The occupation of the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Managua —minutes after Foreign Minister Denis Moncada announced that the Government of Nicaragua decided to close it— constitutes an unprecedented event and “a flagrant violation of international law” that exposes the country to “profound repercussions” in its relationship with all member states of the regional body.
Although the General Secretariat of the OAS came forward denouncing, through a statement, that the act is “illegitimate”, a former ambassador to that body He explained, on condition of anonymity, that the raid on the diplomatic headquarters violates the OAS Charter, the Vienna Convention and all the specific agreements established between the Government of Nicaragua and the OAS where the status of an international mission is recognized.
The Vienna Convention “establishes the mandatory law of States in international and diplomatic matters,” warned the former diplomat, and Article 33 of the OAS Charter guarantees the immunity of its activities in member countries, as is the case of Nicaragua in as long as his resignation from the body presented on November 19, 2021 is not effective.
“For practical purposes, this act of raiding the headquarters is fully equivalent to violating the integrity of a diplomatic headquarters of any country. It puts the Government of Nicaragua out of the international right and it will surely have profound repercussions on relations with the OAS and all the member states that could proceed based on the principle of reciprocity,” said the former ambassador.
The Argentine political scientist, Rubén Perina, a former official of the Organization of American States (OAS) in the promotion of democracy for more than two decades, explained that the seizure of the OAS headquarters in Managua is something unprecedented and that possibly the Council Permanent meets in an emergency to adopt some type of sanctions against Nicaragua.
The raid on officials
The OAS office was located on the first level of a two-story building in Las Sierritas de Santo Domingo, south of Managua, while the second floor was occupied by the property’s owners. According to local residents, at the time of the search, the Police took out the occupants of the second floor handcuffed and searched the entire building.
After the raid on the diplomatic headquarters, on Sunday night, the Police would have raided homes and checked computer equipment and cell phones of some Nicaraguan officials who worked at the embassy, added local residents.
This Monday a patrol of police He remained at the main entrance of the building, preventing access to the place.
The Permanent Council of the OAS has not yet decided its reaction to what happened in Managua, but the statement from the General Secretariat, published minutes after the building was taken, recalls that Nicaragua’s departure from the regional organization will take effect at the end of 2023 “Until then, Nicaragua is a full member of the organization and must comply with all its commitments.”
“Your offices, files and documents enjoy the most absolute inviolability. Its violation by the Nicaraguan authorities makes them internationally responsible for its consequences”, highlighted the General Secretariat.
Murillo repeats speech
Also the vice president, Rosario Murilloused his speech this Monday to repeat insults dictated by Foreign Minister Moncada against the OAS.
“By force of will and patriotic commitment we declare ourselves beyond any colonialist perversion, we are not a colony of anyone, therefore, we cannot be part of a ministry of colonies, a dependency of the Yankee State Department, we are not servile, We are not decrepit, we are not decadent, we are not reduced by Yankee servitude,” Murillo said.
The official also compared the “expulsion” of the OAS from Nicaragua and the withdrawal of its ambassadors from the regional organization with the expulsion of the US Marines carried out by Augusto C. Sandino during the 1920s. “We defeated and expelled that new expression of Yankee sailors that has no place here,” she stressed.
