The US showed its support for the OAS resolution on Nicaragua: “It is time for the Ortega and Murillo regime to change course.”

(CNN Spanish) – The United States government “welcomes” the resolution approved Tuesday by the Organization of American States (OAS) on the “situation in Nicaragua,” which condemns the arrest of opponents.

“An overwhelming majority of the OAS member states sent a clear message of support to the Nicaraguan people and their struggle for free and fair elections,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement published this Wednesday.

On Tuesday 26 members of the OAS voted in favor of a resolution of the Permanent Council in which they expressed their “alarm” at the recent deterioration of the political environment in that country, where they have detained more than a dozen opponents in recent days, including to potential presidential candidates.

In his statement, Blinken assures that the US “firmly supports the call of the OAS Permanent Council to President Ortega to urgently adopt measures to restore full respect for human rights.”

It also adds that “it is time for the Ortega and Murillo regime to change course” and respect both the Nicaraguan Constitution and the international standards adopted by the country, such as the Inter-American Democratic Charter.

OAS calls for release of detained opponents

The OAS resolution, approved by 26 of its members, “unequivocally condemned the arrest, harassment, and arbitrary restrictions imposed on presidential candidates, political parties, and independent media” and called for their immediate release.

Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines voted against, while Argentina, Belize, Dominica, Honduras and Mexico abstained.

After the approval was known, the Nicaraguan ambassador to the OAS, Luis Alvarado, rejected the OAS resolution and classified it as “interference against Nicaragua and its internal election process.”