The United States sanctioned a Nicaraguan bank and two senior officials of the Daniel Ortega regime

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The US Government sanctioned this Friday the Attorney General of Nicaragua, Ana Julia Guido , Paul Oquist, private secretary for National Policies of the Presidency of that country, as well as the National Rural Fund (Caruna) for allowing and benefiting from repressive activities of the regime headed by Daniel Ortega. In a statement, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo affirmed that the sanctions against Guido and Oquist promote the accountability of the Ortega regime and those who are trying to promote its heinous activities while the designation of the Caruna cooperative Blocks another tool of the Nicaraguan regime.

Pompeo accused Guido of having helped create a group of prosecutors who worked with the US-sanctioned Nicaraguan National Police to invent cases against political prisoners. He also assured that Guido created a specialized unit which has spent the last two years bringing charges against peaceful protesters. As for Oquist, he explained that it plays a major role in covering up and justifying the crimes of the regime and human rights abuses.

The Secretary of State pointed out that Caruna is a savings and loan cooperative that operates as the main tool of the Ortega regime to channel the income from Nicaragua's oil concession schemes with Venezuela to use it as a resource to compensate for the sponsoring network. of Ortega.

Pompeo stressed that "the US will continue to adopt the necessary measures to support the Nicaraguan people and pressure the Ortega regime to stop the repression, respect human rights and allow the conditions for free and fair elections that restore democracy in Nicaragua. With these designations, all properties or assets owned by those sanctioned in the United States or under the control of Americans are blocked and any transaction with citizens of this country is prohibited .

Since April 2018, Nicaragua has experienced a socio-political crisis that has left at least 328 dead, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), although local organizations raise the figure to 684 and the regime recognizes 200 and denounces an alleged attempted coup by State. The Organization of American States (OAS) maintains an open application process for the Inter-American Democratic Charter against Nicaragua, for breaking the constitutional order, which, if applied, would suspend the country as a member of the organization.