US punishes Nicaraguan officials for violent demonstrations
WASHINGTON _ The Trump administration announced Thursday it will yank visas from several Nicaraguan officials it blames for the country's response to a wave of anti-government demonstrations in which state security forces have killed dozens of people.
This was the first punitive action taken by the administration as international condemnation of the government of President Daniel Ortega has grown. In Washington this week, as the Organization of American States took up the issue of Nicaragua turmoil, citizens from the Central American country staged protests outside local hotels.
The violence is "undermining democracy," the State Department said, in a country that has steadily come under autocratic rule by Ortega and his family.
"The political violence by police and pro-government thugs against the people of Nicaragua, particularly university students, shows a blatant disregard for human rights and is unacceptable," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said.
Nauert would not identify the Nicaraguans who will not be allowed to travel to the United States, citing privacy rules, except to say they included police commanders and regional and national officials.
_Tribune Washington Bureau
