By stripping 316 Nicaraguans of their nationality, the Ortega-Murillo regime borrowed a concept from George Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ and put into practice the unpersoning its enemies. They are now non-existent socially, politically and economically within Nicaragua.

Last week Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega packed off 222 political leaders, priests, students, activists, and other dissidents to the United States. Shortly after, Ortega’s government voted to strip the former prisoners of Nicaraguan citizenship.

Nicaraguans living in the United States filled the stands in Pennsylvania to cheer on the players of 14 de Septiembre Little League from Managua after travel restrictions prevented their family members from attending the World Series games.

Central American leaders are averting their gaze from Nicaragua’s Ortega-Murillo regime, aware that picking a fight with the most consolidated autocracy in Central America would give more oxygen to criticism of corruption and human rights violations in their own countries.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. imposed sanctions Friday on Nicaragua’s state-owned gold mining company and the president of its board of directors in part over the Central American nation’s ties to Russia.

Several Latin American leaders have signaled they will not attend this year’s 9th Summit of the Americas if Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua are not invited. “Nobody should exclude anyone,” Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said during a recent visit to Cuba.

On the fourth anniversary of protests in 2018 and the ensuing brutal repression, the opposition seems unable to find a response to the imprisonment of its key leaders and the kidnapping of the electoral process. But the Ortega-Murillo government’s weaknesses are also evident, as shown by recent internal divisions in the Sandinista party.

Nicaraguan Ambassador Arturo McFields denounced the Ortega-Murillo government as a “dictatorship” in an unexpected statement to the Organization of American States on Wednesday, announcing his departure from the administration. McFields urged other public servants to overcome their fear and do the same.

As Daniel Ortega assumed his fourth consecutive presidential term on January 10, dozens of political prisoners remain behind bars, and those who visited them reported torturous conditions. The Nicaraguan leader still resists international pressure despite increasing isolation

The Nicaraguan government has dropped visa requirements for Cuban citizens, a move that may spark an increase in Cubans traveling there in a bid to reach the United States.

Neither the United States nor the European Union recognized the results from yesterday’s presidential elections in Nicaragua, which Daniel Ortega claims to have won with 75 percent of votes even though independent election observers reported a participation rate of 19 percent.

Daniel Ortega sought his fourth presidential term in Sunday’s Nicaraguan elections. With more well-known challengers sitting in jail, Ortega stood a greater chance of winning.

After having arrested all viable opposition candidates in the last six months, Daniel Ortega will win his fourth consecutive term on Sunday. After the international community failed to implement any measures to ensure a fair election, the opposition launched a campaign urging Nicaraguans not to vote.

Meta Platforms, the company that runs Facebook, said Monday it has canceled 937 accounts linked to the government of Nicaragua and the Sandinista party of President Daniel Ortega. Meta said it also removed 140 deceptive pages, 24 groups, and 363 Instagram accounts for violating the company’s policy against “coordinated inauthentic behavior on behalf of a foreign or government entity.”

The law, called the RENACER Act (Reinforcing Nicaragua’s Adherence to Conditions for Electoral Reform), would allow the Biden administration to impose targeted sanctions against “Nicaraguan officials who seek to derail the country’s electoral process.”

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — The United States has slapped visa restrictions on 50 immediate family members of Nicaraguan officials who have been involved in or benefited from President Daniel Ortega’s growing repression, the U.S. State Department said Friday.

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Nicaraguan police arrested a half dozen more opposition figures, including the sixth presidential hopeful to have been arrested in a crackdown that started last month.

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — International criticism of Nicaragua’s government grew on Tuesday after another night of arrests in Managua. Fifty-nine countries at the United Nations Human Rights Council signed onto a statement expressing concern over arbitrary arrests and the restriction of fundamental rights.

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Mexico and Argentina recalled their ambassadors to Nicaragua for consultations Monday, a day after President Daniel Ortega’s government arrested yet another presidential contender ahead of the November 7 elections.

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Nicaragua’s police have arrested a prominent banker in a sign the government’s pursuit of opponents is expanding beyond political leaders and potential challengers to President Daniel Ortega.

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Nicaraguan police have arrested another opposition politician, bringing to six the number detained over the weekend.