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Former Sandinista Guerrilla Under US Sanctions Named Nicaragua’s Supreme Court President
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Elections & Politics

Former Sandinista Guerrilla Under US Sanctions Named Nicaragua’s Supreme Court President

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire From a news agency New plan
  • Nicaragua’s National Assembly elected and swore in former police deputy chief and attorney general Ana Julia Guido Ochoa as president of the Supreme Court.
  • The United States sanctioned Guido Ochoa in 2020, accusing her of enabling and benefiting from government repression and helping create a unit that fabricated charges against protesters.
  • Her appointment follows the resignation of Alba Luz Ramos and comes after constitutional and judicial reforms gave President Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo authority to appoint the court’s president.

Ana Julia Guido Ochoa, a former Sandinista guerrilla who faces US sanctions, has become Nicaragua’s new Supreme Court president after being elected and sworn in by the National Assembly.

Guido Ochoa previously served as deputy director of the National Police and as attorney general. The United States sanctioned her in 2020, saying she had “allowed and benefited from the government’s repressive activities” and had helped “create a specialized unit that fabricates accusations against protesters and carries out legal proceedings against them.”

allowed and benefited from the government’s repressive activities

— U.S. governmentReason cited for sanctioning Ana Julia Guido Ochoa in 2020.

The National Assembly also elected José Manuel Fuerte as vice president of the court. Legislative chief Gustavo Porras said both candidates had been proposed by co-presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, and that the lawmakers approved them unanimously. The legislature is controlled by the Sandinistas and their allies.

create a specialized unit that fabricates accusations against protesters and carries out legal proceedings against them

— U.S. governmentDescription of the conduct attributed to Guido Ochoa during her time as attorney general.

Guido Ochoa joined the Supreme Court as a justice in November and received the highest grade of the Augusto C. Sandino Order in February 2023. Murillo has described her as “a guerrilla of unquestionable courage in every circumstance.” She replaces Alba Luz Ramos, who resigned as court president the previous week for health reasons. Ramos became the ninth justice to step down in two years.

Nicaraguan analysts and opposition figures say the departing justices were aligned with former Ortega advisers Bayardo Arce Castaño and Lenín Cerna. They have since been replaced by judges loyal to Murillo. Since February 2025, the court has had 10 justices, down from 16 after a constitutional reform. The reform and a new judicial system law allow Ortega and Murillo to appoint the court president for a six-year term and place the justice system under the presidency.

a guerrilla of unquestionable courage in every circumstance

— Rosario MurilloHer description of Guido Ochoa.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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