the take military manual of the Managua headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS), ordered on Sunday, April 24 by the Ortega-Murillo regime, is a “very serious violation of the principles of international law,” warned the organization’s former adviser, Guillermo Belt.
According to Belt, this aggression “should not be overlooked in any way, because if it is overlooked, (countries) will be complicit in a very serious violation of international law and one of the pillars of relations between countries and of countries with multinational organizations.
Belt gave an interview on the program Tonight, in which he maintained that neither the regime of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, nor that of Cuba in 1962—when he was suspended from the organization—ordered an assault on its headquarters in Caracas and Havana, respectively.
“They have set a very dangerous precedent (in Nicaragua), because other regimes could imitate it, thinking that the sacred principle of inviolability of the diplomatic headquarters has been openly violated and, if it remains in absolute impunity, it is extremely dangerous,” Belt said. .
The interview took place just hours after the emergency session of the Permanent Council, in which the issue was denounced by the OAS Secretary General, Luis Almagro.
Today we denounce @CP_OAS the illegal assault of #Nicaragua to the headquarters of #OEA in Managua. It is a dangerous precedent for #LATAMC. This action is morally reprehensible and legally regrettable. And worse still are the attitudes of the regime against its own people.
My words pic.twitter.com/BaUJVYSh0E— Luis Almagro (@Almagro_OEA2015) April 27, 2022
On Sunday, April 24, Foreign Minister Denis Moncada Colindres said that the OAS is a “diabolical instrument” minutes before taking over the headquarters of the delegation and announcing the “expulsion” of the organization and the withdrawal of the credential letters of the representatives of the country, Orlando Tardencilla, Iván Lara and Michael Campbell.
In that same appearance, Moncada confirmed Nicaragua’s interest in leaving the organization, an intention that had already been made public on November 19 when they denounced the letter. The technical process to carry it out lasts two years, in which the resigning country is obliged to fulfill its obligations.
Feeley: Unfair retaliation and violation of law
For John Feeley, former US ambassador to Panama, and a diplomat with a 28-year career, the confiscation of the building where the OAS delegation operated is unfortunate, but not “surprising.”
“In any dictatorship, the right to private property is one of the first rights violated when the regime feels threatened. Given the clear and forceful expression of rejection of the abuse of human rights by the Ortega Murillo regime, an unjust retaliation and violation of the rule of law was to be expected, which unfortunately does not exist in Nicaragua today,” said Feeley, through of an email.
Another Nicaraguan diplomat, on condition of anonymity, valued the actions of Ortega and Murillo as a message of weakness and anger, which deserve the condemnation of civilized people.
For this expert in international law, there are forms of pressure such as embargoes, blockades and economic sanctions that could be taken in response to Ortega’s aggression, just as the international community is reacting with Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, where crimes have been committed. against humanity.
Guillermo Belt also said that the measure for a State that fails to comply with its obligations is the application of the Inter-American Charter, which would seem “politically innocuous” when the regime said that it was withdrawing from the OAS.
He added that he would expect the United States to issue instructions to its representatives, both at the Inter-American Development Bank and at the World Bank, not to approve loans to the Nicaraguan dictatorship.
Another possibility could be that the Nicaraguan ambassadors withdraw, which does not necessarily mean the closure of any diplomatic headquarters, since countries always want to maintain a vision on the ground of what is happening in Nicaragua.
Belt recalled several of Ortega’s recent attacks on the international community, such as the expulsion of the Apostolic Nuncio Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag last March, condemned by the Vatican that described it as “serious and unjustified”.
PGR boldly complies with Murillo’s whim
On Tuesday, April 26, the number two of the regime and Ortega’s wife, Rosario Murillo confirmed to the official media that the property, where the OAS operated, would be declared of public utility and announced that it would pass to the State through the executing unit. which in this case was the Nicaraguan Institute of Culture, which would have the responsibility of making a supposed “museum of infamy.”
The details of the confiscation became known the following day, when the PGR published the administrative agreement 10-2022where the declaration of public utility of the real estate that has an area of 296.1 square meters is made.
For his part, Belt said that it was not owned by the agency, but by a married couple who rented an apartment in Managua.
In the document, the State itself acknowledges that the owners are actually the sisters Luz Marina and María Auxiliadora Navarrete Guevara, but what is most surprising is the official argument to justify the confiscation. Although the Nicaraguan Constitution expressly prohibits them, as they announce the creation of a museum, the PGR argues citing article 55 of the Magna Carta that “Nicaraguans have the right to education and culture.”
“That in order to promote the culture of respect for our sovereignty, education about recent history, regarding events that have harmed the main and elementary human rights of the Nicaraguan people, the museum of infamy will be created on the property where the OAS headquarters in our country worked; for which it is required to declare this property, located in the department of Managua, of public utility”, states the administrative agreement published in the official daily gazette number 76.
Article 44 of the Nicaraguan Constitution prohibits the confiscation of property. It even warns that officials who violate this provision, “will respond with their assets at all times for the damages inflicted.”
Belt added that in order to “exercise the indisputable right of Nicaraguans to education and culture, it does not seem necessary to confiscate private property. He reiterated that this measure is not the confiscation of the OAS, since the Organization was not, and was not, the owner of the property”.
The Nicaraguan dictatorship has intensified its criticism of the OAS and the international community, after demanding the release of political prisoners, questioning the repression imposed against the country’s citizens after the 2018 protests and also after the declaration of illegitimacy of last year’s presidential vote.
In these general votes, Ortega and Murillo were re-elected without electoral competition after arresting seven presidential candidatesand in total to more than 40 political, social and economic leaders since the end of May 2021, with whom he sowed fear in the public.
