Nicaragua: Five more opposition figures detained ahead of election

Police in Nicaragua have detained five more prominent opposition figures, in what critics say is a crackdown on opponents of the country's president.

Several former allies of long-time President Daniel Ortega, 75, were among those arrested on Sunday.

Police accused them of inciting foreign interference in Nicaragua's affairs, among other crimes.

Twelve senior opposition figures, including four presidential hopefuls, have been arrested in recent days.

Opposition to Mr Ortega, who is currently serving his fourth term in office, three of them consecutive, has been growing in the past years.

In 2018, mass anti-government protests swept through the country but were met with a violent police response. Hundreds were killed and thousands were injured in the clashes between the protesters on the one hand, and the security forces and pro-government militia on the other.

After many of those who had lead the demonstrations were arrested, the protests eventually fizzled out later that year.

Mr Ortega rejected calls made at the time for elections to be brought forward and continued to serve his term.

But critics say that with the scheduled date of the presidential poll approaching - they are due to be held in November 2021 - he is now targeting anyone who may stand against him.

Julie Chung, the top US diplomat for Latin America, said the arrests were part of a "campaign of terror" by Mr Ortega.

From revolutionary leader to opposition hate figure

The police said those detained over the weekend were all members of Unamos, an opposition party that is largely made up of dissidents who split from President Ortega's governing party, the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN).

The FSLN was a socialist revolutionary movement that overthrew dictator Anastasio Somoza and swept to power in the Central American nation in 1979.

Those detained in the past two days are:

They join seven other opposition leaders in detention, including four potential presidential candidates, who have been arrested since the start of the month:

While those detained in the first wave of arrests last week were long-standing political rivals of Mr Ortega, some of those detained this past weekend were once allies and even comrades-in-arms of the president.

Gen Torres, who is 73, fought with Mr Ortega in the Nicaraguan revolution and secured his release from jail in 1974, something he alluded to in a video he had recorded before his arrest.

"Forty-six years ago I risked my life to free Daniel Ortega and other comrades who were political prisoners from prison," Gen Torres said in the defiant recording.

"These are desperate moves by a regime that feels it is moribund, that has no legal standing, that has no justification... to remain in power beyond November of this year when free and supervised elections should be held," he added.

Dora Téllez, 65, is another former revolutionary commander who turned against Mr Ortega. Ms Téllez served as health minister during Mr Ortega first government in the 1980s but years later became a vocal critic of his leadership.

Nearly all of those detained have been accused of plotting against Nicaragua's sovereignty and independence and of organising terrorist acts with financial help from foreign powers.

They have been held under a controversial treason law passed in December by Nicaragua's National Assembly, which is dominated by government allies.

Under the law, the government has the power to ban candidates from running for office if they are deemed to be traitors to Nicaragua. Anyone designated a traitor can be sent to prison for up to 15 years.

The government says the law aims to protect "the independence, the sovereignty and self-determination" of Nicaragua. It says the country is under threat from imperialist powers in the US and "coup-mongers" within Nicaragua who are determined to overthrow President Ortega.