The US has just imposed crippling sanctions on Nicaragua, which John Bolton recently brandedpart of a so-called ‘Troika of Tyranny‘. Based on this treatment, and the messages in the mainstream media, one would think that the Nicaraguan government’s alleged crimes make it uniquely villainous in the region. But a comparison with its Central American neighbor Honduras reveals this latest move for shameless hypocrisy that it is.
The ‘NICA’ Act
This week, the Trump administration and US Congress formally took action to penalize the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. First, Trump issued an ‘Executive Order’ that imposes sanctions personally on the president himself, vice president Rosario Murillo (also Ortega’s wife) and national security advisor Nestor Moncada Lau. According to its text, Murillo and Lau were singled out for their alleged complicity in human rights abuses during the civil unrest earlier this year, and for alleged involvement in corruption.
