Nicaraguan government abruptly withdraws from Organization of American States.
Following accusations by the Organization of American States against the Nicaraguan election, the government announced its withdrawal from the Washington-based organization.
The Nicaraguan government abruptly announced Monday night that it had withdrawn from the Organization of American States.
Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Dennis Moncada made the announcement at a news conference in the Nicaraguan capital, Managua, according to the National Review website. He said the country had withdrawn its permanent representative to the Organization of American States and closed its mission there.
He added that all employees of the organization in Nicaragua had been fired and had to leave the country immediately. Moncada said Nicaragua would no longer be a member of the organization’s fraudulent mechanisms.
Nicaragua’s decision came after the General Assembly of the Organization of American States passed a resolution last week declaring that Nicaragua’s last presidential election was not free, fair or transparent and lacked democratic legitimacy, a claim that undermined the government of President Daniel Ortega. The Republic of Nicaragua was declared.
In this election, Ortega and Vice President Rosario Morillo were elected for a fourth term with 76% of the vote. Ortega leads the Sandinista Party, a revolutionary socialist party that overthrew the US-backed government in 1979.
Shortly after the November election, foreign leaders, including US President Joe Biden, quickly described the election process as “unfair.” The United States and other member states of the Organization of American States imposed sanctions on Nicaragua and Ortega after the elections, and the Biden administration recently imposed sanctions on a large number of Nicaraguan officials.
Nicaragua announced in November that it would seek to leave the organization, a process that will take two years to complete, but the country appears to have unilaterally accelerated it.
