Central America

EU, US widen Nicaragua sanctions as Ortega begins new term

AFP

Daniel Ortega was sworn in Monday as Nicaragua’s president for a fourth straight term as the EU and US tightened sanctions over impugned elections held in November with all his challengers in jail.

“Yes, I swear,” said strongman Ortega as he and his wife Rosario Murillo, who was re-elected vice-president, were sworn in at a ceremony attended by the presidents of Cuba and Venezuela and envoys from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and Syria, among others.

Even before the event got under way, the European Union announced fresh sanctions against individuals it accuses of “undermining democracy” and human rights abuses in Nicaragua, including Ortega’s daughter and a son — both working as presidential advisors.

Others sanctioned “in view of the worsening situation in Nicaragua” were senior officials of the country’s police force and electoral body, said the EU.

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In Washington, the US Treasury placed sanctions on six regime officials, including two generals, the defense minister, the head of the Supreme Electoral Council and officials of the telecommunications regulator, who allegedly ran a social media troll farm to help Ortega.

Travel restrictions were imposed on 116 individuals tied to the regime, including mayors, prosecutors, security and university officials “complicit in undermining democracy,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

In his inaugural address, Ortega, 76, mocked the sanctions, calling them a “decoration” for Brenda Rocha, the electoral council head, who was one of the officials sanctioned.

He called the US measures “cowardly” and “cruel (…) not just to Nicaragua” but also to Cuba and Venezuela, which have also been subjected for years to “brutal sanctions” that he said must cease.

– Russia and China –

In the months leading up to the November 7 vote, Nicaraguan authorities detained nearly 40 opposition figures, including seven would-be presidential challengers, assuring victory for long-time ruler Ortega.

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As the international community rained opprobrium and sanctions on Ortega, he sought to improve ties with economic giants China and Russia.

Managua switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing, in return for which China reopened its embassy in the Central American nation and donated thousands of coronavirus vaccines.

Moscow, in response to outreach from Managua, provided the country with wheat, vaccines, even buses for public transport.

A firebrand Marxist in his youth, Ortega ruled Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, after leading a guerrilla army that ousted US-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza.

Returning to power in 2007, he has won re-election three times, becoming increasingly dictatorial and quashing presidential term limits.

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Ortega, with Murillo on his ticket, garnered 75 percent of the vote in November.

The election took place without independent international observers and with most foreign media denied access to the country.

The Nicaraguan parliament is dominated by Ortega allies, who also control the judiciary and electoral bodies.

Days before the election, Facebook announced it had closed a Nicaraguan government troll farm spreading anti-opposition messages.

Besides Rocha, the head of the Supreme Electoral Council, the European Union also imposed sanctions on the council’s deputy head and a senior official who was acting chief in 2018.

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The country’s telecoms enterprise was also listed for its bid “to silence independent media” and spread “disinformation.”

– ‘Sham’ –

US President Joe Biden has slammed the vote as a “sham” and the Washington-based Organization of American States (OAS) said it was “not free, just or transparent.”

As sanctions were almost immediately announced by the US, EU, Canada, and Britain, Russia attacked the West for not recognizing the results.

“We consider this unacceptable and we strongly condemn such a stance,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in November.

The US State Department says Ortega’s regime continues to hold 170 political prisoners.

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They include some 120 people who participated in anti-government protests in 2018 that were brutally repressed, causing more than 300 deaths and sending more than 100,000 people into exile, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Ortega insists the jailed are criminals and “terrorists” seeking to overthrow him with help from the United States.

Dozens of Nicaraguan exiles protested in neighboring Costa Rica on Sunday against Ortega’s inauguration.

The protest came on the same day that Nicaragua’s new parliament, also elected in November and dominated by Ortega’s left-wing Sandinista National Liberation Front, was officially opened.

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Central America

Guatemala’s president rules out negotiations with inmates after prison riots

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo stressed that his administration will not negotiate with inmates nor restore concessions granted under previous governments, insisting that the Executive’s priority is to maintain control of the prison system and restore order in detention centers.

Arévalo said one of the key measures implemented by authorities was the blocking of mobile phone signals inside prisons, an action he described as decisive in regaining control of the Renovación 1 penitentiary.

The riots reported at Renovación 1, Fraijanes 2, and the Preventive Detention Center for Men in Zone 18 of Guatemala City were aimed at pressuring the state to recover privileges that had been recently revoked, Arévalo said during a press conference held Wednesday at the National Palace of Culture.

The president explained that inmates were seeking to reinstate special detention conditions, including air conditioning, king-size beds, and internet access, benefits that he said were eliminated by the current administration.

“They attempted to extort the state in order to return to that system of privileges, but they failed,” Arévalo emphasized.

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Central America

Mazatenango Carnival cancelled amid State of Siege in Guatemala

The municipal government of Mazatenango, in the department of Suchitepéquez, Guatemala, has cancelled the city’s traditional Carnival as a security measure aimed at protecting visitors and residents.

The decision was announced on Tuesday through the municipality’s official Facebook page and comes as a preventive action amid the state of siege declared by the national government last Sunday.

The Mazatenango Carnival, one of the country’s most emblematic festivities, boasts more than 140 years of traditionand typically draws large crowds from across Guatemala and neighboring regions. Its program usually includes parades of floats, the traditional “Rabbit Race,” street dancing and live music, concerts, and cultural events in the Central Plaza.

According to the official statement, the cancellation responds to the current security context and the restrictions associated with the state of siege, prioritizing public safety.

Municipal authorities clarified that the scheduled concert by La Arrolladora Banda El Limón will still take place separately and will be the sole responsibility of the private production company, independent of the cancelled carnival activities.

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Central America

Guatemala raises police death toll to nine after gang violence escalates

Guatemalan authorities raised the death toll of police officers killed in a wave of gang violence to nine on Monday, after one officer wounded in the attacks died from his injuries. The violence prompted the government to declare a state of siege.

Criminal gangs launched a series of coordinated attacks against police forces across several parts of the country in retaliation for the government’s recapture of three prisons, where gang leaders had been holding dozens of prison guards hostage. Authorities said the hostages were used to pressure officials into transferring gang leaders to facilities with looser security measures.

Eight police officers were killed on Sunday. Another officer, identified as Frayan Medrano, died Monday in a public hospital after being shot while riding a motorcycle with a colleague, who remains in critical condition, according to police and the Ministry of the Interior.