(Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration ratcheted up economic pressure on Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s government on Monday through a series of steps targeting the country’s gold industry and other sectors.
Biden signed an executive order that includes banning U.S. companies from doing business in Nicaragua’s gold industry, while U.S. Treasury Department designated the head of Nicaragua’s mining authority, along with another top government official, the department said in a statement.
The order’s expanded sanctions powers could also be used to block new U.S. investment in certain sectors in Nicaragua, importation of certain Nicaraguan products or the exportation of certain items to Nicaragua, it added.
“The Ortega-Murillo regime’s continued attacks on democratic actors and members of civil society and unjust detention of political prisoners demonstrate that the regime feels it is not bound by the rule of law,” Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said. He said the U.S. actions aimed to deny them “the resources they need to continue to undermine democratic institutions in Nicaragua.”
The Associated Press first reported the measures.
(Reporting by Tyler Clifford and Susan Heavey; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
