A large majority of countries of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) approved a resolution condemning the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, for the hunt against organized civil society, the independent press and priests and bishops of the Nicaraguan Catholic Church, in addition to reiterating the demand for the release of more than 190 political prisoners.
The resolution was approved with 27 votes in favor; only one against —Saint Vincent and the Grenadines—; four abstentions —Mexico, Bolivia, El Salvador and Honduras—; and two absent countries: Colombia and Nicaragua.
The resolution, promoted by eight countries“strongly condemns the forced closure of non-governmental organizations and the harassment and arbitrary restrictions on religious organizations and those who criticize their actions in Nicaragua.”
It also refers to its “insistence that the Government of Nicaragua immediately release all political prisoners and cease the harassment and intimidation of the independent press and guarantee the exercise of the right to freedom of expression.”
The resolution establishes the concern of the OAS that, despite the different exhortations established in different resolutions and mandates approved within the Permanent Council demanding that the regime restore democracy and civil liberties, these calls have been ignored by Ortega. .
“The climate of oppression in Nicaragua has worsened with a growing number of arbitrary arrests and detentions; the forced closure of non-governmental organizations, the autocratic takeover of mayors of five municipalities controlled by an opposition party, an intensification of the repression of journalists and freedom of the press, and attacks on nuns and priests of the Catholic faith,” he points out. the resolution.
It also highlights the “concern” of the Permanent Council of the OAS, due to the attitude of the Ortega regime that “has ignored the efforts of the Secretary General (Luis Almagro) to involve the Government of Nicaragua in the discussion of the ways in which a high-ranking group level may be invited to help the Government of Nicaragua restore respect for and defense of democracy and human rights in accordance with the OAS Charters.”
First vote in 2022
This was the first time in 2022 that the OAS Permanent Council voted on a resolution on the political and human rights crisis in Nicaragua.
The last time the Permanent Council had ruled on the crisis in Nicaragua it was December 8, 2021when a resolution was approved that demanded the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, urgently, the release of all political prisoners and the acceptance of a high-level mission to reach an agreement, given that “Nicaragua does not is fulfilling the commitments assumed in the Inter-American Democratic Charter”.
Argentina, governed by the leftist Alberto Fernández, had already warned since Thursday, August 11 that would vote in favor of a resolution condemning against the outrages of the Ortega regime.
