Pressure mounting on Nicaraguan president in Germany

By Vakkas Dogantekin

ANKARA (AA) - A German civic body has urged Berlin to distance itself from the socialist Nicaraguan president, Daniel Ortega.

“We strongly urge you to abstain from any action that would allow the Nicaraguan regime to continue oppressing the country’s people,” the German Solidarity with Nicaragua Movement said in a letter to the government on Sunday, according to Cuban daily Havana Times.

The U.S. and Canada on Friday imposed sanctions on four senior officials from the inner circle of the Nicaraguan president over alleged human rights violence.

The sanctions block the assets of: National Assembly President Gustavo Porras, Institute of Telecommunications and Postal Service (TELCOR) General Director Orlando Castillo, Minister of Health Sonia Castro, and Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Oscar Mojica.

The U.S. Treasury in April also designated Laureano Ortega Murillo, son of the Nicaraguan president; Vice President Rosario Murillo; and Nicaraguan bank Banco Corporativo or BanCorp for "supporting the regime".

However, Germany has been friendly with Nicaragua receiving leaders from the Central American nation last month for a series of bilateral meetings.

Protests broke out last year in Nicaragua demanding Ortega's resignation after he announced taxes on pensioners' pay checks.

When the government responded fiercely to protesters, over a dozen anti-government protesters and at least four police officers were reportedly killed in clashes.

Rights groups have urged the government to free thousands of political prisoners prompting the state to release some of them in recent weeks.

Ortega has been president since 2007 and has also led the country from 1979 to 1990 after a successful left-wing Sandinista revolution which brought down a dictator.

The U.S. and Canada act jointly in intelligence matters since the two countries are members of what is known as the Five Eyes (FVEY), an intelligence cooperative in the areas of military intelligence, human intelligence, and signals intelligence. Other three members of the FVEY which dates back to early 1940s are Australia, New Zealand and the U.K.