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U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Carlos Trujillo, supported in the last few hours the condemnation of the Secretary General of the organism, Luis Almagro, to the new Nicaraguan law that annuls the electoral possibilities of the opposition.
“The OAS is strongly condemning the threat by (Daniel) Ortega to hold free and fair elections in Nicaragua, which essentially prevents opposition candidates from running for public office. Ortega is destroying all the credibility he has left,” Trujillo said last night on Twitter.
In a statement released Monday, Almagro expressed his “deep concern” over the decision by the Sandinista majority that controls Nicaragua’s National Assembly (Parliament) to approve the controversial legislation.
The “Law in Defense of the Rights of the People to Independence, Sovereignty and Self-Determination for Peace” will inhibit the candidacies of those Nicaraguans who applaud the imposition of sanctions against the state and its citizens, who will also be considered “traitors to the country.”
With this act, Almagro considered that the Nicaraguan tyranny directed by Daniel Ortega is denying its people “the right to freely elect their representatives, transforming the 2021 elections into an imposition instead of an election.
In addition, he argued that the legislation “is a clear violation of the basic principles of a democratic state, as established in the Inter-American Democratic Charter.”
“Indeed, the attempt to compete in elections by preventing the participation of those legitimately placed in opposition to the government, is an attack on fundamental rights enshrined in international human rights instruments,” said the OAS Secretary General.
Therefore, Almagro asked Ortega to repeal the legislation and affirmed that the OAS is prepared to advise him on the holding of free, fair and transparent elections.
Last October, 20 of the 34 active members of the OAS approved a resolution to demand Ortega to reform the electoral system before the elections, something that the Nicaraguan Executive rejected as another “interference” attempt by Washington in the domestic politics of the country.
The Nicaraguan elections on November 7, 2021 will be the first held in the country after the 2018 wave of demonstrations, which began with social security reforms and led to protests against the tyranny with hundreds of murders, prisoners and disappeared, in addition to thousands of Nicaraguans in exile.
