OFAC Sanctions Three Nicaraguan Officials

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned three Nicaraguan government officials involved in human rights abuses, election fraud and corruption Treasury said Nov. 7. Ramon Antonio Avellan Medal, deputy director general of the Nicaraguan National Police, was designated for carrying out the government's “repressive measures,” including arbitrary arrests and executions, the agency said. Lumberto Ignacio Campbell Hooker, acting president of the Nicaraguan Supreme Electoral Council, was sanctioned for running an entity that ensures President Daniel Ortega wins elections. Roberto Jose Lopez Gomez, director of the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute, was designated for corruption.

OFAC also added Amadou Kouffa, a Mali national, to its Specially Designated Nationals List. Kouffa is linked to Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, a West African terrorist group designated in 2018 (see 1907160030).