The next General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) was destined to be one more in which a resolution condemning the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega is issued, however, the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, jumped in defense of his Nicaraguan political partner with an “alternative resolution proposal” that, in the opinion of former diplomat Arturo McFields, is a danger to the fight for democracy in Nicaragua.
Former Nicaraguan ambassador to the OAS, Arturo McFields, consulted by Article 66affirmed that Lula da Silva is trying to “wash Ortega’s image” in the regional body, with an “alternative text” for a resolution that tries to hide the reality of the crisis in Nicaragua.
Initially, the OAS General Assembly, to be held between June 21 and 23, would discuss a resolution presented by Costa Rica, the United States, Chile, Canada, and Antigua and Barbuda, in which the dictatorship of Ortega and request the regional body to demand that the dictator “cease the repression”, the “arbitrary detentions” and the confiscations.
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The alternative text of the leftist Lula requests the OAS “additional actions that may be conducive to strengthening democracy, the rule of law and the protection of human rights in the country”, assuming that in Nicaragua there is democracy, a state of right and human rights are respected and we just have to “strengthen” them.
Former ambassador McFields considers that this draft resolution presented by Brazil is “highly dangerous” for the fight for democracy in Nicaragua because, for the first time in five years, since the civic protests against the Ortega and Murilo dictatorship broke out, there is a Member State «that rises up in defense of the dictator and wants to launder his image. That had never happened before,” he says categorically.
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McFields said that the fact that Lula with his proposed resolution could have the support of between 23 and 26 representations is even more worrying. “It’s not that Ortega has 23 or 26 countries that support him, it’s Lula, it’s Brazil, the most powerful economy in Latin America, the one that has those votes,” said the former diplomat.
He added that, with Nicaragua’s departure from the regional forum, Ortega wants to forget about the OAS, “but the OAS is not going to forget about Ortega.”
OEA has already done its job
Meanwhile, for the opposition leader and former politician exiled by the dictatorship Felix Maradiaga, «The OAS has already given most of its contribution, such as the creation of the Special Follow-up Mechanism for Nicaragua (MESENI), the series of resolutions of the Permanent Council that constitute in themselves a «road map for an eventual process of democratic transition ».
He analyzed that for the actions of organizations such as the OAS to have an effect, the States to which they are directed must feel part of that democratic fabric, however, “the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship is rather focused on constituting itself as part of a game bipolar geopolitical where Nicaragua is considered part of the anti-American bloc, headed by Russia and China.”
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Maradiaga considers that a factor of concern is the regional impact of countries that are heavy in hemispheric diplomacy such as Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, which “will continue to insist on leaving the door open for an eventual diplomatic negotiation scenario.”
The United States, according to Maradiaga, is in one of its phases with the least political incidence in the region, for which he believes that it will be states like Chile, which will have a determining role in ensuring that the final resolution next Friday has a stronger content towards the dictatorship.
