(Washington) Joe Biden on Tuesday barred Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, his wife and Vice President Rosario Murillo, and a wide range of ministers and officials from across the country from entering the United States, in a harsh proclamation indictment against their “attacks” on democracy.
“The repression and abuses of the Ortega government and those who support it require the United States to act”, affirms the American president in this text published after the disputed election of November 7 which renewed Daniel Ortega at the head of his country.
“I have made the decision that it is in the interests of the United States to restrict and suspend the entry into the United States” of “members of the government of Nicaragua, led by President Daniel Ortega, including his wife and vice-president Rosario Murillo ”, and all those linked to acts“ undermining the democratic institutions ”of the country, he adds.
The very long list of personae non gratae also includes elected officials and members of their cabinets, mayors and their deputies accused of having “violated human rights to punish peaceful demonstrators” as well as a whole series of senior officials of the security services, government agencies, prison services, the judiciary and the Ministry of the Interior.
Apart from the state apparatus, all those who contributed to the acts denounced by Washington are also concerned.
Finally, the wives and children of those sanctioned are also prohibited from entering the United States.
“Climate of fear”
The US Treasury had already announced on Monday financial sanctions against the Federal Prosecutor’s Office of Nicaragua and nine senior officials of the country “in response to the sham elections orchestrated by President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo”.
The threat had been hovering since the November 7 poll, deprived of opposition following the imprisonment of the president’s main rivals. President Biden immediately called the elections a “comedy” which unsurprisingly led to the re-election of Daniel Ortega for a fourth term.
In his presidential proclamation, Joe Biden draws up a vitriolic report on the situation in the Central American country.
“The undemocratic and authoritarian acts of the Ortega government have hampered the electoral process and deprived the citizens of Nicaragua of the right to choose their leaders in free and fair elections,” lamented the US president.
He also denounced “the arrest, without the right to a fair trial”, of peaceful demonstrators, opponents, journalists in order to “stifle the political debate”.
“The police and the prison authorities contribute to this repressive environment” with “arrests for political reasons”, he added. “The physical and psychological abuse of political prisoners”, often “held incommunicado”, is “intolerable”, he warned, also warning against the “climate of fear maintained” by pro-Ortega mayors in their cities.
With the proliferation of appointments of “government-controlled judges and prosecutors”, the president “hijacked the judicial system in order to silence critical voices”, while “widespread impunity reigns for the perpetrators of crimes committed against figures of opposition ”and“ persistent corruption ”undermines the foundations of democratic institutions, he continued.