The United States restricted visas on Friday to more than 100 Nicaraguan municipal officials for “their role” in the government of President Daniel Ortega, the State Department reported.
Washington considers Ortega’s 2021 re-election fraudulent and reproaches him for a wave of detentions against opponents, many of whom remain in prison, were forced into exile and were stripped of their nationality.
In addition, the government of Ortega and his wife and vice president Rosario Murillo has banned thousands of NGOs and lately has intensified persecution of the Catholic Church.
In a statement, the State Department reported that it has imposed “visa restrictions on more than 100 Nicaraguan municipal officials for their role in the Ortega-Murillo government.”
President Joe Biden’s government accuses Managua of continuing to “participate in a repressive campaign that silences civil society and unjustly detains brave people for exercising their fundamental freedoms.”
Nicaragua is under US sanctions for the repression of the 2018 protests against Ortega, in power since 2007 and successively re-elected in elections called into question by the international community.
In the statement, the United States promises to continue working internationally so that “those who threaten democracy” in the Central American country are held accountable.
