OAS creates negotiating group to try to open dialogue with Nicaraguan regime

The Organization of American States (OAS) agreed on Friday to create a voluntary group of member countries to attempt to open a direct dialogue with Nicaragua, amid a deterioration of democratic institutions and allegations of human rights violations in the country.

The decision was adopted by consensus during an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers held in Washington, convened to analyze the situation in Nicaragua and possible regional actions. The OAS itself had deemed recent events to be a matter of "urgent and common interest" for the American states.

According to the approved text, the group will seek to establish a "rapid and direct dialogue" with Managua and will have 60 days to present its conclusions, according to AFP.

The statement also expresses "deep concern" over the dismantling of representative democracy in Nicaragua. One day before the meeting, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and United Nations experts had denounced a pattern of arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, torture, confiscations and transnational repression .

Although Nicaragua formally withdrew from the OAS in November 2023, member states maintain that this withdrawal does not eliminate its international human rights obligations.

This Friday's gathering was the 31st OAS Consultative Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, a mechanism reserved for situations deemed urgent for the hemisphere.