International
Nicaragua detains business union leaders as crackdown widens
AFP
Nicaragua on Thursday arrested the top two leaders of the country’s business owners’ union, police said, bringing the number of government opponents detained ahead of next month’s election to 39.
Superior Council of Private Enterprise president Michael Healy and vice president Alvaro Vargas are being “investigated for the crime of money and asset laundering,” police said in a statement.
Since early June Nicaragua’s authorities have arrested a host of opposition figures, including seven aspiring presidential hopefuls, as well as journalists and business, social and political leaders.
The detainees face charges of trying to overthrow President Daniel Ortega, treason and threatening Nicaragua’s sovereignty by, among other things, “applauding” sanctions and “inciting foreign interference.”
Healy and Vargas are being investigated “for carrying out acts that threaten independence, sovereignty and self-determination, inciting foreign interference in internal affairs, requesting military interventions (and) planning terrorist acts with financing from foreign powers,” the police said.
A court ordered them to be held in detention for 90 days while the investigation is carried out, the Public Ministry, the country’s equivalent of the prosecutor’s office, said in a statement.
Healy’s predecessor, Jose Aguerri, was arrested in July for conspiracy to undermine sovereignty.
The business union condemned the arrests, which it said “violate the fundamental rights established in Nicaragua’s Constitution” and said such detentions “must cease immediately.”
Critics say the wave of arrests is designed to remove any realistic competition from standing against Ortega, 75, in the November 7 election.
Detainees have been held under a controversial law approved last December that has been widely denounced as a means of freezing out challengers and silencing opponents.
Family members of those held say the detainees are suffering isolation, daily interrogations, threats and hunger.
On Tuesday, the influential National Coalition of political and social groups called for an election boycott.
The Washington-based Organization of American States on Wednesday demanded the “immediate release” of all opposition figures in Nicaragua.
Ortega, a former left-wing guerrilla leader, has been in power since 2007 and is seeking a fourth consecutive term.
In 2014, during his second term, the National Assembly, dominated by his Sandinista National Liberation Front party, approved a constitutional amendment to remove term limits, paving the way for Ortega to remain in power indefinitely.
Healy was arrested shortly after leaving the offices of the Public Ministry, where he had been summoned for an “interview” that did not take place and which had been rescheduled, he told reporters waiting outside the building.
When he got into his vehicle, he was followed by armed policemen on two motorcycles.
Sociologist Oscar Rene Vargas said the government is not leaving “any opportunity for a negotiated solution” to the crisis in the country.
International
Erin brings strong winds and storm surge despite weakening offshore
Hurricane Erin weakened to a Category 2 storm on Tuesday but continues to pose a threat to parts of the U.S. East Coast with potentially dangerous flooding, according to meteorologists.
Although the hurricane’s eye is expected to remain offshore, experts are concerned about Erin’s size, as strong winds extend hundreds of kilometers beyond the storm’s center.
In its 18:00 GMT bulletin, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) lifted tropical storm warnings for the Bahamasand Turks and Caicos Islands, but kept them in effect for parts of North Carolina.
Erin was located several hundred kilometers southeast of North Carolina and was moving northwestward.
“This means there is a risk of potentially life-threatening flooding of 60 to 120 centimeters above ground level,” said NHC Director Michael Brennan.
He also warned of the possibility of destructive waves, combined with storm surge, that could cause severe damage to beaches and coastal areas, making roads impassable.
International
Three U.S. Warships deploy near Venezuela to combat drug trafficking
Three U.S. naval vessels are moving toward the coasts of Venezuela, according to international media reports on Tuesday, after White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed that President Donald Trump is ready to combat and curb international drug trafficking.
Reports indicate that the ships will reach Venezuelan waters within the next 36 hours as part of a recent U.S. deployment aimed at countering international narcotics operations.
The announcement coincides with Leavitt’s statement that Trump is prepared to “use the full extent of his power” to halt drug flows into the United States. The naval deployment involves approximately 4,000 military personnel.
“The President has been clear and consistent. He is ready to use every element of U.S. power to prevent drugs from flooding our country and to bring those responsible to justice. The Maduro regime is not the legitimate government of Venezuela—it is a narco-terror cartel,” the spokesperson said during a press conference.
International
Cuban authorities free salvadoran convicted in 1997 hotel bombing
Salvadoran national Otto René Rodríguez Llerena was released after serving a 30-year prison sentence for his involvement in a terrorist attack at a hotel in Cuba in 1997, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.
During his trial, Rodríguez Llerena admitted to placing an explosive device at the Meliá Cohiba Hotel under the orders of anti-Castro exile leaders. He was arrested the following year when he returned to Havana with another load of explosives that failed to detonate.
“The Cuban government reiterates its commitment to combating terrorism, respecting human rights, and the need for the international community to hold accountable those who promote such acts,” the statement read.
He was released on August 15 and is the second Salvadoran to complete his sentence. In December of last year, another Salvadoran, Ernesto Cruz León, was released after planting bombs at tourist centers, one of which killed an Italian tourist identified as Fabio Di Celmo.
A third Salvadoran, Francisco Chávez Abarca, also received a 30-year sentence from Cuban courts in 2010 after being extradited from Venezuela through Interpol for actions against Cuba.
Rodríguez Llerena had requested conditional release in 2016, arguing that his actions had not caused any direct fatalities, but no further information was released about his situation until now.
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