The Superior Council of Private Enterprise (Cosep), Nicaragua’s main employer, was dissolved this Monday (6) by law after 32 years of existence, in one of the hardest blows ever dealt by the Daniel Ortega regime against business chambers from the country.
The dissolution of Cosep, created on December 26, 1991, was approved by the Minister of the Interior of Nicaragua, María Amelia Coronel Kinloch, and published in the official newspaper La Gaceta.
Along with Cosep, another 18 business chambers belonging to the employer were dissolved, including the Nicaragua Chamber Mining Association (Caminic), created on October 10, 1995 and to which companies that extract and sell gold, the main product of export from the country.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the chambers registered as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) did not complete the cadastral validation process or presented inconsistencies in the information.
Among other reasons, he alleged unjustified changes in accounts, unexplained balance differences in accounts and that they did not inform details of income and expenses.
“With these actions, these organizations do not promote policies of transparency in the administration and management of their funds”, argued the Ministry of the Interior.
In its last communiqué, dated February 13, Cosep had thanked the Ortega government for the release of 222 Nicaraguan prisoners, including seven members of that entity, and considered that this was “a great step towards starting unity”.
The employer also extended its thanks to the people and government of the United States “for receiving them and offering them all the attention”.
Among the seven freed, expatriate and denationalized Cosep members are Michael Healy and Álvaro Vargas, who presided over the employer’s entity when they were arrested for crimes considered treason to the country.
Also on the list is businessman José Adán Aguerri Chamorro, who headed Cosep for 13 years, during which he promoted a consensual alliance with the Ortega government and the Sandinista unions.
Nicaraguan authorities released and expelled a group of 222 political prisoners to the United States on February 9, including seven opponents who tried to challenge the dictator in the last elections, according to the decision of an Appeals Court in Managua.
A day later, Nicaraguan authorities withdrew Nicaraguan nationality from the 222 prisoners, including the seven from Cosep.
These 222 Nicaraguan prisoners, including opposition leaders, priests, human rights defenders, Sandinista dissidents, journalists, businessmen and critics of the Ortega government, were also permanently disqualified from holding public or elected office and had their citizenship rights suspended for the entire life.
Nicaragua has been experiencing a political and social crisis since April 2018, which has worsened after the general elections of November 7, 2021, in which Ortega was re-elected for a fifth term, the fourth consecutive and the second together with his wife, Rosario Murillo. , as vice president, with his main competitors in prison or exile.
Another aggravating factor was the absence of independent international observers – the Nicaraguan dictatorship only gave credentials to 170 “international escorts” from foreign entities ideologically identified with Sandinismo, such as the communist parties in Argentina and Spain.
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