President Daniel Ortega announced in November last year that Nicaragua would leave the OAS. The authoritarian ruler accuses the organization of meddling in internal affairs.
President Daniel Ortega announced in November last year that Nicaragua would leave the OAS for alleged interference in his country’s internal affairs. (Archive image from January 7, 2022)
(dpa) The authoritarian government of Nicaragua has closed the office of the Organization of American States (OAS) in the capital, Managua. At the same time, she withdrew the accreditation of her representatives at the OAS in Washington, as the government of the Central American country announced on Sunday (local time). “We will no longer be represented in any instance of this diabolical instrument of evil,” the statement said.
President Daniel Ortega announced in November last year that Nicaragua would leave the OAS because of interference in internal affairs. However, the withdrawal procedure from the confederation of states takes two years. At the end of February, the then Nicaraguan ambassador to the OAS surprisingly opposed his government. Arturo McFields called Nicaragua a dictatorship and demanded the release of political prisoners.
“The exit of the dictatorship from the OAS is a moral victory for the people of Nicaragua and in particular for the more than 180 political prisoners and their families,” wrote the ousted ambassador on Twitter. “There is hope for Nicaragua.”
Before his controversial re-election in November 2021, President Ortega had all serious opponents arrested. Over 350 people have died in anti-government protests in recent years. Numerous members of the opposition are in prison, and the press critical of the government and the Catholic Church are under massive pressure.