By SCM REPORTER Published: February 26, 2026
THE TRUMP administration has launched a fresh blitz against Nicaragua’s “illegitimate family dynasty,” slapping heavy sanctions on five top officials accused of brutalising their own people.
In a stinging rebuke from Washington, the U.S. State Department branded President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, as dictators who have turned the Central American nation into a private fortress of “repression and fear.”
U.S. officials say the five sanctioned “henchmen” are the brains behind a campaign of terror that has seen political rivals tortured, independent journalists silenced, and Catholic priests hunted down.
Principal Deputy Spokesperson Thomas “Tommy” Pigott warned that the U.S. is “holding the enablers to account” for a regime that has:
Violently crushed peaceful protests since 2018.
Rewritten the constitution to seize total control of the country.
Spied on citizens by hijacking telecommunications systems.
Banished any media outlet or charity that dared to speak up.
”This administration will continue to use all available diplomatic and economic tools to address those who threaten U.S. national security in our hemisphere,” Pigott said in a defiant statement today.
’Release the Prisoners’
The move, signed off under executive orders, freezes any U.S. assets held by the five officials and bars them from the American financial system.
Washington is also demanding the “immediate and unconditional” release of political prisoners currently rotting in Nicaraguan jails.
Critics of the Ortega-Murillo regime say the pair have systematically dismantled democracy to ensure their grip on power remains absolute.
But with the White House now turning up the heat, the “dictatorship” is finding itself increasingly isolated on the world stage.
