Nicaragua: US bans visas for 100 people close to Daniel Ortega’s regime | International

Increasing pressure on the United States Presidential rule in Nicaragua, When Daniel Ortega announced this Monday restrictions on the visas of 100 members of the National Assembly and the Managua Judiciary. Foreign Secretary Anthony Blingen said in a statement: “This decision is directed against those who made the Ortega-Murillo regime possible. [en referencia a la esposa de Ortega, Rosario Murillo] Attacks democracy and human rights. ” For example, in his report, Blinken cites the arrests of 26 political opponents and defenders of democracy, as well as repressive laws passed by judges and prosecutors.

Those 26 prisoners include six candidates for the country’s presidency, university activists and private sector leaders. Repression also takes shape Nicaragua “Through laws such as election law, cybercrime law and the law on foreign agents, they have helped to restrict freedom of expression and criminalize dissent and political participation.”

“The United States will continue to use all diplomatic and economic tools to promote the release of political prisoners, to support the Nicaraguan petition to live freely, to hold the government accountable, and for free and fair elections.” The report says.

Blinken says restrictions on the cancellation of visas by US diplomacy affect not only those against whom they have been ordered, but also “some relatives” of these officials. The State Department did not provide a list of those affected by the sanctions. The body alleges that those admitted allowed the efforts “Persecute civil society and the independent media and silence them.” Blingen also cites the Ortega regime’s plan to “undermine democratic institutions and processes in Nicaragua.”

In mid-June, the international community redoubled its pressure to demand change of course from the Ordega regime Signature of 59 countries of the United Nations It called for a statement condemning human rights abuses in Central America and demanding the release of detained detainees. At the same time, the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee gave the green light to a bill – baptized as Renaissance – which imposes additional restrictions on the Managua regime, including the Central American Free Trade Agreement (KFTA). The initiative is subject to Senate approval, and if successful, it would be a severe economic blow to the Ordega government.

The wave of arrests of opposition leaders in Nicaragua comes ahead of the November 7 general election, in which Sandinista Ortega, who returned to power in 2007, is seeking re-election for another five years. The president has accused opposition leaders of trying to oust him with US support, describing him as “guilty.”

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