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Nicaragua's OAS Envoy Blasts His Own Government as Dictatorship

By José de Córdoba

"It’s very clear that the regime is losing a lot of support even among its own officials," said AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth to The Wall Street Journal.

Nicaragua’s ambassador to the Organization of American States denounced his own country as a dictatorship Wednesday in a dramatic and unprecedented speech during an online conference at the Washington, D.C.-based hemispheric organization. He then apparently quit his post.

Ambassador Arturo McFields, who last year was named envoy to the OAS, said he was speaking on behalf of thousands of public servants in Nicaragua who are afraid to speak their minds for fear of losing their jobs. He also invoked the nearly 200 political prisoners and more than 350 people killed, most by state security forces, since massive protests in 2018 that shook the government of President Daniel Ortega. […]

“It’s a dramatic development and shows that even senior regime officials can’t stomach the regime’s abuses,” said Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Americas Society, a Washington-based think tank. “It’s very clear that the regime is losing a lot of support even among its own officials and that the only way to stay in power is further crackdowns and oppression."…

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