The United States has placed travel bans on more than 100 Nicaraguan officials and their family members as part of a broader campaign to punish the current government for alleged human rights abuses.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement Monday that the new sanctions were, in part, imposed because of the death of a political prisoner, Brooklyn Rivera, and the policies of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his wife and co-president Rosario Murillo.
“The United States stands with the Nicaraguan people who, like Rivera, aspire to see a free Nicaragua,” he said.
The U.S. has now barred more than 2,350 Nicaraguan officials and family members from entering the United States. The identities of the most recent targets were not released.
