Under fire for ‘sham’ vote, Nicaragua begins withdrawal from OAS | Al Jazeera

The Nicaraguan government has started the process of withdrawing from the Organization of American States (OAS) after the regional body denounced the country’s recent presidential elections as illegitimate.

Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada on Friday accused the OAS of interventionism and being controlled by the United States.

“We are resigning and disassociating ourselves from the Organization of American States,” Moncada said during a news conference, adding that the OAS has the “mission of facilitating the hegemony of the United States with its interventionism over the countries of Latin America”.

Exiting the OAS will take about two years as Nicaragua fulfils its obligations.

The move comes after Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla who has held office since 2007, was re-elected for a fourth consecutive term in a November 7 vote that rights groups and international observers denounced as neither free nor fair.

In the lead-up to the election, Ortega’s government jailed dozens of opposition leaders – including seven potential presidential candidates – and critics accused the Sandinista leader of cracking down on his challengers.