered that the general elections that guaranteed Ortega’s permanence in power “were not free, fair or transparent and were not they have democratic legitimacy ”.

The presidential and legislative elections, held on the 7th, were notable for the absence of seven potential candidates for the Presidency of the opposition who were imprisoned before the voting on charges of “treason, such as the independent Cristiana Chamorro, favorite in the surveys.

As well as the elimination of three opposition parties, the repeal of electoral observation, discrepancies on the level of participation, and a series of laws that restricted participation in the process.

Ortega, 76, who returned to power in 2007, was reelected for his fifth five-year and fourth consecutive term, along with his wife, Rosario Murillo, as vice president, in those elections that have not achieved the recognition of the majority of the international community.

In addition to the OAS, the European Union and a part of the rest of the international community rejected the Nicaraguan elections.

On the contrary, among the countries that have congratulated Ortega on his re-election are his allies Bolivia, North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Palestine, Russia, Syria, Venezuela and Vietnam. (I)