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In this photo provided by the United Nations, Nicaragua's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Denis Moncada Colindres, addresses the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, September 5, 2018, at the United States headquarters. (Loey Felipe / The United Nations via AP)
THE UNITED NATIONS – The United States warned the Security Council on Wednesday that Nicaragua was committed to the Syrian conflict and a crisis in Venezuela, but Russia, China and Bolivia said Nicaragua was not a international threat. the United Nations should abstain.
The sweeping exchanges took place at the first meeting of the Security Council convened by US ambassador Nikki Haley, the current chairman, to denounce the government's violent crackdown on student and opposition protests that have killed more 300 people since mid-April. leads thousands of people to flee the country.
"Every day that passes, Nicaragua is taking a familiar path – it's a path that Syria has borrowed – it's a path that Venezuela has taken," said Mr. Haley.
She said that Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro "were cut off from the same corrupt fabric … And they are both dictators who live in fear of their own people."
But the Nicaraguan government still has the possibility "to prevent the tyranny of threatening peace and security" by responding to the people's demands for freedom, the end of the "dictatorship" and the release of protesters arbitrarily imprisoned.
Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia countered that the "subversive policies of the United States against Nicaragua have a long history" and the meeting – to which Moscow "categorically opposes" – was "a shining example of destructive foreign intervention ".
It is "to promote the regional ambitions of the great powers" who want to "inflict maximum damage" to the Nicaraguan economy, "to stir up social unrest, to provoke intolerance in one single objective – change the government, "said Nebenzia.
He warned that "after the discussion today, polarization in Nicaragua will only get worse".
Popular protests that began in mid-April were triggered by cuts to the social security system. Ortega reversed the cuts, but the demonstrations quickly developed and turned into a call to resign. He refused to give up power before the elections scheduled for 2021.
A report released last Wednesday by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on four months of unrest in the country describes the government crackdown that has spread from the streets to courtrooms where protesters are accused of terrorism.
The human rights office called on the government to immediately stop the persecution of protesters and disarm the masked civilians responsible for a large number of arbitrary killings and detentions. He has also documented cases of torture and excessive force.
Two days later, the government expelled the US human rights team to the country.
Gonzalo Koncke, chief of staff of the secretary general of the Organization of American States, told the council that Nicaragua "is at a critical juncture and that the government must take critical steps" to restore democracy in the country.
The government must quickly organize "free, fair, democratic and transparent elections" and enter into a dialogue with all parties leading to agreements.
If democracy is not restored, Koncke warned that Nicaragua "could follow the path of other countries in the region that have fallen into the hands of dictators".
The civil society leader, Felix Maradiaga, former secretary-general of the Nicaraguan Ministry of Defense, said he was facing constant death threats. He stressed the urgency of the situation in the country that threatens peace and security in the region.
"Every day, we see a climate of terror and indiscriminate persecution," he said, citing the growing number of political prisoners, armed and masked people breaking into homes and sexual assaults.
"For more than ten years, the Daniel Ortega regime has benefited from the fact that it is outside the international program, the international radar," said Maradiaga. "So we see the danger that Nicaragua is out of control in an unstable region of the world."
Nicaragua needs the attention of the United Nations, he said, "to ensure that there is peace and security before it is too late ". And he urged the UK's most powerful body to adopt a legally binding resolution, allocate resources and establish a system to monitor what is happening in the country and support the recovery of the country. rule of law.
Nicaragua's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Denis Moncada Colindres, made no mention of unrest or elections, noting that "in Nicaragua, we love peace, we strengthen our security and we promote and defend human rights in a comprehensive way" .
"There is a consensus within this council that Nicaragua is not a threat to international peace and security," he said. "Therefore, his inclusion in this meeting constitutes a clear case of interference in Nicaragua's internal affairs and a violation of the United Nations Charter and international law."
