U.S. imposes visa restrictions on Nicaraguan officials over human rights abuses
04/25/2025 / By Laura Harris
- The second Trump administration imposed visa bans on over 250 Nicaraguan officials, raising the total to more than 2,000 sanctioned individuals. The move targets Ortega and Murillo’s regime for human rights abuses and suppression of democracy.
- Since the 2018 protests, Nicaragua’s government has intensified crackdowns, jailing opposition leaders, silencing media, expelling Catholic clergy, displacing Indigenous Miskito communities and dismantling civil society groups.
- Ortega and Murillo amended the constitution to establish Murillo as co-president, further entrenching their authoritarian rule while falsely framing it as “direct democracy.”
- A UN report accuses Nicaragua of systematically dismantling democracy, creating a repressive state-controlled system. It urges international action, including sanctions and legal accountability.
- Officials like Marco Rubio labeled Nicaragua’s regime an “enemy of freedom,” vowing continued pressure over its abuses, weaponization of migration and threats to regional stability.
The United States has imposed visa restrictions on more than 250 Nicaraguan government officials due to escalating human rights violations and suppression of democracy in their country.
The Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo government has intensified its repressive tactics since mass protests erupted in 2018, jailing political opponents, silencing independent media and targeting religious leaders. Since then, the Nicaraguan government has been accused of a litany of abuses, including arresting opposition leaders ahead of the 2021 elections on vague “national security” charges, expelling Catholic clergy and banning religious broadcasts, forcibly displacing Indigenous Miskito communities and shuttering civil liberties groups and human rights organizations.
In January, Nicaragua’s legislature, dominated by Ortega loyalists, approved a constitutional reform establishing Murillo as co-president and cementing the couple’s political control. Ortega defended the move as a step toward “direct democracy,” but critics decried it as a blatant power grab ahead of elections widely condemned as fraudulent.
As a response, State Department Secretary Marco Rubio announced on April 18 that the U.S. government will impose visa restrictions on more than 250 Nicaraguan government officials. Overall, the number of Nicaraguan officials subject to U.S. visa bans is now over 2,000.
“The United States is taking decisive steps to impose visa restrictions on more than 250 regime officials of the Nicaraguan dictatorship. With this new set of restrictions, the U.S. government has now taken steps to impose visa restrictions on over 2,000 officials in Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo’s regime, which has deprived the Nicaraguan people of their fundamental freedoms and forced so many into exile,” Rubio said. (Related: Trump administration to end legal protections for over 500,000 CHNV migrants under Biden-era parole program.)
“As we mark seven years since the Ortega and Murillo regime’s brutal wave of repression against protestors, we reflect on the protestors’ courage and desire to live in a Nicaragua free from tyranny. The United States will not stand for Ortega and Murillo’s continued assault on Nicaragua.”
Rubio reiterated his announcement on X, formerly known as Twitter, stating that “the Nicaraguan regime is an enemy of humanity” and “the Trump administration will not tolerate threats to U.S. security from a regime that weaponizes immigration and positions Nicaragua as a hub for illegal immigrants trying to cross our border.”
UN report accuses Ortega and Murillo of constructing “a centralized and repressive system” in Nicaragua
A report by the United Nations (UN) Group of Human Rights Experts, published earlier in April, accused the regime of constructing “a centralized and repressive system” that has dissolved democratic institutions and stifled freedoms.
“What we uncovered is a tightly coordinated system of repression, extending from the presidency down to local officials,” said Ariela Peralta, an expert member of the Group. “These are not random or isolated incidents – they are part of a deliberate and well-orchestrated State policy carried out by identifiable actors through defined chains of command.”
The 234-page report, based on thorough research including interviews, verified documents and confidential sources, exposes how Ortega and Murillo, who declared themselves “co-presidents” after a controversial 2025 constitutional change, have created a repressive, centralized system. They’ve taken control of all government branches, merging the ruling party with the state to consolidate their power.
In response, the authors reiterated their call for the international community to act with urgency, adopting concrete measures such as legal accountability, targeted sanctions and robust support for victims and civil society.
“This report is a roadmap for justice,” said Reed Brody, an expert member of the Group. “States, prosecutors and international institutions now have the names, the structures and the evidence needed to pursue accountability.”
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Tagged Under:
big government, human rights violations, Marco Rubio, national security, Nicaragua, Nicaraguan officials, Ortega-Murillo, restriction, State Department, Trump administration, visas, White House
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