OAS condemns wave of arrests of opposition leaders by Daniel Ortega’s regime in Nicaragua

The Organization of American States (OAS) on Tuesday condemned the violation of human rights in Nicaragua, after an extraordinary meeting organized to analyze the situation in this Central American country, where Daniel Ortega’s regime has detained 13 opposition leaders in recent days, including four presidential candidates in the November elections.

With 26 votes in favor, 3 against and 5 abstentions, the Permanent Council approved the resolution condemning the wave of arbitrary arrests in Nicaragua, during the virtual session requested by Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, United States, Paraguay and Peru.

The three countries that voted against the resolution were Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Bolivia, while Argentina and Mexico abstained.

The draft resolution presented by these countries calls for “Immediate launch” The number of detainees, as well as that of all prisoners for political reasons in Nicaragua, will be the subject of the agenda.

Further, he urges the Ortega regime to apply all applicable international standards for the holding of free and fair elections on 7 November, “Including the warm welcome of trustworthy election observers from the OAS and other countries.

The text is underlined by “grave to worry“That the Nicaraguan authorities have not implemented electoral reforms by May this year to ensure the transparency of the November 7 elections, a deadline that was set by the OAS General Assembly last October.

During the meeting, the Nicaraguan delegation rejected the approval of the text, considering the action of the international organization as an “interventionist”. The Nicaraguan government “strongly rejects the convening of the session and the resolution, without binding effect on the government”.

“With less than five months to elect a new president, we must unite to demand from the Nicaraguan authorities the immediate release of political prisoners, political and social leaders, guaranteeing their safety, political rights and physical integrity,” he said. Costa’s ambassador. Rica, while calling for “an end to the siege, intimidation, persecution, raids, mistreatment and abuse” by the Ortega regime. “We demand respect for their international obligations, and in particular with regard to human rights.”

The United States, for its part, deemed “unthinkable” the possibility of holding “free and fair elections in this atmosphere” of persecution and repression. “The regime arrests not only political leaders and opposition candidates, but also leaders of the private sector and social organizations (…) Visits and the right to defend oneself were prevented; some need medication or suffer from an illness ”.

Brazil, another of the countries that requested the special session, expressed “satisfaction” with the approval of the resolution.

Tuesday’s appeal comes after the OAS Secretary General, Luis Almagro, asked last Wednesday to suspend Nicaragua’s participation in the regional bloc for what he considered Ortega’s “unprecedented attack” against his opponents.

Faced with this situation in this Central American country, the Acting Under-Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the United States Department of State, Julie chung, asked the OAS last Sunday to send a “clear signal” to Nicaragua, where, as he put it, there is a “campaign of terror” with the arrests of various political leaders.

“Ortega-Murillo’s campaign of terror continues this weekend with more arbitrary arrests. OAS members must send a clear signal this week: stop the crackdown, ”the diplomat said in a message sent to the media by the US embassy in Managua.

“The region cannot sit back and wait and see who will be next” adversary imprisoned, he added.

For their part, this Monday Senators Bob Menéndez (Democrat), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Marco Rubio (Republican), the highest ranking member of the Western Hemisphere subcommittee of the Upper House, asked Joe Biden’s government to use “all the diplomatic tools available to confront the Ortega regime”.

In a letter to the Secretary of State, Antoine Blink, Menéndez and Rubio called for increasing economic sanctions against Nicaraguan officials and for stepping up collaboration with the Organization of American States to coordinate a multilateral rejection of the Nicaraguan regime’s “undemocratic attack”.

“The Ortega regime is leading an unrestricted campaign of repression with the aim of demolishing hopes of being able to organize free and fair elections in November and thus consolidate the third dictatorship of the Americas”wrote the senators.

In addition, they encouraged the Biden government to implement the protocols of the bipartisan Bill to Enforce the Terms of Electoral Reform in Nicaragua (RENACER), presented at the end of March under the leadership of Menéndez and Rubio.

RENACER initiative obliges the United States to increase economic sanctions coordination with Canada and the European Union, monitor more closely the loans of international financial institutions in Nicaragua and strengthen intelligence on the activities of the Russian government in Nicaragua, they stressed.

Nicaraguan police, led by Francisco Díaz, a brother-in-law of Daniel Ortega, arrested five Sandinista dissidents over the weekend. including former guerrillas Dora María Téllez and Hugo Torres.

He is also keeping opposition presidential candidates in detention: Cristiana Chamorro, Arturo Cruz, Félix Maradiaga and Juan Sebastián Chamorro García. In addition, the former head of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (Cosep) José Adán Aguerri, the former vice-chancellor José Pallais and the opposition leaders of the National Unity Violeta Granera, Tamara Dávila, Ana Margarita Vigil and Suyen Barahona.

Likewise, two other former staff of an NGO who have been detained in the past two weeks under the charge of various crimes.

Police arrested the former Sandinista vice-chancellor on Sunday evening Victor Hugo Tinoco, reaching 13 arrested in the past two weeks.

In all cases, the police indicated that they were under investigation for “committing acts undermining independence, sovereignty and self-determination, inciting foreign interference in internal affairs and called for military interventions ”. They are also accused of “having organized themselves with funding from foreign powers to commit acts of terrorism and destabilization, propose and manage economic, commercial and financial blockades against the country and its institutions”.

With information from AFP

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