Nicaraguan President Accuses Detained Opponents Of Jeopardizing National Security

MANAGUA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th June, 2021) Approximately 20 people detained this month are being investigated for threatening Nicaragua's security, not for being politicians or presidential candidates, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said in a speech, televised live.

In recent weeks, the government of Ortega had detained several political opponents in the run-up to the November election, including presidential hopefuls Arturo Jose Cruz Sequeira and Cristiana Chamorro, both of whom sought to unseat Ortega as he attempts to run for a fourth term. The police placed Chamorro under house arrest on suspicion of money laundering.

"Here we are not judging politicians, we are not judging candidates, we are judging criminals who have attempted against the country, against its security and the lives of citizens, by trying to organize another April 18 [when nationwide demonstrations began in 2018], another coup to provoke what they call a regime change," the president said on Wednesday in a speech on the birth anniversary of the revolutionary leader, Carlos Fonseca Amador.

He added that these people will be punished in accordance with the Nicaraguan laws at the end of the ongoing judicial proceedings.

"It is absurd to set them free. Everything we're doing, we're doing it by the book," Ortega said, referring to the pressure of the international community demanding the release of the detainees.

In addition, the president insisted that the recent sanctions imposed by the US will not bend the resolve of his government.

"Some countries are daring to attack Nicaragua... and ask for more sanctions. There they are on their knees asking for sanctions against the Yankee empire. They think that they will subdue Nicaragua with sanctions. Nicaragua has gone through more difficult times," Ortega claims.

Earlier in June, the US Treasury Department announced that the US imposed sanctions on four Nicaraguan nationals, including the president's daughter. Camila Antonia Ortega Murillo, born in 1987, was added to the Specially Designated Nationals list run by the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. The other three sanctioned individuals include Edwin Ramon Castro Rivera, Leonardo Ovidio Reyes Ramirez, Julio Modesto Rodriguez Balladares.