Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega on Thursday said the new U.S. sanctions imposed on his government could only drive more migrants to the U.S. border.

Ortega's comments came after U.S. President Joe Biden announced new sanctions on Nicaragua on Monday. According to Associated Press, Ortega said the U.S. imposed more sanctions around the globe than any other country, "causing the greatest harm" and then complained "about migrants."

"They keep imposing sanctions and more immigrants will go to the United States... As much as they want to close the doors, there's no door they can close to the immigrants," the Nicaraguan president noted.

The AP reported that U.S. border authorities encountered Nicaraguans almost 164,000 times at the southwest border for the fiscal year that ended in September. It was reportedly more than triple the level for the previous year. 

Past U.S. sanctions against Nicaragua were aimed at members of Ortega's family and inner circle, while the most recent one involved sanctions on Nicaragua's gold industry.

Biden signed an executive order that makes it illegal for Americans to do business with Nicaragua's gold sector. At the same time, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed a sanction on Nicaragua's General Directorate of Mines.

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U.S. Sanctions on Nicaragua's Gold Industry

The executive order authorizes the U.S. Treasury Department to target certain people that operate or have operated in Nicaragua's gold industry.

Al Jazeera reported that the order also allows Washington to bar new U.S. investments in Nicaraguan economic sectors, imports of specific products from Nicaragua, and exports by U.S. citizens of certain items to the Central American country.

In a statement, U.S. Treasury official Brian E. Nelson said the Ortega-Murill administration's attack on democratic actors and members of civil society in Nicaragua and unjust detention of political prisoners showed that the current leadership feels that "it is not bound by the rule of law."

Daniel Ortega has been detaining political prisoners indefinitely. Nelson noted that the U.S. government will use "every tool" to deny Ortega-Murillo's regime the needed resources.

The Biden administration has also imposed U.S. visa restrictions on Nicaragua's officials and their relatives over the country's poor human rights record.

Human rights groups have condemned Ortega's administration for the wave of arrests it has conducted, with dozens of people detained and sentenced to often long prison terms.

Other opposition figures have already fled the country to seek refuge in Costa Rica. But with Costa Rica's overwhelmed asylum system and struggling economy, many have migrated to the U.S instead.  

Human Rights Report in Nicaragua

Authorities in Nicaragua arbitrarily detained seven presidential candidates and 32 prominent government critics between late May and October 2021. According to Human Rights Watch, most of those detained have been facing "treason" charges.

Many criticized the Nicaraguan leadership as most of the critics were subjected to abuses such as prolonged solitary confinement, interrogations on a daily basis, and insufficient food.

Authorities have also not allowed the oppositional figures' lawyers to attend public hearings. Critics were instead assigned to public defenders. Despite repeated requests, most lawyers also had no access to court documents for months.

Aside from the Ortega government's intensified repression, it was also reported of have not taken any emergency measures in response to the pandemic.

Nicaragua had also kept schools open and fired doctors critical of the government, particularly those who disagreed with the administration's response to COVID-19.

Nicaraguan rights groups also reported that more than 100 perceived critics detained earlier remained under custody. Many had been reportedly held for more than a year under abusive conditions.

READ MORE: Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega's Critic Edgard Paralles Picked Up by Two People Not in Police Uniform and Was Detained

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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