神马文学网A tale of two (Central American) cities. The ...
来源：百度文库 编辑：神马文学网 时间：2024/06/12 15:59:58
Managua, Nicaragua, October 19, 2009:
Current President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, wants to perpetuate himself in power. Unfortunately, Article 147 of the Constitution of Nicaragua prohibits him from running for re-election. Like Zelaya, he has sought to change his country’s constitution to enable him to run again.
The problem was that he didn’t have enough votes in the legislature to change it. No chance to do it legally? No problem. Yesterday, six Sandinista-aligned members of the Nicaraguan Supreme Court, without participation of the full membership, declared Article 147 of the constitution invalid as to Mr. Ortega. It remains to be seen whether the privilege will be extended to any other citizen. The opposition Liberal Party is protesting this maneuver by the Sandinistas, labeling it a coup d’état in progress.
The United States, however, is not treating this maneuver by Mr. Ortega as a coup d’état, and has announced no sanctions against Nicaragua. Similarly, the Organization of American States has no plans to meet to deal with Mr. Ortega’s breach of constitutional order and violation of democratic principles. This type of action, reminiscent of the long history of dictatorships that plagued Latin America in years past, will be ignored because it is being perpetrated by a left-wing despot and, as we well know, President Obama does not wish to offend them