Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo have ruled Nicaragua for more than a decade

The US has imposed sanctions on Nicaragua's Vice-President Rosario Murillo, the wife of President Daniel Ortega, accusing her of corruption and serious human rights abuses.

She is believed to have held influence over a youth organisation that the US says engaged in extra-judicial killings, torture and kidnapping.

Sanctions were also imposed on the presidential couple's security adviser.

Ms Murillo has ruled Nicaragua jointly with Mr Ortega for more than a decade.

She is accused of controlling the police and the youth wing of the governing Sandinista Liberation Front.

On Tuesday, the US Treasury said it was using a new executive order issued by US President Donald Trump to punish Ms Murillo, accusing her of undermining Nicaragua's democracy.

Meanwhile her aide - and the president's security adviser - Néstor Moncada Lau was accused of carrying out orders by paying armed groups to attack protestors during months of anti-government disturbances earlier this year.

The sanctions will ban US individuals, banks and other entities from carrying out transactions with the pair, who will also have any assets that fall under US jurisdiction frozen.

Nicaragua has been through huge upheaval this year. In April, anti-government protesters demanded that the socialist president, Mr Ortega, step down over unpopular pension reforms.

However, he refused to negotiate and instead sent in the security forces.

Hundreds were then killed in the space of weeks.

Earlier this month, opposition activist Félix Maradiaga told the BBC that human rights in Nicaragua were at the "most severe crisis in generations".

Mr Maradiaga was forced to flee his country in July after receiving death threats.</s>The U.S. imposed sanctions Tuesday on Nicaragua’s vice president and its national security adviser for corruption and for their violent repression of pro-democracy protesters, as President Trump ramps up economic and diplomatic pressure on the so-called “troika of tyranny” in Latin America.

Mr. Trump signed an executive order targeting the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega regime and its supporters, who “continue to engage in rampant corruption, dismantling of democratic institutions, serious human rights abuse, and exploitation of the people and public resources of Nicaragua for private gain,” the Treasury Department said.

Under the order, Treasury imposed sanctions on Vice President Rosario Maria Murillo De Ortega, and Nicaraguan national security adviser Nestor Moncada Lau.

Since April, anti-government protests in Nicaragua have resulted in more than 350 deaths, according to human-rights monitors.

“Vice President Murillo and her political operators have systematically sought to dismantle democratic institutions and loot the wealth of Nicaragua to consolidate their grip on power,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “This administration is committed to holding the Ortega regime accountable for the violent protests and widespread corruption that have led to the deaths of hundreds of innocent Nicaraguans and destroyed their economy.”

The Treasury actions freeze any property or assets under U.S. jurisdiction of the two Nicaraguan officials.

A senior administration official said the action is a signal to Mr. Ortega “to find an exit strategy” and pave the way for free and fair elections. Until then, the official said, the administration’s goal is to continue “a campaign of maximum pressure.”

Mr. Ortega, 72, is a former left-wing guerrilla who has ruled Nicaragua for 22 of the past 39 years since his Sandinista rebels toppled a U.S.-backed strongman. The unrest is the worst since he returned to power in 2007, and he has said he intends to serve in his current term as president until 2021.

Earlier this month, U.S. national security adviser John R. Bolton said in a speech that Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba comprise a “troika of tyranny.” He promised a comprehensive, new administration approach to confront leftist, anti-democratic regimes in the Western Hemisphere.

“This Troika of Tyranny, this triangle of terror stretching from Havana to Caracas to Managua, is the cause of immense human suffering, the impetus of enormous regional instability, and the genesis of a sordid cradle of communism in the Western Hemisphere,” Mr. Bolton said. “The United States looks forward to watching each corner of the triangle fall. . . . The Troika will crumble.”

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Copyright © 2019 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.</s>The US government announced Tuesday that it was placing sanctions on Rosario Murillo, the vice president of Nicaragua and also the wife of President Daniel Ortega, and a national security advisor in response to an ongoing crackdown by the Ortega government against its political opponents.

The sanctions were part of an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump that enables US Treasury officials to freeze property within US jurisdiction owned by Murillo and advisor Nestor Moncada Lau. It also bars banks and businesses from carrying out transactions with the individuals.

"Vice President Murillo and her political operators have systematically sought to dismantle democratic institutions and loot the wealth of Nicaragua to consolidate their grip on power," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a press statement.

"This Administration is committed to holding the Ortega regime accountable for the violent protests and widespread corruption that have led to the deaths of hundreds of innocent Nicaraguans and destroyed their economy."

After an exclusive interview with President Ortega in September, DW reporter Carolina Chimoy said that, "Rosario Murillo ... is actually the one who is running the government day by day. It is not the president. It is her."

Since April standoffs between anti-Ortega protestors and police and armed groups have led to the deaths of more than 300 individuals, with more than 2,000 injured. Protestors have accused Ortega of organizing the violence, which has drawn international condemnation.

The protests began in response to proposed welfare changes but escalated into calls for democratic reforms in Nicaragua, including the resignation of Ortega and new elections.

Ortega, a former leftist Sandinista rebel, has been president since 2007. He previously ruled the Central American country from 1979 to 1990.

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.</s>"OFAC imposed sanctions on two of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s closest associates: the Vice President of Nicaragua and First Lady, Rosario Maria Murillo De Ortega (Murillo), and Nestor Moncada Lau (Moncada), who has acted as a national security advisor to the President and Vice President," the release said.

The Treasury added that the action was taken against Ortega’s supporters because of their engagement in "rampant corruption, dismantling of democratic institutions, serious human rights abuse, and exploitation of the people and public resources of Nicaragua for private gain."

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the release that the Trump administration is committed to holding Ortega and his government accountable for the violent protests and corruption that has led to the deaths of hundreds of people, and destroyed the country's economy.

READ MORE: US Envoy to UN Says Nicaragua Following Syria's, Venezuela's Footsteps

Turmoil erupted in Nicaragua on April 18 when people took to the streets to protest unpopular social security reforms announced by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. After several days of protests, Ortega cancelled the reforms, but the protests have nevertheless continued.

Earlier this month the Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry said 198 people were killed, including police officers, and more than 1,200 others were injured due to the protests.</s>The Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions on Nicaragua’s vice president and its national security adviser, in the latest move to put pressure on the regime of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.

The sanctions against Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo, who is also the country’s first lady, and adviser Nestor Moncada Lau followed President Trump’s signing of an executive order allowing the Treasury Department to block the property and interests of Nicaraguan officials.

The text of the order, which was issued Tuesday, states that the action was taken in response to the Nicaraguan government’s corruption, its “violent response” to protests and its “systematic dismantling and undermining of democratic institutions and the rule of law.”

“Vice President Murillo and her political operators have systematically sought to dismantle democratic institutions and loot the wealth of Nicaragua to consolidate their grip on power,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. “Treasury is intent on ensuring that Ortega regime insiders are not able to access the U.S. financial system to profit at the expense of the Nicaraguan people.”

Ortega, 73, came to power in 1979 as part of a government built by the Sandinista National Liberation Front guerrillas who overthrew President Anastasio Somoza, a longtime U.S. ally.

First elected to a six-year term as president in 1984 as head of the Sandinista party, he lost the next three electoral rounds, only to win the next three, most recently in 2016, when his wife, Murillo, ran as his vice president. The Nicaraguan people, he said, would have a “50-50” presidency between the two of them. Murillo, 67, is outspoken and well-organized compared with Ortega’s somewhat bland public persona and had already long been a visible wielder of power.

Despite increasingly autocratic tendencies, allegations of electoral fraud and conspicuous unearned wealth, Ortega managed to co-opt much of the business community and, unlike much of the rest of Central America, maintain relative peace and a sustained growth rate of at least 4 percent with the help of international bank loans and deeply discounted fuel supplies from Venezuela.

But a sharp decrease in those supplies, as Venezuela’s economy and oil exports have nose-dived, led the Ortega-Murillo government to look for places to cut the budget. When they announced in April that the were decreasing public pensions, Nicaragua erupted in violence.

Protest demonstrations joined senior citizens with students angry over the paucity of jobs — many of which were reserved for Sandinista supporters. The government responded with repressive force that sparked new demonstrations by students and political opponents, sparking even more force by the government and its paramilitary militias that has left hundreds of protesters and uninvolved civilians dead.

The Trump administration, which had displayed little interest in Nicaragua to that point, responded by supporting mediation efforts by the Organization of American States and the Catholic Church that eventually collapsed. As administration criticism and sanctions against Venezuela increased along with government repression and violence against civilians in that country, the White House turned its attention toward Nicaragua.

In a speech in Miami earlier this month, national security adviser John Bolton vowed to confront Nicaragua, which he said was part of the “troika of tyranny” along with Cuba and Venezuela.

“This triangle of terror stretching from Havana to Caracas to Managua, is the cause of immense human suffering, the impetus of enormous regional instability, and the genesis of a sordid cradle of communism in the Western Hemisphere,” Bolton said. “Under President Trump, the United States is taking action against all three regimes to defend the rule of law, liberty and basic human decency in our region.”

The administration had already minimized ties with Cuba, reversing the opening pursued by President Barack Obama, and has imposed escalating sanctions on the Venezuelan government of President Nicolás Maduro. In the speech, Bolton criticized Ortega for his “regime’s violence and repression against its citizens and opposition members.” The Nicaraguan government, he said, “like Venezuela and Cuba, will feel the full weight of America’s robust sanctions regime.”

In a conference call with reporters, Trump administration officials cast the sanctions on Murillo and Lau as the first step in fulfilling that pledge. Sigal Mandelker, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the Treasury Department, said there was “no question in our mind” that the move would have a significant impact on the Nicaraguan government.
The Donald Trump administration announces sanctions on Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo and national security advisor Néstor Moncada Lau for corruption, violence against protesters, and human rights violations.