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US to Impose Venezuela-Like Sanctions on Nicaragua if Necessary - Pompeo

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - 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.
Sputnik

"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.

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On 27 February, 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.

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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.

Nicaragua has been in a political crisis since April 2018 when people took to the streets to protest unpopular social security reforms announced by Ortega. Despite the president canceling the reforms a few days later, protests ensued with people redirecting their discontent at Ortega.

According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 317 people were killed in approximately three months following the protests' outbreak. The Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry maintains that the number is 198.

READ MORE: EU Slams Nicaragua Over Expulsion of UN Human Rights Mission

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