WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government on Wednesday barred nine Nicaraguan lawmakers, officials and judges from entry into the United States, accusing them of undermining democracy in the Central American country, the State Department said.
The nine Nicaraguans were added to the Corrupt and Undemocratic Actors list, which generally makes those named ineligible for visas and admission to the United States, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
Among those named were Nicaraguan Supreme Electoral Council President Isabel Rocha Chacon, Nicaraguan National Assembly member Edwin Ramon Castro Rivera and judge Karen Vanessa Chavarria Morales, Price said.
The Nicaraguan government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla, won a fourth consecutive term in November after jailing political rivals and cracking down on critical media.
At least 47 opponents of Ortega’s government were jailed before the election, accused of treason, money laundering and other crimes.
“The U.S. government is deeply concerned by the injustice and lack of transparency on display at the trials of political prisoners in Nicaragua,” Price said.
The Biden administration banned all of Nicaragua’s elected officials, including Ortega and his wife, from entering the United States shortly after the November elections.
(Reporting by Eric Beech; Additional reporting by Ismael Lopez in Managua; editing by Kanishka Singh and Sandra Maler)
