MANAGUA (Reuters) – Nicaragua’s government on Sunday said it had completed its withdrawal from the Organization of American States (OAS), which had criticized last year’s re-election of President Daniel Ortega as illegitimate.
Nicaragua’s government also said it had closed the local OAS office and revoked the credentials of several of its OAS representatives.
“We ratify our unwavering decision to leave the OAS … Nicaragua is not a colony of anyone,” the government said in a statement, which also described the Washington-based entity as interventionist and controlled by the United States.
Nicaragua began the process to leave the 35-member OAS in November, shortly after Ortega’s election to a fourth consecutive term amid international concern over the fairness of the vote as Ortega detained opponents and business leaders and criminalized dissent.
The United States and the European Union have also called the election illegitimate and have pressed Ortega to hold new elections and release more than 160 prisoners.
Last month, Nicaragua’s then-ambassador to the OAS accused Ortega’s government of repressing the political opposition, human rights abuses and cracking down on freedom of speech.
(Reporting by Ismael Lopez, Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Michael Perry)
