According to the Associated Press, 50 immediate family members of Nicaraguan officials participated in or benefited from President Daniel Ortega’s increasingly severe repression and are now subject to US visa restrictions.
In the past two months, the Ortega government has arrested nearly three dozen opposition figures, including seven potential challengers to the presidency.
A statement from the U.S. State Department said: “Ortega and (Vice President and First Lady Rosario) Murillo once again demonstrated that they are afraid of competing with anyone they think might win the support of the Nicaraguan people.”
For more reports from the Associated Press, please see below.
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Officials of people whose families are now restricted include legislators, prosecutors, and judges.
Nicaragua is scheduled to hold a national election on November 7. Ortega is seeking a fourth consecutive term, and this week the government placed an opposition vice presidential candidate under house arrest.
Among those arrested in recent weeks was the former Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Francisco Aguirre Sacassa. The 76-year-old was arrested after border police prevented him from leaving Nicaragua and entering Costa Rica. His two children said Friday that he had planned to fly to Houston for back surgery.
Since his arrest on July 27, his family has not received information about his whereabouts or condition.
“No details, no information, we know absolutely nothing,” said Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, one of the sons of the former diplomat.
“The lawyer said he was powerless because the case did not exist,” said Georgie Aguirre Sacasa, the daughter of the former diplomat.
They said that their mother would visit the Managua prison called El Chipot every day because they suspected that he was there, but his name did not appear on the prisoner list. She took food, water, and medicine, but the guard only took water occasionally without confirming whether he was there.
Aguirre Sacasa was arrested by the police on the highway returning from the Costa Rican border to Managua. The guards there confiscated his passport. When his wife arrived at their home, she found that the police were searching. They confiscated computers and documents from Aguirre Sacasa’s home office.
After the arrest, the Nicaraguan authorities issued a statement saying that he will be detained for 90 days because he is investigating allegations of crimes committed against Nicaraguan society.
“They said they were following the law, but if it was true, he would be on the prisoner list, he could talk to us, and they could visit him,” George Aguirre Sakasa said. “But in Nicaragua, these human rights are not respected.”
The State Department announced on Friday that it would impose visa sanctions on 50 Nicaraguans, following a similar action on July 12 against another 100 Nicaraguans. The United States stated that they “are considered responsible or complicit in the destruction of democracy, including those responsible or complicit in these incidents.” , Suppress peaceful protests or violate human rights, and their immediate family members. “
The Nicaraguan government did not immediately comment on the new restrictions. In the past, Ortega and Murillo insisted that the widespread protests that began in April 2018 were an attempted coup d’état supported by foreign countries.
