International body votes to convene emergency meeting over Nicaragua

Nicaragua’s move to extend Ortega’s rule and bar rivals from elections triggers rare rebuke from regional human rights body.Published On 19 Aug 202619 Aug 2026The Organization of American States (OAS), a regional human rights body, has voted to convene an urgent meeting of foreign ministers over Nicaragua, declaring that representative democracy “no longer exists” in the country.On Wednesday, the OAS Permanent Council approved a resolution calling for the meeting by a lopsided vote of 29 to 1, with one abstention and two countries absent, according to a post on the social media platform X.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Ortega insists no more elections for Nicaragualist 2 of 3UN rights chief condemns Nicaragua’s decision to abolish electionslist 3 of 3Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega aims to bar ‘traitors’ from future electionsend of listThe resolution calls developments in Nicaragua “a problem of an urgent nature and of common interest to the American States”.It invokes some of the OAS Charter’s heaviest tools – Articles 61, 62 and 63 – whose provisions are often reserved for emergencies that demand a collective response.The council’s president has also been instructed to d...