Nicaragua charging exiled opponents’ relatives

By GABRIELA SELSER
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Exiled Nicaraguan economist Javier Álvarez received terrible news this week: his wife, daughter and son-in-law, jailed three weeks ago by the government of President Daniel Ortega, had been formally charged with serious crimes back in Nicaragua. Jeannine Horvilleur, 63, Ana Carolina Álvarez Horvilleur, 43, both of Nicaraguan and French nationality, as well as Ana Carolina’s husband, Félix Roiz, were not only detained to apply pressure on Álvarez who had fled to Costa Rica, but they were now facing serious prison time. Ortega’s government has stepped up its persecution of political opponents, apparently no longer satisfied by driving them into exile it is now pursuing their relatives criminally. Human rights organizations have accused the government of making relatives “hostages.”