by Daphne Psaledakis and Robin Emmott
WASHINGTON / BRUSSELS, Jan. 11 (Reuters) – Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega was inaugurated on Monday for a fourth consecutive term, hours after the United States and the European Union announced the imposition of sanctions against several representatives of his government at the time. that Washington has denounced a “sham” of election.
Daniel Ortega, 76, removed most of his rivals from last November in prison, while the authorities considered most acts of protest as offenses.
In Washington, Joe Biden denounced at the time an election “orchestra” having been “neither free nor fair, and certainly not democratic”. The American president accused the former Sandinista gurillero of growing authoritarian drive.
Many Western and regional countries have ignored the inauguration ceremony organized on Monday evening, even though several leftist leaders in the region, such as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz Canel, went there to display their support.
China, which recently established diplomatic ties with Nicaragua, also sent a delegation.
Earlier in the day, the United States and the EU announced the imposition of sanctions against several Nicaraguan representatives, including the Minister of Defense. The US State Department also announced visa bans against 116 people accused of undermining democracy in the country, including mayors, prosecutors, police and military officials. (Report Daphne Psaledakis and Paul Grant Washington, Robin Emmott Brussels; French version Jean Terzian)