Central America: Nicaragua withdraws from OAS and exits the system

The Nicaraguan government on Sunday announced its immediate withdrawal from the Organization of American States (OAS), which it described as a “terrible tool of evil,” and closed its offices in Managua.

The government of Daniel Ortega had already announced in November 2021 that it would withdraw Nicaragua from the OAS, which would, in principle, give the country time to prepare for its expulsion within two years, according to the organization’s protocol.

But Foreign Minister Denis Moncota said Managua had decided to expedite its departure and expel its representatives from the Washington-based organization without delay. “From this date,” Nicaragua ceases to be part of “all the tricks of this monster,” Denise Moncada confirmed in a letter.

“We will not be in any instances of this horrible tool of evil called OAS,” he continued. “There will be no offices in our country for this despicable creature. Its local headquarters are closed,” the minister added.

OAS unites most of the countries on the American continent. Its objectives are to support the defense of the continent, to protect democracy and human rights there, to fight corruption and trafficking, and to promote trade there.

The OAS, like most of the international community, did not recognize the November re-election for the fourth time after imprisoning all of Daniel Ortega’s presidential candidates. In late March, Nicaragua’s ambassador to the OAS, Arturo McFields, was fired after calling the Ordega government a “dictatorship”.

In 2018, the country was rocked by the struggle for the resignation of 76-year-old former Sandinista guerrilla Daniel Ortega. According to human rights organizations, more than 300 people have been killed in the crackdown and hundreds of protesters have been imprisoned.