Image Credit: Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters (2018)
The Joe Biden administration has issued a ban against allowing Nicaraguan elected officials on American soil as part of an international net of sanctions targeting the newly-elected Nicaraguan administration which the US and other countries say rigged the election. The US has denounced the "the repressive and abusive acts of the Ortega government and those who support it" in its statement related to the travel ban.
President Daniel Ortega came to power on November 7 in an election that has widely been criticised for its lack of transparency and allegations of rigging. Ortega, his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, in addition to security force members, judges, mayors and others have been branded as those undermining democracy in the Central American nation.
Ortega has already had sanctions imposed upon him by the Trump administration which have had little impact as he powers into his fourth consecutive term as leader and reports have emerged of the government cracking down on the free press and dissent. 25 members of the Organisation of American States voted in favour of recognising that the election in Nicaragua lacked "democratic legitimacy" on Tuesday.
Brian Nichols, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, told a House of Representatives subcommittee on Tuesday the administration will seek to prevent Nicaragua from obtaining funds from international financial institutions where Washington has a vote. More sanctions may also be in the offing as the Biden administration tightened down on what it termed an "authoritarian agenda" by the Ortega family.
The municipal officers and judiciary of the country were also guilty for complying with the whims of the Ortega family to suppress the people, the US statement read.