OEA - Informe CP INF. 11013 26 de 2026

[image]OEA/Ser.G

CP/INF. 11013/26

6 August 2026

Textual

REMARKS BY AMBASSADOR MICHAEL KOZAK,

SENIOR BUREAU OFFICIAL, BUREAU OF WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS,

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

(Delivered during the special meeting of the Permanent Council to consider the situation in Nicaragua, together with a draft resolution entitled “Convocation of a Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs to Consider the Situation in Nicaragua,” held on August 5, 2026)

REMARKS BY AMBASSADOR MICHAEL KOZAK, SENIOR BUREAU OFFICIAL, BUREAU OF WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, AT THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE OAS PERMANENT COUNCIL ON NICARAGUA

(As delivered)

Mr. Chair, Mr. Secretary General, distinguished representatives, Commissioner Payá:

We are here today to identify and implement actions to counter the threats that Rosario Murillo and Daniel Ortega pose to the peace and security of our hemisphere. We confront an authoritarian dynasty that has no intention of ever leaving power. Ortega told the world as much three weeks ago. In a rare moment of honesty, he said there would be no more elections in Nicaragua.

Nearly 50 years ago, as a staffer for an OAS mediation team, I sat in this same room as the Permanent Council watched a Somoza National Guard officer casually shoot an ABC Newsman in the stomach and kill him. It was captured for all of us to see at the time.

Now, at that time, Ortega and his Sandinista guerrillas were fighting against Somoza’s brutal and venal dictatorship, and the OAS did everything possible to try to stop it. There was an OAS-brokered political solution, which ultimately failed when member states—including my own, and particularly my own—chose not to follow through with any concrete consequences when Somoza rejected that solution. Thousands more people died as a result.

Now, in 2026, Ortega, Murillo, and their increasingly small inner circle have become what they originally fought against: a cruel and venal dictatorship that fears independent journalists, religious communities, civil society, political parties, and, above all, the will of the Nicaraguan people expressed in free and fair elections.

Murillo and Ortega have now directed their rubber-stamp National Assembly to rewrite the Constitution for a second time in two years—again, to extend their presidential mandates and to exclude Nicaraguans from taking part in the political life of their country. This is rule for life, not rule of law.

Nicaragua is precisely why the OAS electoral observation system exists. Its 1990 electoral observation proved instrumental in bringing peace to Nicaragua after decades of conflict.

I recall all of this history to underscore that the actions we take—or fail to take—in the coming weeks will matter.

Since returning to power in 2007, again by changing the Constitution, Murillo and Ortega have imprisoned, tortured, denationalized, and forcibly exiled anyone they view as a threat, driving hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans to flee and burdening our region with displaced persons.

As Commissioner Payá just documented, that dictatorship also deliberately facilitated illegal mass immigration, which threatens not only the security of the United States, but also many of the other member states in this room.

Murillo and Ortega violate other states’ sovereignty by engaging in intimidation, violence, and even political assassinations against Nicaraguans in exile. They and their son Laureano have deepened financial and security relationships with Russia, China, Iran, and Cuba, undermining regional stability and prosperity.

The situation in Nicaragua is not solely an internal matter. It threatens the peace and security of the Americas. How much more do the Nicaraguan people and the region need to suffer before we act? It cannot be another 50 years.

The Trump Administration has taken decisive action against these tyrants and their enablers through financial sanctions, visa restrictions, diplomatic channels, and public condemnation. Our efforts have helped secure the release of political prisoners, the return of confiscated property, cut off dictatorship financing, reverse Nicaragua’s illegal immigration policies, and more.

But the United States cannot be the only country taking serious action against this authoritarian threat to our collective peace. If we are to succeed, Murillo and Ortega cannot continue to enjoy the benefits of normal diplomatic, economic, and institutional relations while they openly repudiate the basic commitments made under the Inter-American Democratic Charter. We must deny them those benefits.

The time for statements without action is over. Now is the time for a formal, institutional, and collective response, lest Nicaragua’s history of despotism be repeated from generation to generation.

This is why the United States, together with Argentina, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Panama, and Paraguay, presents a draft resolution that condemns the damaging consequences of the dictators’ conduct for the peace and security of the Americas. It also proposes convening a Meeting of Consultation of Ministers of Foreign Affairs to determine an appropriate collective response.

The text explicitly states that it does not authorize the use of armed force.

We are not asking this Council to predetermine what the ministers must decide—only to complete the work necessary to expeditiously convene them. The foreign ministers should, in our opinion, meet before September 1, when Nicaragua’s National Assembly plans to codify the antidemocratic measures that the Ortegas have outlined.

Ministers should examine the full range of lawful diplomatic, institutional, economic, and collective security options available. These could include diplomatic measures; limiting access to other regional fora; restricting nonhumanitarian assistance and funding; and facilitating the release of political prisoners.

These actions and others are all within our collective purview and will make a difference.

Various Inter-American instruments may be relevant, including the Rio Treaty, though not exclusively the Rio Treaty. Allowing ministers to discuss any differences over which instruments to use should strengthen, not weaken, our collective response. Differences over tactics must never become an excuse for inaction.

We will be flexible on this, and we ask that others be as well.

Various Inter-American instruments may be relevant, including the Rio Treaty, though not exclusively the Rio Treaty. Allowing ministers to discuss any differences over which instruments to use should strengthen, not weaken, our collective response. Differences over tactics must never become an excuse for inaction.

We will be flexible on this, and we ask that others be as well.

The issue is not whether these dictators have heard us. The issue is whether they believe our words will ever be followed by action. By our actions, we reject the elimination of real political parties, and we reject the instability the dictatorship inflicts on its people and the region.

And by our actions, we clearly say to Nicaraguans: You are not forgotten. The hemisphere will always defend your democratic right to freely choose your leaders.

It is time to break the cycle. We must act now to defend the security and peace of the Americas.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you all.