The United States government announced this Wednesday (18) sanctions against Roberto Clemente Guevara Gómez, director of the La Modelo maximum security prison, belonging to the Daniel Ortega regime in Nicaragua. The unit is identified by human rights organizations as a place of detention for political prisoners opposing the Sandinista dictatorship. The measure was announced by the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, in a statement published on the social network X.
“Today I am designating Nicaraguan prison director Roberto Clemente Guevara Gómez for his involvement in serious human rights violations,” Rubio wrote. According to him, the United States continues to demand “the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners unjustly detained in Nicaragua.”
According to a statement from the State Department, the sanction was applied based on the Appropriations Act for the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs of 2024. The designation implies a ban on Guevara Gómez from entering the United States and may extend to family members.
La Modelo prison, also known as Jorge Navarro, has been considered the main detention center for opponents of the Sandinista regime since 2018.
The United Nations (UN) Group of Experts on Human Rights on Nicaragua has already named Guevara Gómez as directly responsible for abuses and violations committed against political prisoners in Nicaragua, mentioning possible crimes against humanity in a report presented in April last year.
The US has been pressuring the Ortega regime to release the political prisoners it holds in Nicaragua. Recently, following American pressure and the US capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro in January, the Nicaraguan dictatorship released dozens of political prisoners.
