Secretary of State Antony Blinken released the measure in a statement after denouncing what he described as “the regime’s incessant attacks” by President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo against “civil liberties” in the Central American country.
The 100 sanctioned are Nicaraguan officials who “participated in efforts to suppress civil society organizations, close civic spaces such as the Central American University, and unjustly detain courageous people who support a free civil society, including Bishop Rolando Álvarez. ”the statement said.
The measure conforms to Presidential Proclamation 10309, which suspends the entry to the United States, as immigrants and non-immigrants, to “persons responsible for policies or actions that threaten democracy in Nicaragua,” according to the text.
Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, Catholic bishop of Matagalpa (north), was arrested a year ago by the police and has been imprisoned in a Managua prison since last February, after receiving a sentence of 26 years and four months in prison for refusing to be deported to United States together with 222 opponents released and exiled.
Blinken assured that Washington will continue working with the international community “to promote the accountability of those who threaten democracy in Nicaragua,” and in favor of “the fundamental freedoms of the Nicaraguan people and respect for their human rights.”
“We continue to call for the immediate and unconditional release of Bishop Álvarez in Nicaragua and for the end of the systematic repression,” Brian Nichols, Under Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, declared on his X account, formerly Twitter. .
The UCA, the most important private university in Nicaragua, was confiscated this week by the Ortega government after 63 years of operation, through a judicial resolution in which it was accused of being “a center of terrorism.”
For its part, Nicaragua sent a protest note to the Colombian government, which it described as “interventionist” after Bogotá said on Friday that it is concerned about the confiscation of the UCA and “vehemently condemns all measures that limit religious freedom of teaching and expression”.
In harsh words addressed to the government of President Gustavo Petro, the Nicaraguan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in the text that it “does not recognize” the Colombian Foreign Ministry “as any authority.”
“The servitude of slaves against the imperial masters does not cover up their own ills, social disintegration, narco-politics, chronic corruption,” said the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry, referring to Bogotá’s position regarding United States policies towards Nicaragua and the internal problems in Colombia.
The Society of Jesus, through its authorities in Central America, rejected the accusation against the UCA and demanded that the Nicaraguan government allow it “their right to defense” through a fair trial.
One day after the confiscation, the government installed the “Casimiro Sotelo” state university at the UCA headquarters.
The Nicaraguan government accuses the Catholic Church and different sectors of the opposition of having supported the 2018 social revolt, described by Ortega as “a failed coup d’état” allegedly sponsored by the United States and European countries.
Police repression of civic protests left 355 protesters dead, more than 2,000 injured and sparked a serious political crisis that has driven hundreds of thousands of people into exile, according to human rights organizations.
Since 2018, the United States and other countries have applied sanctions against Ortega government officials and institutions, as well as his wife Rosario Murillo and several of their children who hold positions in the Sandinista administration.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
