The Nicaraguan ex-diplomat becomes 32nd critic arrested by Ortega:

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A former Nicaraguan diplomat was arrested on Monday, police said, with President Daniel Ortega’s latest critic detained ahead of the country’s presidential election later this year.

Mauricio Diaz, a former ambassador to Costa Rica and to the Organization of American States (OAS), was a member of the Citizens Alliance for Liberty (CXL) bloc, which lost its legal status on Friday and was excluded from the November 7 elections.

Diaz is under investigation for “acts which threaten the sovereignty and self-determination of the country and for inciting foreign involvement in internal affairs,” police said in a statement.

The wave of arrests, of which Diaz is the 32nd, includes seven potential presidential candidates.

They came amid accusations that Ortega is eliminating its competition just months before the vote.

In power since 2007, Ortega is running for a fourth consecutive term with his wife, Vice-President Rosario Murillo, again as running mate.

Ortega, a former leftist guerrilla, ruled Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990 when the United States supported armed opposition to his Sandinista movement.

He was re-elected president in 2007 and passed a constitutional amendment in 2014 that removed presidential term limits, paving the way for him to remain president for life.

Detained opposition figures are accused of treason and threat to the country’s sovereignty under a law approved in December and denounced as a means of blocking Ortega’s opponents.

The crackdown began on June 2 with the arrest of Cristiana Chamorro, daughter of former president Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (1990-1997) and probable presidential candidate. Chamorro is under house arrest.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday that the November elections in Nicaragua had “lost all credibility,” and accused Ortega of an autocratic campaign to crush opponents.

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