The European Union (EU) stated, this Thursday, April 28, that it “deplores” the de facto confiscation of the facilities, documents, and assets of the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Nicaragua, which was declared ” public utility” by the administration of Daniel Ortega, where he intends to set up a “Museum of Infamy”.
Nabila Massrali, spokesperson for Foreign Affairs of the European External Action Service (EEAS), indicated in her Twitter account Twitterthat “the EU deplores the recent seizure of the facilities of the OAS by the Nicaraguan authorities. This violates basic diplomatic norms under the 1961 Vienna Convention.”
The European Union official reminded the Daniel Ortega regime that “it must comply with its international commitments, in particular the 1989 establishment agreement between Nicaragua and the OAS.”
The agreement that Massrali mentions is the document of “Privileges and Immunities of the OAS”, which in 1989, the foreign minister of that year, Miguel d’Escoto, signed as representative of Nicaragua. Said agreement details that “the government recognizes the Office of the General Secretariat against all types of procedures, searches, searches, confiscations or any other measure, without the consent of the authorities of the General Secretariat.”
Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the OAS, pointed out this Wednesday, before the Permanent Council of the organization, that the expropriation of the OAS headquarters in Managua “is a dangerous precedent” and asked “to act now if we do not want others to be harmed tomorrow.” .
The official assured that Nicaragua’s decision violates the OAS Charter, the OAS Headquarters Agreement with its member states and the Agreement on Immunities that the organization has with Nicaragua. “Nothing can justify disregarding the immunities and privileges enjoyed by the facilities, assets and archives of an international organization,” he said.
For their part, the member states of the Permanent Council indicated that the Nicaraguan regime “reached the extreme, there are no limits in the country” because they did not respect the “diplomatic sanctity” of the headquarters.
