The main person in charge of the US Department of State 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, USA.
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).
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Nicaragua has been one of the three governments, along with those of Venezuela and Cuba, that have been 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, the senior US official 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 spent a lot of time talking to each other, thinking about moving forward on those issues, but in the end that is what weighed the most in our decision, ”said Nichols.
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.
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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.
The IX Summit of the Americas is being held in the Californian city of Los Angeles until next Friday, although the plenary sessions with regional leaders will only take place starting Thursday, according to the schedule of the US State Department.
This is the first time that the United States hosts the continental event since its first edition, which took place in 1994, in Miami, during the Government of Bill Clinton.
