“We do not consider it pertinent to accompany this statement, we consider it inappropriate and untimely”. With those words, the Argentine representative to the OAS, Carlos Raimundi, argued his refusal to vote in favor of a resolution – approved by the majority of the member countries of the regional body – that condemned the Daniel Ortega dictatorship in Nicaragua.
After Raimundi, the diplomatic representative of Uruguay, Washington Abdala, spoke, who did not hide his criticism of Argentina’s position. “I don’t know if I’m on another tune; I am not quite understanding the countries that do not understand that the Nicaraguan dictatorship is one of extreme violence ”.
And, visibly dazed, he added: “What does it take to understand that candidates are not being allowed to be freely candidates, that there is a desperate people crying out for freedom !? What evidence must we offer them so that they adhere to a reasoning that we all do to confront this type of dictatorship ?! ”.
Raimundi also put as an element to justify Argentina’s abstention the proximity of the elections in Nicaragua, which will be held on November 11.
Given this, Abdala pointed out: “What is this interference? Be clear. The only thing we are doing at the international level is issuing us, reasoning, something that the dictatorship does not do, that kills, assassinates and deprives of liberty ”.
Is about the second resolution of these characteristics that the OAS approves to insist that Nicaragua release presidential candidates and political prisoners, to urge it to initiate electoral reforms. The position is a warning about the deterioration of the country’s political rights situation.
The last of the opinions had been in June, with a text that included the support from 26 of the 34 active members of the regional bloc and seven abstentions, including those of the delegations of Argentina, Bolivia and Mexico.
“I am not understanding some of my colleagues, and I ask them for the maximum of good will to contribute, unless there is an ideological reading. That would be painful and I think that is not the way ”, assured the Uruguayan diplomat. “I feel that this is our obligation, and there is little we can do, just in the international arena raise a voice, point it out to Ortega and say ‘we know that you are a dictator, that you are heading for elections that are flawed, we believe in your People who are desperate in the streets, we see the media that are cut off, ‘”he added.
“No matter how much we do this, Ortega is going to win the fight, because in the end the dictators are eternalizing themselves, it is a problem that we are having. If we continue with lukewarmness, doubts, it is because we are not understanding the depth. There are dictatorships in the region that have been around for 60 years. Maduro continues, friend of some, Ortega continues. Some do not understand the depth and not only that, they are being distracted“, full.
Since June, 37 opponents have been arrested in Nicaragua, including seven presidential hopefuls for the November 7 elections, where Ortega, in power since 2007, aspires to a fourth consecutive term. Of all the opponents imprisoned, three have house arrest while 34 are still incarcerated in harsh conditions.
In the text, the OAS su “Grave concern” over the fact that Nicaragua has ignored the efforts to commit to holding elections “free and fair ”.
The resolution also warns that the OAS may take “other actions in accordance with the Charter of the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Democratic Charter, including a evaluation of the elections ”in Nicaragua, during the next annual assembly of the OAS, to be held in Guatemala from November 10-13.
For his part, The Ortega regime “categorically” rejected this “illegitimate” meeting at the OAS. “It is inadmissible that another or other states, in open violation of the principle of self-determination of peoples and non-intervention in the internal affairs of other nations, judge another free people,” the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
In early October, a dozen Democratic and Republican senators from the United States asked the Biden government to sanction Ortega and consider the upcoming elections illegitimate. They also called evaluate Nicaragua’s suspension from the OAS and review the country’s participation in the Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Central America and the Dominican Republic (CAFTA-DR).
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The EU diplomatic chief said that Nicaragua is in a dire situation: “I hope to put more pressure on the regime.”