The Daniel Ortega regime in Nicaragua has found a profitable way to benefit from the migration crisis currently affecting the United States.
Amid severe economic sanctions imposed by Washington, the Nicaraguan dictatorship transformed the flow of immigrants crossing its territory heading north into a substantial source of revenue.
According to information from the independent portal Confidential, in the first three months of 2024 alone, Nicaragua’s Directorate of Migration and Foreigners (DGME) collected 311 million córdobas (the local currency) in immigration fees, around US$8.4 million. This amount corresponds to 53% of the annual fundraising target, which is 586 million córdobas (around US$15.9 million).
According to complaints analyzed by the portal, the majority of these fees come from fines that the Sandinista regime has imposed on immigrants arriving in the country with the aim of traveling to the border between Mexico and the USA.
Most of these immigrants are from countries such as Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela. Some also originate from different regions of Europe, Asia and Africa.
According to analyzes by independent portals, each of these immigrants is forced to pay the Sandinista regime fines of between US$150 and US$200. By paying these amounts, they obtain a kind of “safe conduct” from the dictatorship of Ortega, which allows them to move freely through Nicaragua and cross the country’s borders without facing problems for a period of 96 hours.
The Sandinista regime’s revenue from this procedure has been significant. In 2023, the payment of these fines by immigrants yielded around 1.6 billion córdobas (around US$43.4 million) to the coffers of the Ortega dictatorship, according to the Confidential.
In May of this year, the United States applied new sanctions against Nicaragua that aimed precisely to contain irregular immigration. Americans, who accuse the Ortega regime of facilitating the entry of immigrants into their territory, believe that Nicaragua has been one of the starting points for those who wish to try to enter their territory illegally.
Immigration and refugee experts have accused the Sandinista dictatorship of using immigrants as a weapon against the US government.
“[…] Ortega knows that he has few important political tools to confront the United States, so he uses migration as a weapon of attack,” he said. Manuel Orozcodirector of the migration, remittances and development program at the Inter-American Dialogue, at Associated Press (AP), in 2023.
US Under Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols emphasized last year that “no one should profit from the desperation of vulnerable migrants.”
This is not what the Sandinista dictator thinks, as the flow of immigrants arriving in Nicaragua has constantly increased and they also rely on the clandestine operations of several airlines.
This month, President Joe Biden’s government, which accuses Ortega of profiting from the crisis affecting his country, announced that it had sanctioned an executive from a charter airline, whose name was not revealed, for facilitating transportation of immigrants to Nicaragua.
“We will continue to take steps to impose visa restrictions on owners, executives and senior employees of unscrupulous transportation companies,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
Data from the Central Bank of Nicaragua, released by Confidentialshow that, between January and March 2024, approximately 198,500 new passengers disembarked at the Augusto C. Sandino international airport, in Managua, an increase of 50 thousand compared to the same period observed last year, which may be driven by the arrival of those who want to go north.
According to American media outlets, most immigrants are choosing Nicaragua as a starting point to reach the USA as it is considered a safer route compared to the dangerous crossing through the Darién jungle.
“Ortega has historically had a deep hatred for the United States. He considers the country an evil empire that needs to be confronted,” Orozco said in an interview with National Public Radio (NPR) in January this year. The expert stated that the Sandinista regime has relaxed visa requirements for countries such as Cuba and Haiti, from which a high number of immigrants leave, since November 2021.
“[…] There is money to be made [pela Nicarágua] on each flight that arrives, in the fees charged to airlines and in the airport fees charged to each individual who enters the country,” Orozco told NPRadding that “Nicaragua is responsible for at least 10% of all migration that reached the Mexico-US border.”
US authorities have expressed concern about the Nicaraguan regime’s permissive migration policies, saying they have also contributed to the increase in human trafficking operations.
Various methods
According to the information, the Sandinista regime appears not to be limited to just charging fines to immigrants who use the country to reach the USA.
According to the Confidential, the DGME has also generated significant revenue through the issuance of tourist visas. The portal states that this action has already yielded 21 million córdobas (around US$572,730) for the Sandinista regime’s coffers in the first three months of 2024 alone.
In addition to cards, the scheme also charges fees for using the air terminal, expediting passports, residence procedures and extensions of stay.
Nicaraguan dictatorship was supported by the PT and relativized by Lula
The PT has already expressed support for Ortega. In 2021, the party, in a statement, classified the Sandinista’s victory in the presidential elections, where practically all of his opponents were imprisoned, as a “great popular and democratic demonstration”. Strongly criticized for the action, the party removed the note shortly after publishing it, citing that it “had not been submitted to the party leadership”.
In an interview with El País in 2021before being elected president, Lula downplayed Ortega’s controversial stay in Nicaragua’s leadership, comparing him to Germany’s former federal chancellor Angela Markel.
“Why can Angela Merkel stay in power for 16 years and Daniel Ortega not? What is the logic?” said the PT member at that moment.
During the 2022 presidential debatewhen asked about his support for the Ortega regime by then-president Jair Bolsonaro, his opponent, Lula said he felt “very proud that on July 19, 1980, he went to participate in the commemoration of the anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution [da Nicarágua] who overthrew a 30-year-old dictator called Somoza.”
“Now the political regime in Nicaragua is something that depends on them and Daniel Ortega knows, you know, Chávez knows – that if I wanted to believe in a perpetual mandate, I would have done a third term when they proposed it to me”, stated the PT member in that occasion.
Last year, already leading the government, Lula did not sign a declaration by the United Nations (UN) – supported by the USA, Germany, France and more than 50 countries – which condemned the crimes of the Sandinista regime, accused of persecuting opponents and religious figures . Also in 2023, the PT government asked the UN to establish a “constructive dialogue” with the leftist regime.
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