OAS creates group to address Nicaraguan crisis

By Alix Hardy

MEXICO CITY (AA) - The Organization of American States (OAS) adopted a resolution Thursday creating a special commission charged with focusing on a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Nicaragua, where violent protests since April have left at least 300 dead.

“The Working Group on Nicaragua will be tasked with contributing to finding peaceful and sustainable solutions to Nicaragua’s current situation, including by means of consultations with the Nicaraguan government,” the OAS said in a press release.

The commission will feature representatives of every regional group of the OAS and will present a monthly report to the Permanent Council on its progress.

The resolution - the second on Nicaragua - was as widely approved as the first one, with 20 votes in favor, four against (Nicaragua, Bolivia, Venezuela and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) and eight abstentions.

“This resolution on Nicaragua is one of the OAS’s biggest achievements in its recent history in terms of promoting democracy and human rights,” José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Americas Division, said on Twitter.

Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada rejected the idea, saying it was an intervention in Nicaragua’s affairs.

Dialogue between the government and the opposition, held amid increasingly violent repression of protesters by pro-government forces, has been sporadic.

Anti-government protests have been going on for more than three months in Nicaragua, with the opposition calling on President Daniel Ortega and his wife and vice-president to step down and schedule early elections.

Ortega has rejected both demands and has violently oppressed his opponents using police and paramilitary forces.

According to the latest report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights presented Thursday, at least 317 people have been killed during the protests, which began on April 18, including 23 minors and 21 police officers.

Other non-governmental organizations have been reporting a much higher toll of more than 448 dead.

According to the Nicaraguan Association for Human Rights, 595 people have also disappeared.