The mayor of Matagalpa Sadrach Zeledón Rocha and his deputy mayor, Yohaira Hernández Chirino, were sanctioned on the morning of this Friday, December 9, by the Government of the United Kingdom for violating the human rights of the inhabitants of that municipality.
Zeledón and Hernández appear on a list of 30 corrupt political figures, human rights violators and perpetrators of conflict-related sexual violence around the world, which was released by UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.
Cleverly explained that this wave of sanctions occurs in the context of International Anti-Corruption Day and International Human Rights Day. The package includes individuals and entities involved in a wide range of heinous activities, including the torture of prisoners, the mobilization of troops to violate civilians, and systematic atrocities.
“It is our duty to promote free and open societies throughout the world. Today our sanctions go further to expose those behind the egregious violations of our most fundamental rights to accountability. We are committed to using all the levers at our disposal to secure a future of freedom from fear,” Cleverly said.
The UK-approved sanctions prevent “people involved in serious human rights abuses and violations from entering the country, channeling money through UK banks or benefiting from our economy,” the UK statement read. foreign secretary.
previous sanctions
In November 2021 Zeledón was sanctioned by the United States Department of the Treasury together with eight other operators of the Daniel Ortega regime such as the mayors: Francisco Valenzuela, from Estelí, and Leónidas Centeno, from Jinotega.
The United States sanctions were applied after the electoral farce of November 7, 2021, in which Daniel Ortega was re-elected for the fourth consecutive term. The sanctions targeted operators accused of human rights violations, and also those related to the Nicaraguan banking and economic system.
On that occasion, the three Sandinista mayors were accused of committing human rights abuses in 2018. The United States maintains that Zeledón is directly involved in the repression; that Valenzuela’s office ordered snipers to target the protesters in Estelí, and that Centeno is linked to the organizations that participated against the protesters.
An “eternal” mayor
Sadrach Zeledon Rocha He governed the municipality of Matagalpa for the first time after being elected in the first municipal votes in Nicaragua in 2000. Then, he left local power in 2004, because consecutive re-election was not allowed. However, he continued to receive his share of power as a deputy in the National Assembly and political secretary of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN).
In 2008, Zeledón returned to the position of mayor of Matagalpa and has remained there ever since, under the protection of the unconstitutional re-election sentence with which Ortega also imposed his re-election.
