"OFAC imposed sanctions on two of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s closest associates: the Vice President of Nicaragua and First Lady, Rosario Maria Murillo De Ortega (Murillo), and Nestor Moncada Lau (Moncada), who has acted as a national security advisor to the President and Vice President," the release said.

The Treasury added that the action was taken against Ortega’s supporters because of their engagement in "rampant corruption, dismantling of democratic institutions, serious human rights abuse, and exploitation of the people and public resources of Nicaragua for private gain."

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the release that the Trump administration is committed to holding Ortega and his government accountable for the violent protests and corruption that has led to the deaths of hundreds of people, and destroyed the country's economy.

READ MORE: US Envoy to UN Says Nicaragua Following Syria's, Venezuela's Footsteps

Turmoil erupted in Nicaragua on April 18 when people took to the streets to protest unpopular social security reforms announced by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. After several days of protests, Ortega cancelled the reforms, but the protests have nevertheless continued.

Earlier this month the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry said 198 people were killed, including police officers, and more than 1,200 others were injured due to the protests. </s> The US government announced Tuesday that it was placing sanctions on Rosario Murillo, the vice president of Nicaragua and also the wife of President Daniel Ortega, and a national security advisor in response to an ongoing crackdown by the Ortega government against its political opponents.

The sanctions were part of an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump that enables US Treasury officials to freeze property within US jurisdiction owned by Murillo and advisor Nestor Moncada Lau. It also bars banks and businesses from carrying out transactions with the individuals.

"Vice President Murillo and her political operators have systematically sought to dismantle democratic institutions and loot the wealth of Nicaragua to consolidate their grip on power," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a press statement.

"This Administration is committed to holding the Ortega regime accountable for the violent protests and widespread corruption that have led to the deaths of hundreds of innocent Nicaraguans and destroyed their economy."

After an exclusive interview with President Ortega in September, DW reporter Carolina Chimoy said that, "Rosario Murillo ... is actually the one who is running the government day by day. It is not the president. It is her."

Since April standoffs between anti-Ortega protestors and police and armed groups have led to the deaths of more than 300 individuals, with more than 2,000 injured. Protestors have accused Ortega of organizing the violence, which has drawn international condemnation.

The protests began in response to proposed welfare changes but escalated into calls for democratic reforms in Nicaragua, including the resignation of Ortega and new elections.

Ortega, a former leftist Sandinista rebel, has been president since 2007. He previously ruled the Central American country from 1979 to 1990.

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here. </s> The U.S. imposed sanctions Tuesday on Nicaragua’s vice president and its national security adviser for corruption and for their violent repression of pro-democracy protesters, as President Trump ramps up economic and diplomatic pressure on the so-called “troika of tyranny” in Latin America.

Mr. Trump signed an executive order targeting the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega regime and its supporters, who “continue to engage in rampant corruption, dismantling of democratic institutions, serious human rights abuse, and exploitation of the people and public resources of Nicaragua for private gain,” the Treasury Department said.

Under the order, Treasury imposed sanctions on Vice President Rosario Maria Murillo De Ortega, and Nicaraguan national security adviser Nestor Moncada Lau.

Since April, anti-government protests in Nicaragua have resulted in more than 350 deaths, according to human-rights monitors.

“Vice President Murillo and her political operators have systematically sought to dismantle democratic institutions and loot the wealth of Nicaragua to consolidate their grip on power,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “This administration is committed to holding the Ortega regime accountable for the violent protests and widespread corruption that have led to the deaths of hundreds of innocent Nicaraguans and destroyed their economy.”

The Treasury actions freeze any property or assets under U.S. jurisdiction of the two Nicaraguan officials.

A senior administration official said the action is a signal to Mr. Ortega “to find an exit strategy” and pave the way for free and fair elections. Until then, the official said, the administration’s goal is to continue “a campaign of maximum pressure.”

Mr. Ortega, 72, is a former left-wing guerrilla who has ruled Nicaragua for 22 of the past 39 years since his Sandinista rebels toppled a U.S.-backed strongman. The unrest is the worst since he returned to power in 2007, and he has said he intends to serve in his current term as president until 2021.

Earlier this month, U.S. national security adviser John R. Bolton said in a speech that Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba comprise a “troika of tyranny.” He promised a comprehensive, new administration approach to confront leftist, anti-democratic regimes in the Western Hemisphere.

“This Troika of Tyranny, this triangle of terror stretching from Havana to Caracas to Managua, is the cause of immense human suffering, the impetus of enormous regional instability, and the genesis of a sordid cradle of communism in the Western Hemisphere,” Mr. Bolton said. “The United States looks forward to watching each corner of the triangle fall. . . . The Troika will crumble.”

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Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission. </s> Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo have ruled Nicaragua for more than a decade

The US has imposed sanctions on Nicaragua's Vice-President Rosario Murillo, the wife of President Daniel Ortega, accusing her of corruption and serious human rights abuses.

She is believed to have held influence over a youth organisation that the US says engaged in extra-judicial killings, torture and kidnapping.

Sanctions were also imposed on the presidential couple's security adviser.

Ms Murillo has ruled Nicaragua jointly with Mr Ortega for more than a decade.

She is accused of controlling the police and the youth wing of the governing Sandinista Liberation Front.

On Tuesday, the US Treasury said it was using a new executive order issued by US President Donald Trump to punish Ms Murillo, accusing her of undermining Nicaragua's democracy.

Meanwhile her aide - and the president's security adviser - Néstor Moncada Lau was accused of carrying out orders by paying armed groups to attack protestors during months of anti-government disturbances earlier this year.

The sanctions will ban US individuals, banks and other entities from carrying out transactions with the pair, who will also have any assets that fall under US jurisdiction frozen.

Nicaragua has been through huge upheaval this year. In April, anti-government protesters demanded that the socialist president, Mr Ortega, step down over unpopular pension reforms.

However, he refused to negotiate and instead sent in the security forces.

Hundreds were then killed in the space of weeks.

Earlier this month, opposition activist Félix Maradiaga told the BBC that human rights in Nicaragua were at the "most severe crisis in generations".

Mr Maradiaga was forced to flee his country in July after receiving death threats. </s> The Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions on Nicaragua’s vice president and its national security adviser, in the latest move to put pressure on the regime of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.

The sanctions against Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo, who is also the country’s first lady, and adviser Nestor Moncada Lau followed President Trump’s signing of an executive order allowing the Treasury Department to block the property and interests of Nicaraguan officials.

The text of the order, which was issued Tuesday, states that the action was taken in response to the Nicaraguan government’s corruption, its “violent response” to protests and its “systematic dismantling and undermining of democratic institutions and the rule of law.”

“Vice President Murillo and her political operators have systematically sought to dismantle democratic institutions and loot the wealth of Nicaragua to consolidate their grip on power,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. “Treasury is intent on ensuring that Ortega regime insiders are not able to access the U.S. financial system to profit at the expense of the Nicaraguan people.”

Ortega, 73, came to power in 1979 as part of a government built by the Sandinista National Liberation Front guerrillas who overthrew President Anastasio Somoza, a longtime U.S. ally.

First elected to a six-year term as president in 1984 as head of the Sandinista party, he lost the next three electoral rounds, only to win the next three, most recently in 2016, when his wife, Murillo, ran as his vice president. The Nicaraguan people, he said, would have a “50-50” presidency between the two of them. Murillo, 67, is outspoken and well-organized compared with Ortega’s somewhat bland public persona and had already long been a visible wielder of power.

Despite increasingly autocratic tendencies, allegations of electoral fraud and conspicuous unearned wealth, Ortega managed to co-opt much of the business community and, unlike much of the rest of Central America, maintain relative peace and a sustained growth rate of at least 4 percent with the help of international bank loans and deeply discounted fuel supplies from Venezuela.

But a sharp decrease in those supplies, as Venezuela’s economy and oil exports have nose-dived, led the Ortega-Murillo government to look for places to cut the budget. When they announced in April that the were decreasing public pensions, Nicaragua erupted in violence.

Protest demonstrations joined senior citizens with students angry over the paucity of jobs — many of which were reserved for Sandinista supporters. The government responded with repressive force that sparked new demonstrations by students and political opponents, sparking even more force by the government and its paramilitary militias that has left hundreds of protesters and uninvolved civilians dead.

The Trump administration, which had displayed little interest in Nicaragua to that point, responded by supporting mediation efforts by the Organization of American States and the Catholic Church that eventually collapsed. As administration criticism and sanctions against Venezuela increased along with government repression and violence against civilians in that country, the White House turned its attention toward Nicaragua.

In a speech in Miami earlier this month, national security adviser John Bolton vowed to confront Nicaragua, which he said was part of the “troika of tyranny” along with Cuba and Venezuela.

“This triangle of terror stretching from Havana to Caracas to Managua, is the cause of immense human suffering, the impetus of enormous regional instability, and the genesis of a sordid cradle of communism in the Western Hemisphere,” Bolton said. “Under President Trump, the United States is taking action against all three regimes to defend the rule of law, liberty and basic human decency in our region.”

The administration had already minimized ties with Cuba, reversing the opening pursued by President Barack Obama, and has imposed escalating sanctions on the Venezuelan government of President Nicolás Maduro. In the speech, Bolton criticized Ortega for his “regime’s violence and repression against its citizens and opposition members.” The Nicaraguan government, he said, “like Venezuela and Cuba, will feel the full weight of America’s robust sanctions regime.”

In a conference call with reporters, Trump administration officials cast the sanctions on Murillo and Lau as the first step in fulfilling that pledge. Sigal Mandelker, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the Treasury Department, said there was “no question in our mind” that the move would have a significant impact on the Nicaraguan government. </s> MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Nicaragua's government says it is willing to negotiate over controversial social security reforms that have prompted protests and deadly clashes this week.

Vice President, first lady and government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo says nine people have been killed in the unrest. She calls the protests "cruel."

Dozens of others have been injured or arrested in the chaos in various cities across the Central American nation.

Murillo said late Friday that President Daniel Ortega's government is responding to calls for dialogue made by Roman Catholic Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes and the private business sector.

She added that the social security reforms "are not concluded proposals, but (rather) we are open to discussing them."

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> The Trump administration imposed sanctions against Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami on Monday, accusing him of playing a major role in international drug trafficking. The executive decree, the result of a years-long investigation, is bound to ratchet up tensions between the new Republican administration and the United States' harshest critic in Latin America.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Fox News. </s> Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega was under pressure from widespread street unrest on Monday despite backing down on a contentious pension reform plan that triggered days of violence in which at least 25 people were killed.

Students leading the protests vowed to keep up their demonstrations until the 72-year-old leader and his wife and vice-president Rosario Murillo are ousted.

The deteriorating situation prompted US authorities to order family members of American government personnel in Nicaragua to leave the country.

The Central American nation’s main private business association — an ally of Ortega during his 11 years in power — said it would go ahead with an anti-government march on Monday.

On Sunday, Ortega sought to placate popular fury, announcing he was revoking the pension reform plan that would have increased both employer and employee contributions and reduced benefits, in an IMF-backed bid to cap a rising $76 million deficit at the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute (INSS).

The increases were the spark that ignited student protests last Wednesday that soon spread to other sectors of Nicaraguan society.

“The protests are no longer just for the INSS, it is against a government that denies us freedom of expression, freedom of the press and to demonstrate peacefully,” 26-year-old political science student Clifford Ramirez told AFP.

“We believe there is no longer space for dialogue,” he added.

Student protesters won support in neighborhoods where residents came out to bang kitchen pots, and from workers and retirees angered by government corruption and the deterioration in their living conditions.

The protests intensified over the weekend as demonstrators erected barricades of burning tires in the streets of the capital Managua, while mobs ransacked shops in various parts of the city.

Ortega responded with a crackdown that saw the army deployed, independent media muzzled, journalists assaulted and pro-government demonstrators mobilized to counter the protests.

A doctor treating those wounded in the clashes, Eyel Almanza, said in an interview that police officers were resorting to deadly force.

Ortega, a former Sandinista guerrilla who is allied to Venezuela and Russia, has compared the protesters to gang members who spread terror in Nicaragua’s Latin American neighbors.

The unexpected wave of violence in an otherwise relatively tightly controlled country caused international outrage and concern, with the United States, the European Union and Pope Francis all calling for calm.

The auxiliary bishop for Managua, Silvio Baez, said on Twitter that “I don’t see any conditions for dialogue with Nicaragua’s government.”

He called for a halt to the “repression,” the freeing of youths arrested and the lifting of a broadcast ban imposed on an independent TV station.

“We demand that the Nicaraguan government cease the brutal attacks against the demonstrators and the civilian population,” the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights said in a joint statement with the International Federation for Human Rights.

Both organizations confirmed that 25 people were killed in the protests, including minors, police officers and members of the Sandinista Youth, mobilized to support the government.

On Saturday, a journalist was shot dead while reporting on the chaos in the Caribbean city of Bluefields.

Before his U-turn late Sunday, Ortega had agreed to hold talks with the private sector, only to be rebuffed by business leaders who said there could be no dialogue unless his government “immediately ceases police repression.”

Ramirez, the student, said the deaths and censorship during the protests had ended the possibility of resolving the crisis through talks.

“We can no longer accept this government, we are protesting for the Ortega-Murillo couple to leave power,” Ramirez said.

He said young people who took to the streets do not feel represented by the opposition parties that have in recent years backed Ortega, nor by the business leaders who supported him since he returned to government in 2007.

“Since the Sandinista Revolution in 1979, we’ve had the same political leaders, they don’t let anyone else come in. We want a new leadership who represents the youth,” Ramirez said. </s> The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on eight more Venezuelan officials, including the brother of late socialist leader Hugo Chávez, to punish them for their role in President Nicolás Maduro’s creation of a new legislative superbody, US officials said.

The United States targeted individual politicians and security figures but stopped short of placing broader financial or “sectoral” sanctions on its vital oil industry though such actions, the officials told Reuters, are still under consideration.

The new measures announced by the Treasury Department will freeze their US assets, ban them from travel to the United States and prohibit Americans from doing business with them. Washington slapped sanctions on Maduro himself last week following similar action against 13 Venezuelan figures on July 26.

The sanctions marked a further escalation of the US response to Maduro’s establishment last week of the new constituent assembly, an all-powerful body run by his Socialist party loyalists and which has drawn international condemnation.

“President Maduro swore in this illegitimate constituent assembly to further entrench his dictatorship, and continues to tighten his grip on the country,” US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. “This regime’s disregard for the will of the Venezuelan people is unacceptable, and the United States will stand with them in opposition to tyranny until Venezuela is restored to a peaceful and prosperous democracy.“

Most prominent among those targeted on Wednesday was Adán Chávez, 64, a physicist and late president Hugo Chavez’s elder brother. He is former culture minister, served for nearly a decade as governor of his home state of Barinas and is now secretary of the new assembly’s presidential commission.

Also facing sanctions was Bladimir Armas, a national guard colonel accused by government critics of human rights abuses.

The latest measures were intended to make good on the Trump administration’s threats to sanction anyone who helped create or joined the new assembly. The US government accused all eight of participating “in actions or policies that undermine democratic processes or institutions in Venezuela”.

Donald Trump’s administration is continuing to weigh possible sanctions against more senior figures, including Venezuelan defense minister Vladimir Padrino and Socialist party No 2 Diosdado Cabello, and they could be included in future sanctions packages if Maduro does not change course, the US officials told Reuters.

But experts say individual sanctions, while providing strong symbolism, have had little or no impact on Maduro’s policies.

The United States has held off from imposing broader sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry, mindful of the potential not only for deepening the suffering of the Venezuelan people but also the risk of causing problems for US companies and consumers.
The Donald Trump administration announces sanctions on Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo and national security advisor Néstor Moncada Lau for corruption, violence against protesters, and human rights violations.