U.S. blacklists four Nicaraguans, including Ortega's daughter

The United States yesterday imposed sanctions on four Nicaraguans, including a daughter of President Daniel Ortega, and Washington warned it would continue to use diplomatic and economic tools against members of the leftist government that it accused of undermining democracy.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Ortega to release detained presidential candidates as well as other civil society and opposition leaders arrested over the past week in what he called a "wave of repression."

"As these sanctions demonstrate, there are costs for those who support or carry out the Ortega regime's repression," Blinken said in a statement.

"The United States will continue to use all diplomatic and economic tools at our disposal to support Nicaraguans' calls for greater freedom and accountability as well as free and fair elections."

The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday slapped sanctions on Ortega's daughter Camila Ortega Murillo, who is also a senior government official, and three others it accused of supporting the government that Washington said has undermined democracy, abused human rights and enacted repressive laws.

The Treasury said Camila Ortega managed television station Canal 13, a familyrun media outlet that it accused of spreading propaganda, while the president "uses state spending and tax laws to promote family-run stations and squeeze independent rival outlets."

Also hit with sanctions are: Leonardo Ovidio Reyes Ramirez, president of the Central Bank of Nicaragua; Edwin Ramon Castro Rivera, a deputy of the Nicaraguan National Assembly; and Julio Modesto Rodriguez Balladares, a Brigadier General of the Nicaraguan Army and executive director of the Military Social Welfare Institute.

The Nicaraguan government and army did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the sanctions.