The United States imposed visa restrictions on 93 Nicaraguan public officials because it considers them complicit in “undermining democracy” in the country with the government of Daniel Ortega, the State Department announced Monday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken explained in a statement that the list of those sanctioned includes members of the Ministry of the Interior, the National Assembly, judges and prosecutors, but did not reveal their identities.
The Joe Biden Administration accuses these officials of “undermining democracy” after the “illegitimate elections” of November 2021 in which Ortega was re-elected for a fifth term, along with his wife and Vice President, Rosario Murillo.
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In the statement, Blinken assured that the officials of the Ministry of the Interior and the sanctioned Nicaraguan deputies “have promoted “repressive laws” against civil society organizations and a dozen universities.
In addition, he stated that “the judges and prosecutors aligned with the regime are complicit in the efforts of the Ortega and Murillo regime to undermine democracy,” and cited the convictions against opposition leaders and human rights defenders.
“The United States is deeply concerned about the unjust detentions of political prisoners by the Ortega-Murillo regime and the continued abuses against members of civil society,” he said.
According to the State Department, there are 180 political prisoners in Nicaragua, many of whom do not receive adequate food or health care in prison.
