The Foreign Affairs Minister of Daniel Ortega's regime, Denis Moncada, announced on Friday, Nov. 19, that the country has officially initiated the process of withdrawing from the Organization of American States (OAS) due to what he considers "continuous signs of interference" in internal affairs.

 

Minister Moncada confirmed that, following the instructions of Ortega, he proceeded to submit to the Secretary of the organization a complaint for "interference" in internal affairs and the consequent desire of the country to "leave the entity."

 

Likewise, the Supreme Court of Justice of Nicaragua had asked Ortega on Thursday, Nov. 18, to initiate the process of withdrawal from the OAS by denouncing the Democratic Charter of the organization, joining the petition of the Nicaraguan Parliament.

 

Previously, the National Assembly had referred to Article 143 of the Democratic Charter, which stipulates that it "may be denounced by any of the member states, by means of a written communication to the General Secretariat, which shall communicate in each case to the others the notifications of denunciation it receives."

 

"After two years from the date on which a notification of denunciation is received by the General Secretariat, this letter shall cease to have effect with respect to the denouncing state," the document states.

 

With the denunciation of the letter from the organization, the Ortega regime initiated a two-year process to make its exit official.

 

"After two years from the date on which the General Secretariat receives notification of denunciation, this Charter shall cease to have effect with respect to the denouncing State, and the latter shall be disassociated from the Organization after having fulfilled the obligations arising from this Charter," states Article 143 of the OAS Charter.

 

The exit of Nicaragua from the OAS may affect the country economically, since it needs the flow of foreign currency that arrives through loans from multilateral organizations linked to the organization. 

 

According to Tiziano Breda, Central America analyst for the Crisis Group, an organization focused on conflict resolution, Nicaragua "will have less capacity to access international resources from inter-American mechanisms such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). These would have greater reservations in providing resources to a government that has been expelled from the most important regional organization for its violations," Breda explains.

Regarding the situation, U.S. President Joe Biden denounced what he considers a "dictatorship" similar to that of the Somoza dynasty that ruled the country for 47 years.

 

"We would like Nicaragua to return to the Inter-American community, but always supporting the values and principles to which we all subscribe, which are respect for democratic development," Biden told EFE.