The United States government, under the command of President Donald Trump, announced this Thursday (26) new sanctions against five senior officials of the Nicaraguan regime, increasing pressure against Managua. According to the State Department, the measure was adopted because these authorities are involved in internal repression and actions that “incite regional instability”.
Those sanctioned occupy strategic positions within the Nicaraguan regime. Among them are the Minister of Labor, Johana Flores; the director of the Financial Analysis Unit, Denis Membreno; its deputy director, Aldo Sáenz; the deputy director of the Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Posts, Celia Reyes; and the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Leonel Gutiérrez.
In a note signed by the State Department’s first deputy spokesperson, Thomas “Tommy” Pigott, Washington stated that the decision is part of an effort to hold dictator Daniel Ortega, his wife, Rosario Murillo, and members of the structure that supports the regime accountable.
According to the American government, since 2018 the Nicaraguan regime has repressed protests, detained political opponents and persecuted sectors of civil society, including the Catholic Church and the independent press. The statement further states that the sanctioned authorities lead state bodies responsible for monitoring, controlling telecommunications and security structures used to surveil and silence government critics.
The sanctions were applied based on executive decrees 13851 and 14088, which authorize measures against people considered responsible for human rights violations and acts of corruption in Nicaragua.
The decision comes days after the United States imposed visa restrictions on the director of La Modelo prison, Roberto Clemente Guevara Gómez, for participating in abuse against inmates.
Washington reiterated in the statement its request for the “immediate and unconditional release” of all political prisoners in the country. According to the American embassy in Managua, more than 60 people remain “unjustly detained or missing”.
