Nicaraguan Election Chief Banned From Entering US for Corruption - State Dept.

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2018) Nicaragua's top election official has been designated and banned from entering the United States due to alleged involvement in corruption, the State Department said in press release on Wednesday.

"Due to his involvement in significant corruption, the Department is publicly designating the President of Nicaragua's Supreme Electoral Council, Roberto Jose Rivas Reyes," the release said. "In cases where the Secretary of State has credible information that foreign officials have been involved in significant corruption... those individuals and their immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the United States.

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The State Department also barred Rivas' spouse, Ileana Patricia Lacayo Delgado de Rivas, from travel to the United States, the release added.

Last December the US government imposed Magnitsky Act sanctions on Rivas for perpetuating electoral fraud and undermining the country's electoral institutions.

Washington has imposed sanctions on a number of Nicaraguan officials since the outbreak of anti-government protests last spring and a subsequent crackdown by security forces, in which nearly 300 people have died.