Central America

Arrested opponents are ‘criminals,’ says Nicaragua’s Ortega

AFP

Nicaragua’s leader Daniel Ortega said Wednesday that 19 opposition figures arrested just five months before a presidential election are not politicians but “criminals” who want to “overthrow the government.”

In raids that began on June 2, security and paramilitary forces have arrested five opposition presidential challengers as well as journalists, businessmen and a banker.

Cristiana Chamorro — daughter of former president Violeta Barrios de Chamorro and a favorite to face Ortega in November’s poll — was among those held.

“We are not dealing with pre-candidates, but criminals who have attacked the country,” Ortega said in an official televised ceremony, while accusing the imprisoned of being “agents of the Yankee empire” who “conspire against Nicaragua to overthrow the government.”

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

“That is what we are pursuing, that is what is being investigated and that is what will be punished in due course.”

Those held face charges of “inciting foreign interference” under a new law initiated by Ortega’s government and approved by the legislature in December purported to defend Nicaragua’s sovereignty. The law has been widely criticized as a means of freezing out challengers and silencing opponents.

The recent arrests have increased international condemnation.

At a session of the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday, 59 nations issued a statement saying they were “deeply concerned that recently enacted laws unduly restrict political participation, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association” in Nicaragua.

The Organization of American States’ (OAS) human rights council on Wednesday denounced a “new phase of repression” in the country, and urged the body’s judicial arm to protect four of the detained opposition politicians.

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

During the OAS session, the United States’ representative Bradley Freden, quoting Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said it was time for Ortega’s government “to change course” and “allow the Nicaraguan people to fully exercise their rights — including their right to choose their leaders in free and fair elections.”

Ortega has been accused of authoritarianism by the opposition and international community, following the brutal repression of demonstrations against his administration in April 2018, which left more than 300 dead and thousands of exiles, according to human rights organizations.

A firebrand Marxist in his younger days, Ortega and his Sandinistas toppled a corrupt autocratic regime to popular applause and seized control of the country in 1979.

He ruled until 1990, returned to power in 2007 and has won two successive reelections. His vice president is his wife, Rosario Murillo.

The 75-year-old is widely expected to run again in the November election, though he has not said so.

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

Central America

Guatemala Court Voids List of Candidates for Top Prosecutor Position

President of Guatemala cannot remove attorney general from office

Constitutional Court of Guatemala on Thursday annulled the shortlist of six candidates for attorney general and head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, ordering authorities to repeat the evaluation phase of the selection process.

The ruling came in response to a legal appeal filed by Raúl Amílcar Falla Ovalle, who challenged the way professional experience had been assessed for some applicants, particularly those with careers in the judiciary.

As a result of the decision, the selection process has been suspended, and the Postulation Commission must return to the stage in which the original 48 applicants were evaluated.

According to the ruling, the commission must reapply the grading criteria without automatically counting years served as judges as equivalent to the professional experience required for the position.

“The Postulation Commission for the election of the Attorney General and Head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office is ordered to reassess the applicants by strictly applying the approved grading table,” the resolution states.

20260330_renta_mh_728x90

The Constitutional Court also stressed that the process must guarantee merit, competence, and suitability, while ensuring greater transparency in the assignment of scores.

Central America

U.S. extradites Iranian man over alleged sanctions evasion scheme

The United States has extradited from Panama an Iranian national accused of evading economic sanctions against Iran by illegally exporting U.S. technology. He is scheduled to appear this Monday before a court in Seattle.

Reza Dindar, 44, was extradited on April 17 after being detained in Panama since July 2025 on charges related to export control violations between 2011 and 2012, allegedly carried out through companies based in China.

The defendant appeared before a U.S. district court in Seattle, where he faces charges of violating sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran in 1995 during the administration of Bill Clinton. These sanctions prohibit the unauthorized export, re-export, or supply—directly or indirectly—of U.S. goods, technology, or services to Iran or its government.

According to the indictment, between 2010 and 2014, Dindar led the company New Port Sourcing Solutions in Xi’an, China, which allegedly concealed the procurement of U.S. products for shipment to clients in Iran.

Central America

Bukele administration surpasses 1,100 homicide-free days amid ongoing crackdown

El Salvador's PNC adds 85 days without murders and April is on track to be the safest in Salvadoran history

On Saturday, April 18, the Policía Nacional Civil (PNC) reported that no homicides were recorded in El Salvador, bringing the total to 17 days without murders.

With this update, the country has accumulated 91 homicide-free days so far in 2026. January closed with 27 such days, followed by 24 in February and 23 in March, according to police data.

During the administration of President Nayib Bukele, a total of 1,193 days without homicides have been registered. Of those, 1,079 have occurred since the implementation of the state of exception.

This extraordinary security measure has been extended 49 times by the Asamblea Legislativa de El Salvador, with the latest extension in effect from April 1 to April 30, 2026. Under the measure, more than 91,700 gang members and collaborators have been detained and prosecuted for illicit association.