The Organization of American States (OAS) will hold this Tuesday, May 30, an extraordinary session to address the “Implementation of all aspects of the Inter-American Democratic Charter and its challenges.”
The meeting will be at 10 am —US time— in the Hall of the Americas, in Washington, DC, where all the delegates that make up the continental organization will be.
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In chapter two of the session, the topic “democracy and human rights” will be addressed, by Pedro Vaca, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Topics such as democracy, comprehensive development and the fight against poverty; strengthening and preservation of democratic institutions, democracy, and electoral observation missions; and promotion of democratic culture will be on the table.
It will also include the participation of Maxwell A. Cameron, professor at the University of British Columbia, Canada, Thomas A. Shannon, Jr. former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs of the United States and Co-Chairman of the Inter-American Dialogue; Antonia Urrejola, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Chile and former President of the IACHR, Eduardo Stein, former Vice President of the Republic of Guatemala.
“It is no coincidence that this session is taking place on May 30”
For the former Nicaraguan ambassador to the continental body, Arturo McFields, it is no coincidence that this extraordinary session is being held on May 30, “which is an emblematic date for the massacre that occurred in Nicaragua, during 2018.”
He asserted that Nicaragua is the country “that put the Inter-American Democratic Charter to the test; In other words, before what happened in Nicaragua, it was believed that the Democratic Charter was a fairly complete and up-to-date instrument, but we were wrong, since in the country it was shown that it has great challenges and there is a need to make profound changes to to be able to confront dictators of the ilk of Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo».
Related news: I/A Court HR asks the OAS to apply a “collective guarantee” in the face of permanent contempt of Nicaragua
On the other hand, he explained that although the issue of Nicaragua does not appear on the agenda, nevertheless “it will be omnipresent from the beginning to the end.”
He also stated that “it is no coincidence that they invited Antonia Urrejola as one of the main speakers of this meeting. Taking into account that she was one of the rapporteurs of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for Nicaragua during the 2018 massacre and later, as foreign minister, she was one of the most important voices when speaking up and denouncing what she is doing the Nicaraguan dictatorship.
Regarding the new attack against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, McFields said that this session is taking place in a context in which the attack of the dictatorship against the clergy “has reached new levels.”
Next November it will be two years for Nicaragua to officially leave the OAS, after the Ortega regime denounced the Democratic Charter and opted to leave, after the organization demanded respect for human rights.
