The Nicaraguan ambassador to the OAS (Organization of American States) rebelled against the government of his country and accused the regime of Daniel Ortega of being a dictatorship that disrespects human rights and suffocates the population.
Based in Washington, Arturo McFields Yescas is Nicaragua’s permanent representative at the agency, which is headquartered in the US capital. At a meeting of the OAS Permanent Council on Wednesday (23), Yescas said he was speaking on behalf of 177 political prisoners and more than 350 dead since 2018.
“Denouncing my country’s dictatorship is not easy, but defending the indefensible is impossible. I have to speak out, even though my future and that of my family are uncertain,” he said.
“Since 2018, Nicaragua has become the only country in which there are no printed newspapers, no freedom to publish on social media, no human rights bodies, no independent political parties or credible elections. There is no separation of powers.” added.
The ambassador also said that he tried to negotiate with the government for the release of 40 political prisoners of advanced age or with health problems, but that he was ignored. “I was told, ‘Let’s not even take note of this because you could lose your job.’ In the government, nobody listens and nobody talks.”
Yescas also stated that, this year, the Ortega government began to confiscate private universities and suspended the right of operation of 137 religious and ecological NGOs, in a context in which at least 170,000 Nicaraguans have already left the country. “People inside and outside [do paÃs] they are tired of the dictatorship and its actions, and more and more people will say enough is enough. Because light can do more than darkness. You can fool people for a while, but not permanently,” the diplomat said.
The representative was appointed to his current position in November 2021. Yescas has a degree in journalism and has been a diplomat since at least 2011, with stints in other posts of the country’s mission to the OAS.
LuÃs Almagro, secretary general of the entity, praised the speech. “We value the courage of the Nicaraguan ambassador and his commitment to OAS values. This is the ethically correct position,” he said.
Dictator Daniel Ortega, 76, has ruled Nicaragua since 2007. Repression against critics intensified in 2018, when more than 300 protesters were killed in clashes with security forces and paramilitary groups aligned with the dictator. Although the regime made a deal with the opposition the following year, promising free elections, the pact was not fulfilled.
In 2021, Ortega won a new presidential term in an election considered a sham, as seven opposition candidates were arrested in the months before the vote. The dictator currently dominates, in addition to the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary. The US and the European Union see the election as a farce.
President Joe Biden’s administration maintained the sanctions imposed on Nicaragua by his predecessor, Donald Trump, which include fines and bans from entering the country for senior regime officials and the dictator’s family members, as well as other measures to pressure Ortega.
