Nicaragua maintains a third presidential hope as opposition grows | Human Rights Issues

A possible opponent of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has been arrested, sparking opposition from the US ambassador.

Nicaraguan officials have retained a third term in office after President Daniel Ortega rigged elections later this year.

Felix Maradiaga, 44, was arrested on Tuesday after appearing in public service while prosecutors were investigating his actions against the regime, terrorism and aiding and abetting. international sanctions against the government.

Maradiaga is the leader of the Blue and White Alliance, a group that emerged after protests against the Ortega regime in 2018. He testified against government repression at the United Nations Security Council that same year.

Last week, two other opposition politicians planning to fight Ortega were arrested.

Christian Chamorro arrested at home on state charges of money laundering, when Arturo Cruz he was kept in custody before trial so that prosecutors would investigate cases involving “offenses … and conspiracy to cause harm to the country”.

Police in Maradiaga say that “they are being investigated for acts that violate the right to self-determination, self-determination and self-determination, to invoke internal interference in internal affairs, and to demand the intervention of the military.”

He also accused her of using “foreign currency for terrorism and vandalism”, police added.

This could have made Maradiaga’s case even more serious in the case against Ortega’s opponents.

The lawsuit relates to a law passed by parliament, led by Ortega’s allies, in December that lawmakers said they wanted to protect Nicaragua’s “sovereignty” against foreign powers.

But critics say his goal is this to ban political politicians from standing for election.

With the help of the left Ortega, it condemns “those who inquire, celebrate and appreciate the establishment of the Nicaraguan government”.

Ortega, a former veteran who ruled from 1979 to 1990, returned in 2007 and won two consecutive elections.

But he is being accused by opponents, NGOs and the United States of being a dictator and a violent dictator.

The European Union and the US have imposed sanctions on Ortega and his government.

“The election of President Felix Maradiaga … completely removes any doubts about Ortega’s dictatorship,” he said. He said Julia Chung, US ambassador to Latin America.

“The outside world has no choice but to do this for him.”