In a letter to Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin this week, House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chairman Albio Sires (D- New Jersey) urged the Trump administration to hold Nicaraguan officials accountable for acts of corruption and serious violations of human rights.

“The repression carried out against peaceful protestors in 2018 by security forces and affiliated groups under the direction of President Daniel Ortega resulted in over 300 deaths and 800 arbitrary detentions,” Chairman Sires said. Sires added that “[w]hile I appreciate the actions that your department has already taken, including designations of three officials that were announced today, I urge you to fully utilize the tools available under U.S. law,” and impose additional sanctions on other Nicaraguan officials.

For several years the Global Liberty Alliance has been tracking gross violations of fundamental rights in Nicaragua. The GLA has also met or talked with civil society leaders from Nicaragua, including family members and representatives of American citizens who have been targeted by the Ortega-Murillo regime. The GLA has also been urging U.S. policymakers to impose tougher sanctions, visa restrictions, and otherwise hold violators of fundamental rights to account for what they have done, and continue to do, to undermine regional security and U.S. national interests.

Since 2008 several Americans have been killed and/or tortured by agents of the Cuba-backed Ortega-Murillo regime.

Embedded in this post is a copy of Chairman Sires’s letter to Secretary Mnunuchin. Nic Letter 11-7-19 on Scribd: