The aggression of the Daniel Ortega regime against the Organization of American States (OAS) is described as “an affront to the continent” that would have economic consequences for Nicaragua, agree former Central American diplomats and academics consulted by CONFIDENTIAL.
On Sunday, April 24, the Ortega dictatorship and his wife and Vice President Rosario Murillo ordered the violent takeover of offices where the agency operated in Managua and subsequently confiscated it under the argument that they would build a “museum of infamy” there.
The former foreign minister of Guatemala, Edgar Gutiérrez (2002-2004), warns that a chain effect could be generated in the inter-American human rights system and in regional organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which is still one of the sources Nicaraguan foreign cooperation.
For the former Guatemalan foreign minister, Ortega is increasing his challenges to the inter-American and multilateral system, and “is gradually getting closer to the application of trade sanctions,” an action that, for an economy as dependent as Nicaragua, “would hit the health financial,” he lamented.
According to the annual report of the Central Bank of Nicaragua, foreign loan disbursements totaled 1,162 million dollars, of which 96.9% came from multilaterals and 3.1% from bilateral creditors.
Of the 1,162 million dollars, 413.1 million were provided by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, 353.5 million by the International Monetary Fund, 199.5 million by the World Bank and other multilaterals – not specified in the annual report – and 195.7 million by the IDB. .
According to Gutiérrez, the seizure of the OAS headquarters accelerates the process of Nicaragua leaving the organization, which had already announced its resignation in 2021, but would conclude the process until 2023. However, as experts have explained, that does not mean that Nicaragua is no longer obliged to comply with its international obligations.
Likewise, he warned that “in the hemisphere, if Nicaragua had some neutral votes, it may lose them. At least in the Americas.”
The diplomat insisted that it is a violation of the principles of international law, specifically referring to the sovereignty of embassies, be they bilateral or multilateral.
He added that the Joe Biden Administration in the United States is reluctant to apply economic sanctions to the regime and that is why the Renacer Law, approved last November to increase pressure against Ortega, has not yet had a greater impact, including the possibility of reviewing Nicaragua’s participation in the trade agreement between the United States, Central America and the Dominican Republic.
For the former Guatemalan foreign minister, Ortega is increasing his challenges. Amid rising tensions sparked by Ortega’s rhetoric, the US recently reminded the regime that it is its main trading partner and also the largest foreign investor with a contribution to the Nicaraguan economy —in this last item— of 444 million dollars in 2021.
Bolivian ex-ambassador questions the “criminal state”
Jaime Aparicio, former Bolivian ambassador to the OAS, described the Ortega regime as a “criminal state.” He agreed that the IDB, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund “should take immediate action in defense of international law.”
“The Security Council (of the United Nations) is paralyzed by the right of veto of Russia, which, at this moment, is an ally of Nicaragua, but in the international financial system it must proceed due to this serious (injury) to international law” , said Aparicio.
The Bolivian lamented that there is a lot of talk in the OAS, but there were not the necessary votes to expel Nicaragua at the time, so now he hopes that there will be a greater consensus so that a large number of countries take direct action against the regime, the which can be expressed through claims of diplomatic headquarters or the withdrawal of ambassadors.
“Some State could sue Nicaragua before the International Court of Justice, because this is a violation of the rights of all countries,” encouraged the former ambassador.
For him, Ortega and Murillo lost their sense of reality. The logic of power blinds them. This explains his violent reaction against the OAS, which Aparicio explains in that the sanctions have not been effective against the dictatorship; that they could not apply the Democratic Charter to them and they will not be invited to the Summit of the Americas either.
The international relations expert, Carlos Murillo Zamorafrom the University of Costa Rica, affirms that the Nicaraguan regime does not care about human rights, diplomatic relations or international law.
“They are willing to violate any norm of international law in order to say that in Nicaragua what the presidential couple says is done. Not even in the critical moments of the Somoza dictatorship, nor in the most critical moments of other military dictatorships in South America and Central America, have the extremes that are being seen been reached,” Murillo said.
Paranoia in power and total disrespect
The academic indicated that there is a situation of paranoia in the Nicaraguan power and what is seen is a total disrespect for diplomacy, which constitutes a serious situation that unfortunately does not see an end for the moment.
Murillo explained that the elementary principles disrespected by Ortega are in the Democratic Charter of the OAS, the Charter of the United Nations and the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, which ratifies the condition of “pariah” of the State of Nicaragua.
He said that, if now they did it with this international organization, referring to the OAS, tomorrow they can do it with any other. For example, “take the facilities of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration or offices of the IDB or any diplomatic representation.”
Ortega’s assault on the OAS
The Nicaraguan foreign minister, Denis Moncada Colindres, criticized the organization on Sunday after the seizure of the OAS headquarters for being a “diabolical instrument.” He called it a colonialist. On repeated occasions, the regional entity has demanded the release of the political prisonersthe return to democracy and respect for human rights.
In addition to the assault on the OAS offices, the Attorney General’s Office subsequently reported on the declaration of public utility of the property where the OAS offices were. It was owned by the sisters Luz Marina and María Auxiliadora Navarrete Guevara.
Although the Constitution prohibits confiscations, the regime justified it by saying that they would make a museum with the aim of “promoting a culture of respect for our sovereignty, education about recent history, regarding facts that have injured, the main and elementary rights of the Nicaraguan people”.
