The US said the persecution of Daniel Ortega’s regime in opposition “slips into Nicaragua into a new dark era”

The United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken lamented on Tuesday that the actions of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega “slip into a new dark era in Nicaragua”

On the occasion of the celebration of Independence Day in a Central American country, Blinken issued a statement expressing his solidarity, although he lamented that this day should “be a time to celebrate freedom and the historic achievement of self-government.”

“Unfortunately, today in Nicaragua the freedom that so many Nicaraguans fought for so long is slipping into a new dark eraBlinken warned on the bicentennial of independence, criticizing Ortega and his wife and country vice president, Rosario Murillo, for “constantly undermining the foundations of democratic institutions.”

He has also rebuked the two presidents who “They have corrupted the judiciary, attacked the free press and forced to dismantle opposition parties that would have competed against them in the next election.”

“They have closed all space for political competition and public discourse, cruelly imprisoning more than 30 opposition leaders, students, reporters, business leaders, human rights activists and members of civil society in recent months. “, Continued the head of American diplomacy, by greet the “brave Nicaraguans who have risked their lives to push for a country guided by democratic principles. “

The US Government has imposed several rounds of economic sanctions and visa restrictions on senior Nicaraguan officials and direct relatives of Ortega, including his children.

Nicaragua lives one socio-political crisis that erupted in 2018, when Nicaraguans came out to protest against President Ortega, in power since 2007, and who will seek a new re-election in the November general elections.

In the context of the crisis were recorded 328 dead, at least 103,000 exiled and hundreds of opponents imprisoned, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Some 4.7 million Nicaraguans are called to vote on November 7 in the general elections, in which in addition to the presidential formula, the 92 seats of the National Assembly and another twenty of the Central American Parliament are also at stake.

A part of the international community, The United States and the European Union have questioned the legitimacy of these future presidential elections and have denounced the authoritarian drift of the Ortega government. for their persecution of opposition leaders, journalists and civil society groups critical of their policies.

The US government has imposed several rounds of economic sanctions and visa restrictions on senior Nicaraguan officials and direct relatives of Ortega, including his children.

Among the prisoners are 07:00 candidates for presidential candidates, While among the exiles is the 2017 Cervantes Prize and former vice president of Nicaragua in the first Sandinista government (1979-1990), Sergio Ramírez, A critic of Ortega whom the prosecution accuses of “performing acts that encourage and incite hatred and violence.”

(With information from EFE and EuropaPress)

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