Another possible challenge has been arrested by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, which has provoked criticism from the American diplomat.
Nicaraguan authorities have arrested a third candidate for the potential presidency amid growing repression by President Daniel Ortega in the run-up to this year’s elections.
Felix Maradiaga, 44, was arrested on Tuesday after appearing at the prosecutor’s office where prosecutors are investigating him for alleged acts against sovereignty, terrorism and support. international sanctions against the government.
Maradiaga is the leader of the Blue and White Alliance, a group that emerged after widespread protests against the Ortega government in 2018. He declared government repression in the UN Security Council that same year.
Two other opposition politicians who planned to run against Ortega were arrested last week.
Christian Chamorro was placed under house arrest for government allegations of money laundering while Arturo Creu he remained in pretrial detention so prosecutors could investigate allegations of “provocation … and conspiracy to harm national integrity.”
Police said Maradiaga “is being investigated for carrying out acts that undermined 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 carry out acts of terrorism and destabilization,” police added.
This is likely to make the charges against Maradiaga the most serious of those filed against Ortega’s challengers.
The charges are related to a law passed by the legislature, dominated by Ortega’s allies, in December, according to lawmakers who sought to defend Nicaragua’s “sovereignty” against hostile foreign influence.
But critics said it was aimed at him preventing opposition politicians of running in elections.
Sponsored by the left Ortega, it prohibits “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 the opposition, NGOs and the United States have accused him of authoritarian government and the brutal suppression of protests.
Both the European Union and the United States have imposed sanctions on Ortega and his government.
“The arbitrary arrest of presidential candidate Félix Maradiaga … should resolve any doubts that remain about Ortega’s credentials as dictator,” he said. dit Julia Chung, the top American diplomat for Latin America.
“The international community has no choice but to treat him as such.”
