"Preventive diplomacy" in Nicaragua.

• Position: OAS

RESPONDING TO A request by the presidents of Central America, the OAS Permanent Council sent a high-level mission to Nicaragua to look rote potential political instability in that country.

The mission--led by the Chair of the Permanent Council, Ambassador Aristides Royo of Panama, and Acting Secretary General Luigi R. Einaudi--visited Managua in October after a decision by Nicaragua's Superior Council of the Office of the Comptroller General to request that the National Assembly fine President Enrique Bolanos two months' salary and remove him from office. The purpose of the visit was to provide support to the rule of law and the democratic institutional system and not to a specific government or leader, Royo explained.

The mission met with government and opposition leaders, as well as with representatives of the private sector, the Catholic Church, and civil society organizations, among others. In the existing climate of uncertainty, the visit "did calm the waters substantially," Einaudi told the Permanent Council.

In a preliminary report on the visit, Royo noted that political tensions in Nicaragua have made...