Nicaragua moves 3 opponents from jail to house arrest

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nicaraguan authorities have ordered home detention for three opposition figures suffering from health problems, one week after another died following months of incarceration. Former Nicaraguan Foreign Affairs Minister Francisco Aguirre Sacasa, 77, former Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister José Pallais, 68, and former ambassador to the United States Arturo Cruz Sequeira, 68, were ordered to home confinement, the government said late Friday. All three have been accused of conspiring to destabilize the country, a charge applied to dozens of opposition figures rounded up by President Daniel Ortega before last year’s national elections. Cruz was one of seven potential presidential contenders jailed.