The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, rejected on Tuesday the results of the “illegitimate elections” in Nicaragua, which ensured a fourth consecutive term for Daniel Ortega, and demanded that the international community demand the annulment of the same.
Almagro called “for the celebration of a new process with guarantees,” independent observation and true electoral competition, referring to the process that has been delegitimized by the intensification of government repression in recent months.
“I urge OAS countries to respond to this clear violation of the Democratic Charter during their Assembly,” Almagro said. on your Twitter account one day before the meeting of foreign ministers begins in which, precisely, the crisis in Nicaragua will be a topic on the agenda.
Almagro accompanied his statement with a detailed report, first, referring to the way in which the electoral results were communicated, which goes against good practices and denotes a disregard for the transparency and independence that the authorities of the Supreme Electoral Council should govern. (CSE).
We reject the results of the illegitimate elections in #Nicaragua.
I urge countries of @OEA_oficial to respond to this clear violation of the Democratic Charter during its #AssemblyOEA.
Report of the Secretariat xa Strengthening Democracy: https://t.co/MveDywNrXm
– Luis Almagro (@ Almagro_OEA2015) November 9, 2021
“The day after the elections, the provisional cut was still listed as the only official result of the elections. Likewise, on the CSE website it was not possible to compare the minutes or other electoral material with the official version of the electoral authorities. It is also important to mention that the day after the elections there was no report by the CSE on the electoral results for deputies of the National Assembly ”, he listed.
Ortega ignored OAS recommendations
He also mentioned the efforts made by the OAS to return Nicaragua to the democratic channel, which were ignored by the Nicaraguan ruler, including an electoral reform that in the end ended up becoming insubstantial according to the official.
He stressed the lack of independence of the electoral power, the repression that has been expressed in the arrest of opposition candidates, the cancellation of the legal status of opposition parties and the attacks on civil society and freedom of expression.
“The current Supreme Electoral Council does not have the credibility, independence or autonomy to carry out democratic, fair and transparent elections. The regime maintains and increased control of the Electoral Power, with an action that is, clearly, the co-option of the electoral authority, ”Almagro insisted.
In addition to this lack of electoral independence, the Secretary General of the OAS pointed out that the rest of the parties that were allowed to participate in the voting are “close to the Government”, in the opinion of analysts, which also becomes an argument to support that there was no competition. This process did not have any recognized international observation in Almagro’s opinion.
Rejection from almost 40 countries
With this detailed document, the regional official established his position, after at least Five former presidents have called for the suspension of the Nicaraguan regime of the organization, given the clear violations committed with the lack of democratic guarantees for a free election and repression.
More than 36 countries Until this Monday, the elections have been declared illegitimate, including the United States, the European Union – made up of 27 nations – Spain, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Panama, among others.
The international community has repeatedly demanded the release of political prisoners, a total of 150, of whom 39 were arrested since last May amid the repressive escalation imposed by the regime to eliminate political competition. Among the latest group of detainees, there are seven presidential candidates, civic and business leaders, whom Ortega insulted this Monday when celebrating his “victory” in Managua.
The Sandinista caudillo called “sons of bitches of the Yankee imperialists” convicts of conscience, to whom the system under its control has imputed – without evidence – mostly the crimes of “treason against the fatherland”, while others are accused of crimes such as money laundering and made participants in a crime. alleged conspiracy to bring him down in 2018.
Evidence from human rights organizations, including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, attached to the OAS, shows the opposite: the systematic human rights violations that left 328 murdered, thousands injured and more than 100,000 citizens in the exile. Crimes for which the State of Nicaragua has not responded, keeping each of these cases in impunity.
Senators in the US condemn results
While Ortega scoffed at the victims of his system, reactions continued in the United States after the denouncement of the President Joseph Biden and the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, questioning the results of the Nicaraguan votes.
Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy denounced what he called mock elections in Nicaragua. The legislator spoke on behalf of a bipartisan group made up of his Senate colleagues: Bob Menendez, Patrick Leahy, Jim Risch, Marco Rubio, Dick Durbin, Ted Cruz, Ben Cardin and Tim Caine.
Nicaragua’s elections were neither free, nor fair, and as such the results do not represent the will of the Nicaraguan people. pic.twitter.com/qRiDORVGpG
– US Senator Bill Cassidy, MD (@SenBillCassidy) November 8, 2021
“We strongly condemn the fraudulent attempt by the Ortega-Murillo regime to maintain power in Nicaragua through the mock elections on November 7, after arresting and imprisoning members of civil society and the political opposition. These elections were neither free nor fair, so the results do not represent the will of the Nicaraguan people, ”the senators said.
The legislators added that the majority of countries in the hemisphere and the world must recognize that the Ortega regime has become a crude dictatorship and, therefore, they argue that the United States must use all the diplomatic and economic tools at its disposal to support the Nicaraguan population.
In past days, Congress passed the Reborn Act, still pending signature in the White House, which provides new pressure tools against Ortega, including greater scrutiny of international credits to Nicaragua, the review of its participation in the trade agreement with the United States, Central America and the Dominican Republic and the possibility of greater sanctions against those who prevented the holding of free elections.
