Nicaragua quits OAS over Ortega re-election criticism

A woman and children walk by a mural depicting Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega in Managua on Jan 10, 2122, day in which he starts his fourth term.
(OSWALDO RIVAS / AFP)

MANAGUA – Nicaragua's government on Sunday said it had completed its withdrawal from the Organization of American States, which had criticized last year's re-election of President Daniel Ortega as illegitimate.

Nicaragua's government also said it had closed the local OAS office and revoked the credentials of several of its OAS representatives.

"We ratify our unwavering decision to leave the OAS … Nicaragua is not a colony of anyone," the government said in a statement, which also described the Washington-based entity as interventionist and controlled by the United States.

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Nicaragua began the process of leaving the 35-member OAS in November, shortly after Ortega's election to a fourth consecutive term, which the United States and the European Union branded as  illegitimate. The US and EU have pressed Ortega to hold new elections and release more than 160 prisoners.

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