Sanction those in private sector who enable Ortega
During a recent speech at the State Department, President Biden reaffirmed the importance of defending democratic values and combatting authoritarianism around the world.
That doctrine will be among one of the first foreign-policy challenges in Latin America that Biden will face with the upcoming November presidential election in Nicaragua.
Nicaragua’s authoritarian leader Daniel Ortega has spent years corrupting government institutions to tip the scales in his favor. He allowed the Kremlin to get a foothold in Managua, which reports indicate may be a spy base; seeks to ban opposition candidates from running in the elections; and passed a foreign-agents law to attempt to intimidate and silence dissenters and civil-society organizations. Because of high levels of corruption, his regime is hindering efforts to combat drug trafficking.
Just this week, Commander of U.S. Southern Command Admiral Craig Faller testified before Congress on the ongoing repression in Nicaragua and warned that Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua “perpetuate corruption and challenge freedom and democracy by opening the door to external state actors [such as Russia, China and Iran] and transnational criminal organizations.”
After Nicaragua’s marred elections in November 2011, former House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, convened a congressional hearing, Democracy Held Hostage in Nicaragua, in which Robert Callahan, a former U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua, said that, “Daniel Ortega’s candidacy was illegal, illegitimate and unconstitutional; second, that the period leading to the elections and the elections themselves were marred by serious fraud; third, that Daniel Ortega and his Sandinista party have systematically undermined the country’s fragile governmental institutions.”
Unfortunately, many of these systemic abuses continue today under Ortega’s rule.
In December 2018, Congress paved the way to support democratic efforts in Nicaragua, in a bipartisan manner, with the passage of the Nica Act, despite efforts by Ortega and his private-sector cronies lobbying in Washington against the legislation. The law led to Executive Order 13851, which gives the United States the authority to sanction individuals involved in human-rights abuses or corruption. While sanctions have been put in place against the Ortega family and officials close to the regime, one critical group remains unaccountable: Nicaragua’s private sector.
If the United States truly wants to promote democracy in Nicaragua, it must sanction individuals from the private sector who have facilitated Ortega’s hold on power through a pact. Commonly referred to as
this agreement ensured that Ortega would not meddle in the private sector and, in return, the private sector agreed to look the other way while Ortega threw democracy, rule of law, and human rights out the window.
Still, not everyone in the private sector has been a part of these nefarious activities. A small, courageous group is ready to challenge this agreement and realize long-awaited democratic and free-market reforms. This group, too, support the enforcement of the Nica Act.
In addition, the Biden administration should renegotiate the terms of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) and expel Nicaragua from the agreement unless it puts substantive electoral reforms in place. An updated agreement should include provisions to counter corruption, support the rule of law and promote human rights and democratic reforms. Such incentives not only would help Nicaragua, but also the rest of Central America, which will not risk losing billions in trade. In 2019, U.S. goods and services had a surplus of $3.2 billion with Guatemala, $1.1 billion with Honduras, and $1.6 billion with El Salvador.
Yet, in stark contrast, the U.S. had a $2.3 billion deficit with Nicaragua, meaning that Ortega, his family, and his allies are profiting, as his family controls most businesses in Nicaragua and it has been alleged, also takes a cut of what the private sector amasses.
Congress has also recently given the Administration additional tools to pressure democratic change in Nicaragua. For instance, the Fiscal Year 2021 appropriations bill includes legislation by former Chairman of HFAC Eliot Engel (D-NY) which creates an “Engel list” to identify individuals in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador engaged in corruption and undermining institutions. Nicaragua needs to be added to that list.
Ortega is counting on flying under the radar, with his repressive actions not being noticed. We must not let that happen. Free and fair elections are imperative in Nicaragua if we are to unclench the iron fist of Ortega’s tyrannical regime.