By Marcos Maranges on November 25, 2021
After Nicaragua announced it had just started the process to leave the Organization of American States (OAS), the world began debating the reasons and the consequences of this decision. In our first part we talked about this issue, and concluded it had been a self-defense act to protect the country’s national sovereignty against the continuous OAS interference in the internal affairs of the country.
The organization serves as the spearhead of the regional right-sectors and the United States to promote regime change in Nicaragua and other countries of the region. Its hypocrisy when talking about democracy and elections, and its actions to undermine the stability of the Central American country are clear signals of who the OAS is siding with, but this is not a surprise since it has a historical record of doing so since its inception in 1948.
Nicaragua’s decision does not mean a paradigm shift in the country’s foreign policy, but a practical solution to a big problem. However, some people may think that this is another blow to multilateralism similar to Brexit or Trump’s “make America great again”, but this has nothing to do with it, and is far from undermining multilateralism in the region. What we are witnessing now is one more step towards Jose Marti’s idea of the second independence in Latin American countries.
Some “experts” have said this is a mistake and that the country will be isolated, but it is not true. Nicaragua is not the first country to leave the OAS since Cuba and Venezuela have made similar decisions.
Back in 1962, just three years after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, the OAS suspended the island for its alleged incompatibility with the Inter-American system and political values. However, contrary to the United States will, Cuba was never alone, Mexico never broke diplomatic ties with the island, and some years later, all the countries resumed bilateral relations with the Caribbean nation. Cuba even refused to join OAS again when it was asked to do so in 2009, which was the best decision after all after all the abuse.
The case of Venezuela is exactly the same as Nicaragua. In 2017, the South American country denounced the OAS Charter due to the role the organization played in the destabilization actions taken against Maduro’s administration. The OAS went as far as it could by recognizing Juan Guaido’s unlawful self-designation as President of Venezuela. Later, in 2019, Venezuela officially got rid of that burden, despite Guaido’s ridiculous statement that he was appointing an ambassador, Former Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza laughed about the comment and remarked, “We are not leaving because we are already gone” whether you like it or not.”
The point here is that either of these two countries have suffered any isolation, but rather the opposite. Cuba and Venezuela have found better ways to connect with the region. The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP) and the Latin American and Caribbean States Community (CELAC) are two alternatives for those countries which want to cooperate with the region without Washington’s interference, and Nicaragua is an active member of both. These organizations were created to enhance the independence and economic development of the region, based on respect and equity, something that OAS never intended to guarantee.
Looking at this, Nicaragua just made the right decision. Leaving the OAS is not a blow to multilateralism, but a move to foster it. OAS has essentially turned out to be Washington’s Ministry of Colonies, as former Cuban Foreign Affairs Minster Raul Roa once said, and there is no possible way to find fair solutions to common problems when everything is fixed to line up with the interests of the powerful.
Some media like the news website “Expediente Público” have said Nicaragua’s decision violates Article 5 of the Constitution, which states the right to cooperate with all countries. We now know it is a lie, and so it is saying that the country will not be able to work together with the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO). Cuba and Venezuela have been strongly involved with the PAHO despite not having links with the OAS anymore.
This kind of statement is only intended to create a twisted version of Nicaragua’s future, since they now have the urgent mission of avoiding more defections within the OAS ranks. This is all part of a tricky campaign to convince Latin America that the prejudices of this decision are bigger than its benefits; however, history and the facts are tough and show that there is no truth in it.
By 2023, Nicaragua will be finally out of the OAS and it will not be able to receive funds from the Inter-American Development Bank and will be also out of some other mechanism like the Inter-American Juridic Committee and the Inter-American System of Human Rights. Nevertheless, there are options to substitute these losses, but sovereignty cannot be substituted. The decision was not about OAS or CELAC and ALBA-TCP, but about sovereignty or submission, about throwing out the Trojan horse or letting Achille’s soldiers burn down our city.
During the last CELAC summit in Mexico, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) called for a change of the OAS for a different and more fair organization because the best possible future is the one where we live independently and make our own decisions.
This time, Nicaragua, the Troy of Central America, kicked the Troy horse out of its walls and now is aiming to build a completely free and strong nation, which is willing to win the war for its second independence.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English