Nicaragua Condemns Proposed Imperial US Sanctions as Irrational

The reintroduction of the “Nica Act” in U.S. Congress is seen as part of an ongoing threat to destabilize Nicaragua's government.

Nicaragua’s National Assembly on Thursday approved a statement to reject U.S. financial sanctions on the country, known as the “Nica Act,” which is seen as an attack to destabilize the country and President Daniel Ortega’s government.

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The statement against the sanctions was approved by 91 members of the National Assembly, from both members of the ruling Sandinista National Liberation, FSLN, and the opposition Constitutionalist Liberal Party.

“The Nica Act appears as a proposal, blind, deaf, and irrational, conceived by insensitive minds, troublemakers, and completely closed to recognize the rights of Nicaraguans to live away from the conflicts of the past,” the Nicaraguan statement read.

On Wednesday, a group of Congress members in the U.S. reintroduced the Nicaraguan Investment Act Conditionality Act, which will aim to slap Ortega's government with financial sanctions for alleged human rights violations and an erosion of democratic standards. The 71-year-old Ortega, a former Sandinista guerrilla who won with 72.5 percent of the vote in his November re-election, has been in Washington's crosshairs since the 1980s when President Ronald Reagan was in office.

Sanctions could block Nicaragua from requesting loans from the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank, which currently contributes around US$250 million dollars annually to the country.

Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo labeled the move to reintroduce the act “reactionary and interventionist” and sought to “undermine the right of Nicaragua to continue developing the socialist model.”

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Second Secretary of the National Assembly Wilfredo Navarro warned that the sanctions could roll back the achievements of the Ortega government, which has been able to reduce poverty, improve security, lower crime, stamp out illiteracy and boost economic growth. 

The Organization of American States last year urged U.S. Congress to reconsider the Nica Act, arguing that it would not be a “constructive contribution” to strengthen democracy in Nicaragua. OAS head Luis Almagro again reiterated these concerns on Wednesday in light of the act being introduced, even though he is leading efforts to undermine democracy in Venezuela.