The US sanctions Sandinismo after sending four candidates to jail

Elections without rivals. This is the political “paradise” designed by the presidential couple in Nicaragua, a Sandinista version of Nicolás Maduro's electoral strategy that entails the imprisonment or kidnapping of the four main opposition candidates.

Today and after learning about the arrests, the US announced new sanctions for four key figures in the Sandinista scaffolding, including Camila Ortega Murillo, daughter of the presidential couple and “key adviser” to the vice president, in addition to being the administrator of television Channel 13. Washington accuses her of spreading tax propaganda and profiting while “squeezing the independent media”.

The others punished by the Office of Control of Foreign Assets (OFAC) are Leonardo Reyes, president of the Central Bank; General Julio Rodríguez Balladares and the pro-government deputy Edwin Castro.

Washington accuses all of them of being complicit in undermining democracy and abusing human rights.. The threat is clear: sanctions will continue.

The revolutionary Police and the Prosecutor's Office hunted Félix Maradiaga on Tuesday 400 meters from the headquarters of the Public Ministry, where he had gone to give a statement. Róger Reyes, his lawyer, has described the violence used by the agents: they opened the car door and without further ado they punched the former minister in the face. The beatings continued during the detention.

Hours later, the person arrested was Juan Sebastián Chamorro, who left a recorded video knowing what was coming: “Don't worry, I am spiritually prepared.”

Against Maradiaga, Chamorro and Arturo Cruz, detained on Saturday when he returned from the United States, the same accusations, drawn from the Guillotine Law, weigh: acts against independence, sovereignty and self-determination, inciting foreign interference, requesting military interventions, organizing with financing from foreign powers to carry out acts of terrorism and destabilization, applaud the imposition of sanctions…

For a week now, the journalist Cristiana Chamorro has been kidnapped in her own home, held incommunicado and confined to her room.. Her lawyers have denounced that they are not even allowed to participate in the process that is being followed against her.

“Criminals, thieves and terrorists”, summed up Vice President Rosario Murillo in one of her habitual television sermons.

Why have Daniel Ortega and his wife ordered the arrest of the four main opposition candidates? Each of them is an unattainable rival for Sandinismo, which only has between 30% and 35% support, if elections are held under democratic conditions.

'Black beast' of the regime

At the head of the pro-government nightmares is Cristiana Chamorro, daughter of former president Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, who today symbolizes the fight against the dictatorship. Cristiana has chaired the foundation created by her mother to support freedom of information and independent journalists, for which she is accused of money laundering. Ortega's great fear is that the daughter of “Doña Violeta” repeats the electoral miracle of 1990, when forced to call elections, he was defeated in a historic surprise.. In a good part of the polls, it already appeared as the main rival of the presidential couple.

Ortega's former ambassador

Historian Arturo Cruz, Ortega's former ambassador to Washington, had become the main candidate for the Alianza Ciudadana, made up of the Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy, which participated in the 2018 negotiations with Ortega, and the center-right party Citizens for Freedom (CxL), which after the disqualification of the Democratic Restoration Party (PRD) remains as the main electoral card for November. In the open process for opponents to compete in the internal process of the Civic Alliance, Cruz had an advantage: he is a CxL adviser and the favorite of its leaders. A secret with voices.

youth leader

Félix Maradiaga, however, arouses the support of a large part of the young people who participated in the front line of combat during the popular rebellion of April 2018. The standard-bearer of the Blue and White National Unity (colors of the Nicaraguan flag) is not a Central American Bin Laden or anything similar, as the Sandinista regime wants to show.. This academic and former minister is the creator of the Civil Society Leadership Institute and a key figure in the fight against Ortega. In fact, the Sandinistas point to him as one of the main promoters of the protests, caused by the social security reform. raised by the government. Since then, more than 300 people have been killed by police and paramilitaries and more than a hundred have become political prisoners.

“My hands are clean, my conscience is clear,” Maradiaga defended himself before being savagely arrested. Previously, the presidential candidate had suffered beatings and attempted attacks. His family fears that the ill-treatment will continue, after learning that the activist remains confined in the feared El Chipote prison, a place where torture is administered to political prisoners.

promoter of an agreement

Regarding the economist Juan Sebastián Chamorro, the fourth on the list of those captured, his firm position and his last name weigh heavily, since he is a cousin of the Chamorro brothers. Executive director of the Civic Alliance until January, he resigned to focus on his candidacy and bet on reaching an agreement among all opponents.

“Ortega is a dictator. The international community has no choice but to treat him as such,” lashed Julie Chung, undersecretary of the State Department. “Spain reiterates its deep concern over the latest developments,” the Spanish government stressed in a statement.

In addition to the four pre-candidates, controversial business leader Jose Aguerri was also jailed during the last hours in El Chipote, while activist Violeta Granera was imprisoned in her own home. Victoria Cardenas, Chamorro’s wife, is also under police siege and is being held incommunicado.