The dictatorship of Daniel Ortega threatened to takesome measures” after four countries in the region rejected the shortlist of candidates he presented Nicaragua on November 11 to direct the Central American Integration System (SICA).
The Nicaraguan shortlist was headed by the former foreign minister Denis Moncada Colindres and was completed by the Sandinista deputy Arling Patricia Alonso Gómezand the current Minister of the Family Johana Vanessa Flores Jimenez.
The General Secretariat of SICA has been vacant since mid-November 2023 when the Nicaraguan lawyer Werner Vargas resign from the position for the period 2022-2026, in which he was appointed as a proposal for Nicaragua.
This position, according to the regulations of the regional organization, must be elected by consensus and since Vargas’ resignation, at least nine proposals for Ortega They have been rejected for not getting the votes of the rest of the Central American countries.
The Nicaraguan foreign minister described “disrespectful and imposing” a joint note sent by Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama y Dominican Republicin which they ask the regime to present new candidates for the vacant position.
“Faced with this unusual insubordination of governments and foreign ministries that do not respond to the law that governs us according to the jurisprudence of our system, Nicaragua is considering some measures that we will promptly communicate about the contempt in which the countries subscribing to the note have shamefully fallen, which, in addition, They absolutely and insanely deny the power of our country to appoint our own candidates“, indicates the response of the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry.
The meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs was scheduled for this Friday, November 29, in which the new secretary general of the SICAwhich by right of rotation corresponds this time to Nicaragua.
Although it is not mentioned in the joint note from the four countries in the region, sources from the organization assured the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa that “The arguments for rejecting the shortlist are that the proposed candidates do not meet the requirements established in articles 26 and 27 of the Tegucigalpa Protocol, which states that the general secretary must have a ‘recognized integrationist vocation’, a high degree of impartiality, independence of judgment and integrity. Furthermore, the secretary should not receive instructions from any government because he is solely at the service of SICA.”.
Of military origin, the retired general Denis Moncada Colindres He was removed as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua “for health reasons” in September 2024 after serving in that position for seven years.
Moncada was replaced by Valdrack Jaentschkewho was previously minister advisor to the presidency for policies and international affairs and, in turn, was one of the candidates for Ortega rejected to lead the SICA.
The chancellor Jaentschke presented to the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the System the new shortlist headed by Moncadato elect the general secretary of the SICA.
“The former chancellor of the Republic of Nicaragua, fellow retired general Denis Moncada Colindres, has had and has the recognition of governments, people and countries of the world, recognition and respect that cannot be ignored and/or denied by those who subscribe to this absurd communication.“says the note from the Foreign Ministry of Nicaragua.
SICA, created in Tegucigalpa in 1991, is made up of Belice, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama y Republic Dominican as full members, while Mexico, the United States and other countries have the status of regional observers.
