The United States has imposed sanctions on Nicaraguan Attorney General Wendy Carolina Morales Urbina for her role in enabling the Ortega-Murillo government’s oppression of the Nicaraguan people. Morales Urbina exploited her office to suppress dissent and seize property from government political opponents without legal basis. She led efforts to take property from 222 political prisoners who were stripped of their nationality and sent to the US in 2023. The US will block any property or interests she holds in the country and ban US transactions with her.
The Attorney General supported President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo in their ruthless oppression of peaceful opposition members in Nicaragua. The State Department will continue to act against anti-democratic actors and human rights abusers. Ortega’s government has faced criticism for stripping citizenship from 300 people, including leading opposition figures and student activists, and for human rights violations.
Morales Urbina played a key role in policies that designated Nicaraguan opposition members as “terrorists” and blocked their financial resources with anti-terrorism laws. Ortega and Murillo, along with other officials, already face heavy US sanctions. Ortega, who initially governed Nicaragua with leftist policies, has tightened his grip on state institutions and cracked down on dissidents. The government’s response to protests in 2018 led to the deaths of over 300 people, and Amnesty International has accused the government of excessive force, unjust criminalization of activists, attacks on civil society, and forced exile.