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Another potential challenger to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega is arrested, drawing criticism from an American diplomat.
Nicaraguan authorities have detained a potential third presidential candidate amid growing crackdown on President Daniel Ortega ahead of this year’s elections.
Félix Maradiaga, 44, was detained Tuesday after appearing before the public prosecutor where prosecutors were investigating him for alleged acts against sovereignty, terrorism and support for international sanctions against the government.
Maradiaga is the leader of the Blue and White Alliance, a group born out of widespread protests against the Ortegas regime in 2018. He testified about government repression at the United Nations Security Council the same year.
Last week, two other opposition politicians who were considering running against Ortega were arrested.
Cristiana Chamorro has been placed under house arrest over government allegations of money laundering, while Arturo Cruz has been remanded in custody so that prosecutors can investigate the allegations of provocation and conspiracy to undermine the law. national integrity.
A man walks past a mural depicting Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, increasingly referred to as a dictator, in Managua, Nicaragua, March 30 [File: Stringer/Reuters]Police said Maradiaga was under investigation for committing acts that undermine independence, sovereignty and self-determination, inciting foreign interference in internal affairs and calling for military intervention.
He is also accused of using funding from foreign powers to commit acts of terrorism and destabilization, police added.
These would probably make the charges against Maradiaga the most serious of those against the challengers of Ortegas.
The charges relate to a law approved by the legislature, dominated by allies of Ortegas, in December that lawmakers said was aimed at defending Nicaraguan sovereignty against hostile foreign influence.
But critics said it was aimed at preventing opposition politicians from running for office.
Sponsored by leftist Ortega, it bans those who demand, celebrate and applaud the imposition of sanctions against the Nicaraguan state.
Ortega, a former rebel fighter who ruled from 1979 to 1990, returned to power in 2007 and won two successive re-elections.
But he has been accused by the opposition, NGOs and the United States of authoritarian rule and brutal repression of protests.
The European Union and the United States have applied sanctions against Ortega and his government.
The arbitrary arrest of presidential candidate Felix Maradiagas should resolve any remaining doubts about Ortegas’ credentials as a dictator, said Julia Chung, America’s top diplomat for Latin America.
The international community has no choice but to treat it as such.
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