The United States on Monday announced new sanctions against Nicaragua government officials and the public prosecutor over recent “sham” elections that saw long-time leader Daniel Ortega win a fourth straight presidential term.
The US Treasury “designated the Public Ministry of Nicaragua (the federal public prosecutor’s office)… as well as nine officials of the Government of Nicaragua in response to the sham national elections,” a statement from the department said.
In the months ahead of the November 7 election, Nicaraguan authorities detained nearly 40 opposition figures, including seven would-be presidential challengers, virtually assuring victory for Ortega and the vice president, his wife Rosario Murillo.
The United States said some of the officials targeted by the new sanctions “were appointed to their government positions by Ortega and are key supporters of the regime and its anti-democratic policies.”
They also include several officials implicated in a violent crackdown on massive protests against Ortega’s regime in 2018 that claimed more than 300 lives in Central America’s poorest country, the statement added.
“This action targets those who are repressing Nicaraguans for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms,” the Treasury said.
Washington, which had already slapped sanctions on Ortega, Murillo and a number of Nicaraguans in their inner circle over actions in the runup to Sunday’s election, had threatened new sanctions after Ortega was declared the election victor.
