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The U.S. State Department issued more than 250 visa restrictions for Nicaraguan officials, and the Departments of State, Treasury and Homeland Security are alerting the travel industry about the ways in which smugglers facilitate illegal migration into the United States.
Karine Jeane-Pierre, White House Press Secretary
“Today the United States is taking coordinated action in response to the Ortega Murillo regime’s continued repression of the people of Nicaragua and the exploitation of migrants.”
The measures are aimed at punishing the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, which the United States accuses of trying to exploit vulnerable migrants transiting through the country. Ortega’s government is profiting from migrants, selling them visas that require them to leave the country within 96 hours of arriving at the local airport, according to senior US officials.
The Treasury Department designated three entities based in Nicaragua, which host military training centers that support repressive activities of the national police against the Nicaraguan people. The Training Center of the Ministry of the Interior of Russia in Managua, the International Mining Company and Joint Stock Company (COMINTSA). Two of the sanctioned entities are gold companies and the third is a Russian Interior Ministry training center in Managua, the official added.
Briand E. Nelson, Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
“By taking advantage of the training it receives from Russia’s training center in Nicaragua and the income it generates from exploiting the gold sector, the Ortega-Murillo regime has continued its undemocratic campaign of repression against its citizens.”
An alert seeks that airlines take measures to identify routes that may be used for migrant smuggling and report the activity to the US Customs and Border Protection Office. Paula Díaz, Voice of America, Washington
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