The government of Nicaragua is rejecting what it calls U.S. “meddling” in its internal affairs, after the U.S. State Department released a statement Thursday saying it is “very concerned” about last week's controversial ruling by Sandinista judges to overturn a constitutional ban on presidential re-election.

In a letter to José Miguel Insulza, secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Nicaraguan Ambassador Denis Moncada said the position of the United States is “unacceptable” to the government of President Daniel Ortega.

Moncada accused the United States of pretending to represent the view of all OAS member states, and called on Insulza to clarify that the United States' position is not reflective of that of the international body. At press time, the OAS had not responded to Nicaragua's appeal.

The U.S. Department of State said in its release, “We share the concern of many Nicaraguans that this situation is part of a larger pattern of questionable and irregular governmental actions, beginning before the flawed municipal elections of November 2008, that threatens to undermine the foundations of Nicaraguan democracy and calls into question the Nicaraguan government's commitment to uphold the Inter-American Democratic Charter.”

U.S. Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also came out strongly against the Sandinista ruling.

“Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's manipulation of the Nicaraguan Supreme Court this week to circumvent constitutional limits on his term in office reeks of the authoritarianism of the past,” Kerry said in a statement. “Coming on the heels of universally condemned municipal elections last year, his power grab deepens a crisis that Nicaragua can ill afford.”

Kerry said that the situations in Nicaragua and Honduras are “obviously different,” but said “unconstitutional actions are unacceptable anywhere.”

“President Ortega appears to be following the cues of the coup-plotters in Honduras,” Kerry said.

Despite a constitutional ban on consecutive presidential re-election, six Sandinista Supreme Court magistrates loyal to Ortega ruled Oct. 19, apparently behind the backs of opposition judges, that a law prohibiting re-election is unconstitutional (NT, Oct. 23). The political opposition, business chambers and civil society groups have all criticized the ruling as illegal, and issued statements claiming they don't recognize the verdict.

Opposition parties in Nicaragua's National Assembly are expected to present a bill against the court verdict this week.