Argentina supported within the Organization of American States (OAS) a resolution presented by Antigua and Barbuda and accompanied by Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, the United States, Peru and Uruguay , which condemns the religious persecution and censorship of the press carried out by the dictator of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega.

The vote was for by 27 votes, 4 abstentions, 1 vote against and 2 absences.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines rejected the condemnation, Bolivia, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico abstained, the two absentees were Colombia and Nicaragua -which resigned from the OAS-, and the States remaining members condemned the dictatorial actions of the Sandinista regime.

Argentina’s ambassador to the OAS, Carlos Raimundi, disagreed with the position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – which complied with Alberto Fernández’s instructions – and missed the diplomatic meeting: instead, Alternate Representative María Cecilia Villagra voted in favor before the OAS.

Ambassador Raimundi did not inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that he was handing over his diplomatic responsibility to Alternate Representative Villagra. It was his unilateral decision.

Among its most important aspects, the approved resolution on Nicaragua establishes the following:

“1. Strongly condemn the forced closure of non-governmental organizations, as well as the harassment and arbitrary restrictions of religious organizations and voices critical of the government and its actions in Nicaragua.

of them. To reiterate its insistence that the government of Nicaragua immediately release all political prisoners, put an end to the persecution and intimidation of the independent press and guarantee the exercise of the right to freedom of expression.

3. To renew the Permanent Council’s offer to work with the Government of Nicaragua to adhere to the OAS Guidelines and restore democratic institutions and respect for human rights in Nicaragua, in accordance with international law.

Ortega intensified the persecution of the Church of Nicaragua for his constant denunciations against the Sandinista regime, which multiplies the detentions of political prisoners, reinforces prior censorship of the media and systematically violates human rights.

“My good friends and brothers, just to inform you that the police this morning informed me that I don’t have permission to go out, I can’t go out in the streets, processions, activities outside the parish church, so I think they’re watching me,” said priest Anibal Manzanares in a message broadcast yesterday on his social networks.

Priest Manzanares belongs to the ecclesiastical community of Terrabona, 70 kilometers from Managua, which, due to Ortega’s political decision, has become a scene of constant religious persecution. Rolando Álvarez, bishop of the diocese of Matagalpa and superior of Manzanares, has already served eight days of illegal detention and has been accused of organizing violent groups.

Along with Bishop Álvarez are five other priests, three seminarians and two lay people, banned from freedom by political decision of the national police. The people illegally detained are in the cathedral of Matagalpa, which was yesterday guarded by a drone controlled by the Ortega dictatorship.

“Deeply concerned that, despite all the exhortations addressed to the Government of Nicaragua —contained in the declarations, resolutions and mandates of the General Assembly and the Permanent Council of the OAS—in order to fulfill its obligations in the field of human rights, the atmosphere of oppression worsened, with an increasing number of arbitrary arrests and detentions, the forced closure of non-governmental organizations, the autocratic seizure of the town halls of five municipalities whose holders were from an opposition political party, the intensification of the repression of journalists and of media freedom, and attacks on Roman Catholic nuns and priests,” supports the decision of the OAS that Argentina supported with Chile, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Peru, Canada and the United States.

And the resolution adds: “Aware that this aggravation of the situation has been confirmed in an oral report dated June 16, 2022 from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, and alarmed because The report expresses serious concern that the Nicaraguan government continues to make arbitrary arrests and the detainees are in deplorable conditions.

Alberto Fernández instructed Santiago Cafiero to agree on a common position with Chile and Peru regarding the resolution that was approved – by a large majority – at the OAS. The Minister of Foreign Affairs was advancing to the presidential post when he came up against ideological resistance from Carlos Raimundi, Argentine ambassador to the regional forum.

Raimundi was a long-time activist in the Radical Civic Union (UCR) and eventually settled on the outskirts of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. The representative before the OAS proposed that Argentina abstain from the condemnatory resolution supported by Chile, Peru, Uruguay and the United States, among other countries.

Raimundi’s position contradicts the foreign policy line established by Cafiero after learning of the electoral results in Nicaragua. The Chancellor in a long tweet -published on November 8, 2021- expressed her “the concern aroused by the arrest of opposition leaders, as well as the need for the Nicaraguan government to ensure respect for the human rights of the entire population”.

In this context, and after a short and unexpected debate, Cafiero, together with Gustavo Pandiani – undersecretary for Latin America and the Caribbean – ended the discussion and instructed the Argentine representation before the OAS to vote in favor of condemning the Ortega dictatorship.

Raimundi resisted Foreign Minister Cafiero’s order to the end: He did not attend the OAS Permanent Council meeting and was replaced by María Cecilia Villagra, who supported the majority’s rejection of the Sandinista regime.

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