U.S. blacklists Nicaragua's attorney general for aiding Ortega regime's repressive efforts

March 21 (UPI) -- The United States on Thursday blacklisted Nicaragua's attorney general, in the latest punitive measure applied by the Biden administration to the Central American nation's authoritative government of President Daniel Ortega.

The U.S. Treasury announced the sanctions against Wendy Carolina Morales over accusations of supporting Ortega's oppression of the Nicaraguan people.

Morales, who was appointed attorney general in May 2019, wields considerable power in the country, which she has used to strengthen Ortega's grip on Nicaragua's political reigns.

She is "a key actor in the Nicaraguan regime's unjust persecution of political prisoners and civil society," the federal department said.

"The attorney general of Nicaragua, in concert with the Ortega-Murillo regime, has exploited her office to facilitate a coordinated campaign to suppress dissent by seizing property from government political opponents without a legal basis," Brian Nelson, under secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a statement.

"The United States reiterates its enduring support for the Nicaraguan people, who continue to bravely reject the authoritarianism of President Ortega and his inner circle."

Morales is accused of stealing property of independent media outlets, thousands of international organization and political prisoners, as well as arbitrarily shuttering more than 3,500 civil society organizations, including at least 250 evangelical groups.

Those she stole property from include the 222 political prisoners Nicaragua banished from the country and sent to the United States in February of 2023.

"Another criminal who will face justice," Juan Sebastian Chamorro, a former Nicaraguan opposition politician who was among those expelled to the United States, said on X following the announcement of Morales' blacklisting.

Ortega was first elected president in 1984, but was defeated in re-election in 1990. But since his return to power in 2006, he has sought to consolidate political influence through repression, including appointing his wife, first lady Rosario Murillo, vice president.

The Biden administration has repeatedly imposed sanctions targeting Ortega's government over his undemocratic practices. The sanctions freeze all property of those named and generally bars U.S. persons from doing business with them.

In April of 2023, it blacklisted three judges involved in stripping the 222 political prisoners as well as another more than 90 political opponents of their citizenship.