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Nicaraguan police have arrested a top banking executive as the crackdown on opposition figures and potential candidates for longtime leader Daniel Ortega hardened ahead of the presidential elections in November.
Luis Rivas Anduray, executive chairman of the private bank Banco de la Produccion (Banpro) – one of the largest in Nicaragua – was arrested on Tuesday for “inciting foreign interference”, according to a police statement.
His arrest is the latest in a law initiated by the Ortega government and approved by parliament in December to defend Nicaragua’s “sovereignty”. It is criticized by opponents and advocacy groups as a way to freeze political challengers.
Rivas, also chief operating officer of Grupo Promerica – a conglomerate of financial institutions in Central America – is the 14th person to be arrested in a raid that began earlier this month.
Among the detainees, four had said they would run in the November elections, in which Ortega is also expected to run.
According to the police statement, Rivas is under investigation for “proposing and managing a blockade of economic, commercial and financial operations” and for supporting sanctions against Nicaragua.
Banpro said in a statement that it was operating within Nicaraguan laws and was “confident” that “Rivas’ situation will be clarified.
His arrest is the second of a businessman under the new law. Jose Adan Aguerri, head of the business federation CCIE, was arrested last week on similar charges.
Nicaragua has been the target of international criticism for the campaign, which began on June 2 when Cristiana Chamorro, the daughter of former President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, was placed under house arrest.
The older Chamorro had defeated Ortega in the 1990 presidential elections.
The Organization of American States adopted a resolution on Tuesday calling on Nicaragua to “immediately release” those arrested “in connection with the current wave of repression.”
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the resolution which he said concluded that the conditions for free and fair elections “do not exist”.
“It is time for the Ortega-Murillo regime to change course (…) and allow the Nicaraguan people to fully exercise their rights, including their right to choose their leaders in free and fair elections,” said he said in a press release.
Rosario Murillo is the wife of Ortega and vice president of Nicaragua.
The Managua government on Tuesday defended the arrests of opposition figures it called US-funded “usurpers” to overthrow Ortega.
Ortega ruled Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, then returned to power in 2007. He has since won two successive re-elections.
Now 75 years old, he is accused by the opposition and NGOs of growing authoritarianism.
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