Nicaragua investigates long-time Ortega ally, former Sandinista leader

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(Reuters) -Nicaraguan authorities said on Wednesday they were investigating Bayardo Arce, a long-time ally and economic adviser to President Daniel Ortega, and who was also one of the nine Sandinista commanders that governed the Central American nation in the 1980s.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

Arce had been the last of the Sandinista generals to back Ortega, who has increasingly been cracking down on dissidents and isolating from global diplomacy.

Local media reported Arce had been placed under house arrest, making him the third former military leader to face such treatment under Ortega’s administration. Henry Ruiz remains under house arrest, reports say, while Ortega’s brother Humberto died last year at home.

KEY QUOTE

Nicaragua’s attorney general’s office said the investigation into Arce was regarding “possible irregularities in transactions involving assets, properties and companies that could affect the national patrimony.”

Arce had been summoned twice, but “has not agreed to present himself properly to this day,” the office added in a statement.

CONTEXT

Ortega now holds a “co-presidency” with his wife, Rosario Murillo. El Pais reported, citing sources, that Murillo had likely ordered the measures against Arce as she viewed the party’s long-time cadres as obstacles to consolidating her succession to power.

WHAT’S NEXT

It is unclear what the alleged irregularities in transactions by Arce would be and how his case would proceed if he were to go in for questioning.

His assistant, Ricardo Bonilla, is detained and under questioning by police, the attorney general’s office said.

THE RESPONSE

Murillo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Arce was not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Gabriela Selser; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Lincoln Feast.)