WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th March, 2019) The United States could impose sanctions against the Nicaraguan government if it poses a similar threat as Venezuela, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday during a congressional hearing.
"If the threat is similar and the risks are similar, we will respond in a similar fashion," Pompeo told the House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee when asked if the United States is willing to put sanctions on Nicaragua as it did against Venezuela.
On February 27, Nicaragua's government and opposition resumed long-stalled dialogue on resolving the country's political crisis, with Apostolic Nuncio Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag acting as a mediator. On the same day, the government freed 100 individuals whom the opposition viewed as political prisoners.
The last attempt to establish a dialogue between the Nicaraguan government and the opposition took place in mid-2018, with the Catholic Church acting as a mediator. However, that round brought no results.
Anti-government protests erupted in Nicaragua in April 2018 when people took to the streets to protest unpopular social security reforms announced by President Daniel Ortega. After several days of demonstrations, Ortega canceled the reforms but the protests, which were accompanied by violence and clashes, continued.
