WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Friday sought to further pressure Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega with another round of sanctions, this time targeting the country’s army chief and finance minister.
In a statement, the U.S. Treasury Department said it had imposed sanctions on Julio Cesar Aviles, Nicaragua’s army commander-in-chief, and Ivan Adolfo Acosta, its finance and public credit minister. The sanctions first appeared on the department’s website.
“The Ortega regime’s continued violations of basic human rights, blatant corruption, and widespread violence against the Nicaraguan people are unacceptable,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement, adding that the United States would continue to “target those who prop up the Ortega regime and perpetuate the oppression of the Nicaraguan people.”
U.S. officials have previously targeted Ortega’s leftist government as the Trump administration seeks to increase pressure amid anti-government protests against what critics have said it Ortega’s increasingly authoritarian-style rule.
In March, Washington sanctioned the Nicaraguan National Police over accusations of human rights abuse. Last year, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Ortega’s son as well as three other Nicaraguan officials, among others.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrea Ricci)
