The extension requested by the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, Before the Permanent Council of that organization, to deliver until mid-January the report on the steps it makes with the Government of Nicaragua, in order to agree on a meeting to negotiate a way out of the socio-political crisis in the country, could favor the regime Ortega Murillo, indicates a political analyst in an interview with CONFIDENTIAL.
The also expert in Constitutional law, who asked to omit his name for fear of reprisals, explained that the lack of a “definitive response” from the regime, added to the fact that the extension requested by Almagro opens the opportunity to respond until mid-January. , after the date on which Daniel Ortega will assume his new term in office, they suggest that the strategy of Ortega is “a way of obtaining recognition from the same countries that have declared the electoral results illegitimate” of the past 7 of November.
Ortega would start a new term on January 10, based on the results of the voting process on November 7, when, with the complicity of the Supreme Electoral Council, 75.87% of the votes were assigned. These votes were carried out without electoral competition, with imprisoned presidential candidates and without minimum guarantees for the process to be free, fair, transparent and observed.
The report that Almagro asked to deliver until mid-January is part of what is established in the resolution of the OAS Permanent Council of December 8, which calls for an urgent request for a meeting with the Government of Nicaragua, with the objective of to agree “to carry out comprehensive electoral reforms, in accordance with what was requested in previous OAS resolutions and in accordance with Nicaragua’s obligations under international law.”
The Secretary General of the OAS had a deadline until last Friday, December 17, but what he delivered was a request for an extension, where he indicated that he had “carried out the entrusted steps”, but that there was “no definitive answer on the matter. and in view of the political circumstances and the current dates, I understand that it would be opportune and convenient to extend the term, extending it until the middle of next January ”.
The analyst indicates that, if the Permanent Council accepts the extension requested by Almagro, the OAS member states, which voted in favor of the resolution of November 12, 2021, in which they declared “Without legitimacy” the November 7 voting, they must clarify under what terms they would agree to continue making negotiations with the Ortega regime, since after January 10, 2022, Ortega assumes a new period, which would already be illegitimate.
Almagro “is not negotiating anything”
In the event that Almagro’s efforts receive a positive response from the Nicaraguan Government, as established in the resolution of November 29, 2021, a “high-level good offices mission authorized by the OAS Permanent Council would be formed. , which must seek such an agreement so that the repression ends, there is a dialogue between different political actors and new presidential and parliamentary elections can be held ”.
The expert stressed that the OAS Secretary General is not negotiating “anything” with the Ortega regime. It is only enforcing the mandate of “requesting a meeting with the Government of Nicaragua, transmitting the content of the resolution and obtaining its commitment to accept a mission of high-level good offices.”
It explains that the negotiation corresponds to the mission of high-level good offices, once it is accepted in the terms of the resolution. However, the Ortega regime in recent months has made clear its lack of political will to fulfill its obligations by being part of the OAS. Even on November 19, 2021, the Government of Nicaragua announced its departure from the organization.
Experts in international law, consulted in reports of CONFIDENTIAL, have indicated that the announcement of the regime will strengthen the position of the countries that have asked to adopt actions against the Ortega government, and shows the “undecided” that “Nicaragua is not going to cooperate and therefore there is no dialogue to keep”, which, they highlight, FIt would be necessary for the 24 votes to be obtained to apply the suspension under Article 21 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter.
