Nicaragua: government accuses arrested opponents of being in Washington's pay

The Nicaraguan government on Monday, June 14, accused the four opponents and potential presidential candidates, arrested by the authorities, of being

financed by the United States to overthrow President Daniel Ortega. These opponents, arrested five months before the presidential election, do not

, said the government in a text entitled

.

added the government, which estimates that

of Washington to "overthrow the elected government" of President Ortega.

Read also: New arrests of opponents in Nicaragua

Thirteen opponents of the government have been arrested since early June.

In addition to the four presidential contenders, dissidents from the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), as well as members of civil society and entrepreneurs, are also being detained.

Journalist Cristiana Chamorro, daughter of ex-president Violeta Chamorro (1990-1996), was the first opponent arrested.

Placed since under house arrest, she is the main competitor to Daniel Ortega.

Former diplomat Arturo Cruz, political scientist Félix Maradiaga and economist Juan Sebastian Chamorro, cousin of Cristiana, were also arrested.

Washington and the United Nations have called for their immediate release. The United States also imposed sanctions on four relatives of the head of state. The Democratic chairman of the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Bob Menendez, and Republican Marco Rubio, have urged US President Joe Biden to use

.

In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, they demand an increase in economic sanctions against those close to Ortega and an intensification of collaboration with the Organization of American States (OAS) with a view to a multilateral rejection of

Nicaraguan government

.

Read also: Nicaragua: Washington sanctions four officials close to Ortega

Daniel Ortega, a former guerrilla who ruled from 1979 to 1990, before being defeated at the polls by Violeta Chamorro, returned to power in 2007 with the FSLN.

He was re-elected twice in 2011 and 2016 following a constitutional reform allowing him to seek new mandates.

The 75-year-old could run for a fourth term in the November ballot.

He is accused by the opposition and the international community of governing in an authoritarian manner, after the brutal repression of demonstrations against his government in 2018, which left 328 dead and thousands in exiles, according to NGOs.