President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega
WASHINGTON, July 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — After Nicaragua’s crackdown on several opposition figures, the United States has imposed new sanctions.
Visa restrictions on 100 members of Nicaragua’s National Assembly and judicial system will come into force, the State Department said.
The department said it has revoked any US visas held by these individuals. Among those affected are prosecutors, judges and their family members.
The sanctions are targeted at Nicaraguans “believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining democracy, including those with responsibility for, or complicity in, the suppression of peaceful protests or abuse of human rights, and the immediate family members of such persons,” it said in a statement.
The arrests of 26 political opponents and pro-democracy actors, including six presidential contenders, were among the actions cited by the US.
The sanctions also target those involved in the passing of repressive laws including electoral legislation, and so-called cybercrimes, foreign agents and sovereignty laws used to restrict and criminalize speech, dissent and political participation, the State Department said.
The country has recently seen a wave of arrests, with more than 20 opposition figures taken into custody since the beginning of June.
The opposition accuses the authoritarian government of President Daniel Ortega, who has ruled since early 2007, of trying to eliminate possible rivals before the November election.
Ortega was the leader of revolutionary forces that fought dictator Anastasio Somoza in the 1970s. Critics accuse him of establishing a dictatorship himself, along with his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo.
In 2014, Ortega’s party used its significant majority in parliament to pass a constitutional reform allowing the president to stay in office indeterminately. — NNN-AGENCIES
