The main person in charge of the US State Department for Latin America, Brian Nichols, affirmed this Monday that they are preparing a new round of sanctions against Nicaragua, on the opening day of the Civil Society Forum within the IX Summit of the Americas.
“We expect profound changes in their way of acting and if not, we are going to take measures to express our disagreement with the political pressure that exists in Nicaragua at this time,” Nichols said in statements to journalists moments before the opening of the Forum of the Civil Society, in a hotel in Los Angeles.
? “We expect profound changes in their way of acting and if we are not going to take measures to express our disagreement about the political repression that exists in Nicaragua”, said the Undersecretary of State about possible new sanctions for Ortega. Courtesy Nicaragua Current pic.twitter.com/8600kxseGZ
— Confidential Nicaragua (@confidencial_ni) June 6, 2022
The latest round of US sanctions against Ortega It was given on January 10in the context of the act of self-proclamation of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, for a new period of Government, after a voting process without transparency, under the shadow of repression and without political competition.
That day, the United States Treasury Department sanctioned six regime operators: Defense Minister Rosa Adelina Barahona de Rivas; the chief of the general staff of the Nicaraguan Army, Bayardo Ramón Rodríguez Ruíz; Brigadier General and Head of the Department of Personnel and Cadres of the Nicaraguan Army and member of the Board of Directors of the Military Institute of Social Welfare (IPSM), Bayardo De Jesús Pulido Ortiz.
The sanctions reached the general director of Telcor, Nahima Janett Díaz Flores, and Celina Delgado Castellón, deputy general director of Telcor and member of the board of directors of the National Electric Transmission Company (Enatrel) on behalf of Telcor.
The US also sanctioned Ramón Humberto Calderón Vindell, a retired division general, former president of the board of directors of the Nicaraguan state oil company Petróleos de Nicaragua and former president of the Board of Directors of Eniminas.
Nicaragua among the excluded
Nicaragua is one of the three governments, along with those of Venezuela and Cuba, that were excluded from the IX Summit of the Americas by the United States as host, for not considering them democratic and not respecting human rights.
Regarding Venezuela, Nichols said that “there is a lack of freedom” and “political prisoners”, a situation that is contrary to the “fundamental documents of the Summit of the Americas.”
“That was our concern. We understand that there are other opinions and we spend a lot of time talking with others, thinking about advancing on these issues, but in the end that is what weighed most in our decision, “said the senior official.
He also insisted that the US is willing to “modify its policies” towards the Caribbean nation, “if there are negotiations in good faith” between the government of Nicolás Maduro and the opposition in Mexico.
Several Latin American governments have expressed their disagreement with excluding these three nations and some leaders, as a form of protest, have decided not to attend the summit, such as the Bolivian Luis Arce and the Mexican Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who announced his refusal this same Monday.
Since 2018, Nicaragua has been going through a crisis that, in addition to the exiles, has left at least 355 dead, of which the Government of Daniel Ortega has confirmed 200, while more than 180 people remain imprisoned as “political prisoners,” according to the Commission. Inter-American Human Rights (IACHR).
The Summit will be held until next Friday, although the plenary sessions with regional leaders will only take place from Thursday, according to the schedule of the US Department of State. This is the first time that the United States has hosted the continental event since its first edition, which took place in 1994, in Miami, during the Government of Bill Clinton.
*With information from EFE
