WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Wednesday blacklisted four Nicaraguans, including a daughter of President Daniel Ortega, accusing them of supporting a government that Washington said has undermined democracy, abused human rights and enacted repressive laws.
The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement it had imposed sanctions on Camila Antonia Ortega Murillo, Ortega’s daughter and Coordinator of the Creative Economy Commission.
The Treasury accused her of managing television station Canal 13, a family-run media outlet the department said spreads propaganda, while the president “uses state spending and tax laws to promote family-run stations and squeeze independent rival outlets”.
Also hit with sanctions are: Leonardo Ovidio Reyes Ramirez, president of the Central Bank of Nicaragua; Edwin Ramon Castro Rivera, a deputy of the Nicaraguan National Assembly; and Julio Modesto Rodriguez Balladares, a Brigadier General of the Nicaraguan Army and executive director of the Military Social Welfare Institute.
“President Ortega’s actions are harming Nicaraguans and driving the country deeper into tyranny,” Andrea Gacki, director of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, said in the statement.
“It’s clear the Ortega regime intends to continue its suppression of the Nicaraguan people. The United States will continue to expose those officials who continue to ignore the will of its citizens,” she added.
Wednesday’s action freezes any U.S. assets of those blacklisted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them.
(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Tim Ahmann; Editing by Chris Reese and Gareth Jones)
