OAS opens debate on charter action against Nicaragua

Nicaragua edged closer to a significant loss of foreign aid this year after the Organization of American States' (OAS) permanent council began the process to invoke Article 20 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter against the country.

An emergency clause under the OAS charter, Article 20 may be activated when a member state produces an alteration in the constitutional order that seriously harms that nation's democratic institutions.

The initial request from OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro came earlier this month after the decision last month by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's government to suspend the presence of the OAS' Special Follow-up Mechanism for Nicaragua (MESENI) in the country and visits by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

Should the council vote to approve the action, Ortega would immediately lose all access to sources of financing of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank, potentially affecting some US$105mn earmarked for distribution this year.

Arguing for invocation at a special session Friday, Almagro pointed to human rights violations reported by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which accounted for at least 325 deaths, more than 2,000 injured, 550 arrested and prosecuted, 300 health professionals dismissed and more than 80 university students expelled as the balance of the protests that started in April.

"It is evident that the crisis in Nicaragua affects all of the elements of representative democracy," said Almagro. "Faced with this situation, the only way out is the return to the polls, to allow the sovereign people to express their will."

Almagro also denounced the actions of Ortega to prevent the independence of powers and the political participation of opposition parties.

Speaking in the government's defense, Nicaraguan foreign minister Denis Moncada accused Almagro of supporting a US effort to overthrow Ortega, saying Friday's council session was "illegal and non-existent" because it was carried out despite the fact that the Nicaraguan government had not approved it. Beyond Moncada, only the representatives of Venezuela and Bolivia spoke in favor of Nicaragua.

Multiple delegations thanked Almagro for his report and voiced support for the article's activation; however, no specific diplomatic initiative was put to a vote, nor was a date set to continue the debate on Nicaragua.

"Today we have started the process contemplated in Article 20 to make a collective assessment," said Argentine ambassador Paula Bertol. The OAS news feed reported the permanent council would continue its analysis before moving forward to a vote.

If the actions proscribed in Article 20 were adopted and failed, the permanent council of the OAS could raise the case to the general assembly, or a meeting of foreign ministers, who could choose to suspend the country from the organization. This requires votes from 24 of the 34 member states.

"Today is a bad day for the Ortega government because this session of the Permanent Council was essential to activate Article 20," said the director for the Americas of Human Rights Watch, José Miguel Vivanco, as reported in regional news outlet El Economista.

Pictured: The OAS permanent council meets Friday to discuss Article 20 action against Nicaragua.