Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega's Critic Edgard Paralles Picked Up by Two People Not in Police Uniform and Was Detained
Nicaragua's former ambassador to the Organization of the American States and a known critic of President Daniel Ortega has been detained in Managua.
The Ortega critic, Edgard Parrales, was picked up by unidentified men near his home.
The men were not wearing police uniforms when they got Parrales, according to his wife, Carmen Dolores Cordova, and Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights President Vilma Nunez, according to an Aljazeera report.
Nunez said that Parrales was captured at his home by two people in civilian clothes and took him away by car.
Parrales had decried Ortega's announcement of plans to pull out from the OAS. OAS is a regional body that has accused Ortega's government of acts of repression and of rigging elections in Nicaragua.
Parrales said that it is not easy to get out of the OAS, noting that it takes two years for this to take effect, according to a Reuters report.
Parrales is an OAS Nicaraguan ambassador from 1982 to 1986, which was during Ortega's first stint in power.
The executive director for the Americans division of Human Rights Watch, Jose Miguel Vivanco, condemns Parrales' detention.
Vivanco said that Ortega's message is that he is going to go after anyone who criticizes him.
Nicaragua Under President Daniel Ortega
The OAS and the EU discredited Ortega's election win on November 7. The election process was widely received by the global leaders as a "sham" vote, according to a DW report.
Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada accused the OAS of creating the hegemony of the U.S. with its interventionism over the countries of Latin America.
Moncada sent an "official communication" to OAS General Secretary Luis Almagro, giving way to Nicaragua's leave from the organization.
The foreign minister dubbed OAS as a diplomatic forum that was birthed under the influence of the U.S. as an instrument for interference and intervention.
Moncada added that the regional bloc has been involved in repeated acts of meddling in Nicaragua. He went on to say that the meddling is unacceptable in Nicaragua, adding that they reject and condemn it.
U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken earlier said that the outcome of the Nicaraguan election has long been a "foregone conclusion," according to an NBC News report.
Blinken added that the government has removed any real choice for voters through "repression and electoral manipulation."
The U.S. state secretary noted that the U.S. will continue to use diplomacy, as well as coordinated actions with regional allies and partners.
Blinken also mentioned sanctions and visa restrictions to promote accountability for those complicit in supporting the current Nicaragua administration.
During the election in Nicaragua, OSA and European Union election observers were not allowed to monitor the polls.
In addition, journalists have also not been allowed entry into the country.
Opponents were jailed and laws were also passed that criminalize opponents for "betraying the homeland."
Ortega claimed that the U.S. and other entities intervened during the election.
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Written by: Mary Webber
WATCH: Nicaragua votes, with a jailed opposition and Ortega's re-election all but certain - from FRANCE 24