After the visa restrictions imposed by the Joe Biden administration, this Monday, June 13, on 93 people who belong to the close circle of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, the United States Undersecretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, Brian Nichols, indicated that these actions “respond to the refusal” of the dictatorship to straighten its path and restore democracy in Nicaragua.
The American diplomat, in his account Twitterassured that “The United States is committed to the people of Nicaragua, using all available tools to support the restoration of democracy and human rights.”
According to the State Department, the Biden government removed the visas of more than 90 people who hold public office in Nicaragua, after considering them complicit in “undermining democracy” in the country.
Related news: The United States sanctions 93 Ortega officials for being accomplices of the dictatorship
The 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.
He also 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 “judges and prosecutors aligned with the regime are complicit in the efforts of the Ortega and Murillo regime to undermine democracy,” citing 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 stressed.