President Daniel Ortega has faced international condemnation for cracking down on potential opponents before the November election.

Another potential presidential candidate was arrested in Nicaragua because President Daniel Ortega continued to suppress potential opponents before the November election.

The police said on Saturday that Noel Vidaurre was placed under house arrest and accused of “undermining national sovereignty,” the latest in a series of arrests condemned by the United States and the European Union.

In the crackdown that began in early June, at least seven presidential candidates were arrested. Police raid At the home of Christiana Chamorro, daughter of former President Violetta Chamorro.

Six other potential candidates have been arrested, and nearly two dozen other journalists and opposition activists have also been detained.

Almost everyone was arrested under the “treason” law used by Ortega against political opponents, and most people face vague accusations of state crimes.

Ortega said that his government is targeting criminals who planned a coup against him to defend the continued wave of arrests.

But civil society and human rights organizations accused the 75-year-old president — who ruled Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, regained power in 2007, and won two consecutive re-election campaigns since — becoming increasingly authoritarian.

Human Rights Watch Americas Director Jose Miguel Vivanco said in a statement last month: “The Ortega government’s brutal suppression of critics and opposition members has been severe in recent weeks. International pressure needs to be doubled for sex and strength.”

The United States recently implemented a new Sanctions and Visa restrictions Nicaraguan officials expressed dissatisfaction with the crackdown and called on the Ortega government to respect the rule of law and ensure that free and fair elections can be held on November 7.

The European Union has stated that the November elections “will be anything close to democratic competition”, which is “unbelievable”.

Earlier this month, the EU’s top diplomat, Jose Puborel, said that “more stringent” measures may be needed against Ortega’s Sandinista government.

“The situation has reached such an extreme that member states will have to study more specific actions, not just’enough, Mr. Ortega,'” Borrell said at a meeting of the European Parliament.

The 66-year-old Vidaurre is one of the potential candidates for the Alianza Ciudadanos por la Libertad organization, confronting Ortega, who is seeking a fourth consecutive term.

In recent weeks, potential candidates Juan Sebastian Chamorro and Arturo Cruz have also been arrested, while Leicester Aleman Former student leader Those who returned to Nicaragua after exile but stayed in the safe house– Also detained.

Presidential candidates will be able to register between July 28 and August 2.