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Government of President Daniel Ortega arrests four more opposition leaders during the biggest one-day round up so far, in what appears to be widespread detentions of anyone who might challenge his rule.
Violence at protests in Nicaragua leaves 2 more dead
Eight killed in Nicaragua protests
Ortega's Nicaraguan govt behind widespread repression, UN says
Nicaragua to expel UN team after critical report
Nicaragua's Ortega agrees to halt violence
Government of President Daniel Ortega arrests four more opposition leaders during the biggest one-day round up so far, in what appears to be widespread detentions of anyone who might challenge his rule.
Nicaragua has detained about 12 opposition figures, including four would-be presidential candidates, eliciting fresh US sanctions against Daniel Ortega allies. (Reuters)
Nicaraguan police have detained four more opposition figures in a roundup ahead of November presidential elections in which four would-be challengers of long-serving leader Daniel Ortega have already been held.
Those arrested on Sunday were top figures of the Unamos opposition party –– its president Suyen Barahona Cuan, vice-president Hugo Torres, ex-guerilla Dora Maria Tellez and Ana Margarita Vigil Guardian, a police statement said on Sunday.
It said the four were being investigated for "acts that undermine independence, sovereignty and self-determination, (and) inciting foreign interference in internal affairs," among other crimes.
Unamos, formerly known as the Sandinista Renewal Movement (MRS), is made up largely of dissidents who split from Ortega's Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) because they disagreed with his leadership.
"It's not just potential candidates any more, it's political leaders," Torres said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press before he himself was arrested. "This is not a transition to dictatorship, it is a dictatorship in every way."
Freezing out challengers
The charges stem from a law initiated by Ortega's government and approved by parliament in December to defend Nicaragua's "sovereignty," which has been criticised by opponents and rights bodies as a means of freezing out challengers.
Among the latest detainees, Tellez, 65, has in recent years been a vocal critic of Ortega, a former comrade-in-arms.
They fought together as guerillas against the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza in the 1970s, and she later served as his health minister in the 1980s, before leaving in 1995 to co-found the MRS.
She was fiercely critical of the Ortega's government clampdown on demonstrations that started in 2018 to demand his resignation, which according to rights groups claimed at least 328 lives.
Ortega governed Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, returned to power in 2007 and has won two successive reelections since then.
Now 75, he is accused by the opposition and NGOs of increasing authoritarianism.
Ortega is widely expected to seek a fourth term in November elections, though he has not said so.
Four would-be presidential candidates detained
Since the beginning of the month, his forces have arrested about a dozen opposition figures, including four would-be presidential candidates, eliciting international condemnation and fresh US sanctions against Ortega allies.
Last month, Nicaragua's legislature appointed a majority of governing party-aligned magistrates to the election body that will oversee the vote.
It has since disqualified two parties from participating.
Nicaraguan police have detained four more opposition figures in a roundup ahead of November presidential elections in which four would-be challengers of long-serving leader Daniel Ortega have already been held.
Those arrested on Sunday were top figures of the Unamos opposition party –– its president Suyen Barahona Cuan, vice-president Hugo Torres, ex-guerilla Dora Maria Tellez and Ana Margarita Vigil Guardian, a police statement said on Sunday.
It said the four were being investigated for "acts that undermine independence, sovereignty and self-determination, (and) inciting foreign interference in internal affairs," among other crimes.
Unamos, formerly known as the Sandinista Renewal Movement (MRS), is made up largely of dissidents who split from Ortega's Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) because they disagreed with his leadership.
"It's not just potential candidates any more, it's political leaders," Torres said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press before he himself was arrested. "This is not a transition to dictatorship, it is a dictatorship in every way."
Freezing out challengers
The charges stem from a law initiated by Ortega's government and approved by parliament in December to defend Nicaragua's "sovereignty," which has been criticised by opponents and rights bodies as a means of freezing out challengers.
Among the latest detainees, Tellez, 65, has in recent years been a vocal critic of Ortega, a former comrade-in-arms.
They fought together as guerillas against the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza in the 1970s, and she later served as his health minister in the 1980s, before leaving in 1995 to co-found the MRS.
She was fiercely critical of the Ortega's government clampdown on demonstrations that started in 2018 to demand his resignation, which according to rights groups claimed at least 328 lives.
Ortega governed Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, returned to power in 2007 and has won two successive reelections since then.
Now 75, he is accused by the opposition and NGOs of increasing authoritarianism.
Ortega is widely expected to seek a fourth term in November elections, though he has not said so.
Four would-be presidential candidates detained
Since the beginning of the month, his forces have arrested about a dozen opposition figures, including four would-be presidential candidates, eliciting international condemnation and fresh US sanctions against Ortega allies.
Last month, Nicaragua's legislature appointed a majority of governing party-aligned magistrates to the election body that will oversee the vote.
It has since disqualified two parties from participating.
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