The Department of State has taken steps to impose visa restrictions on more than 350 members of the Nicaraguan National Police (NNP). Since November 2021, following President Biden's Presidential Proclamation aimed at safeguarding democracy in Nicaragua, the United States has moved to impose visa restrictions on more than 1,750 Nicaraguan officials. These actions reaffirm our unwavering support for the Nicaraguan people's aspirations for freedom, justice, and dignity.
The members of the NNP affected by today's actions form part of the government of President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo, which engages in targeted attacks on civil society. These attacks have profoundly denied their people access to important services and the freedom to organize, to express opinions, and to shape their futures free from fear of reprisal. NNP actions weaken democratic processes and foster an environment where dissent or the perception of dissent is met with punitive, often brutal, measures rather than open dialogue and debate.
The United States again urges Ortega and Murillo to cease threats, harassment, and unjust detention of advocates for civil society, freedoms of expression, religion or belief, and association, as expressed at Nicaragua's fourth Universal Periodic Review by the UN Human Rights Council. Ortega and Murillo's continued dismantling of civic space, including revoking the legal status of more than 5,500 NGOs, stifles dissent and perpetuates fear and oppression in Nicaragua.
This action was taken pursuant to Presidential Proclamation 10309, which suspends entry into the United States as immigrants and nonimmigrants for members of the Government of Nicaragua and other persons who formulate, implement, and or benefit from policies or actions undermining democratic institutions.
