Good legislation requires effective implementation

On April 16, the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations presented the initiative for the Restoring Sovereignty and Human Rights in Nicaragua Act of 2023 (S.1881), developed jointly by Senators Marco Rubio of the Republican Party and Timothy Kaine of the Democratic Party.

Following the outburst of the 2018 Nicaraguan political crisis, the U.S. Congress passed the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act, known as the Nica Act, that same year. Three years later, a new bill, endorsed by both parties, was passed: Reinforcing Nicaragua’s Adherence to Conditions for Electoral Reform Act of 2021, known as the Renacer Act.

It is important to note that the proposal presented in April shows that there is bipartisan support in Congress to continue exerting pressure around the situation in Nicaragua and to make the authoritarian Ortega Murillo regime pay for the crimes and abuses perpetrated against democratic political actors, civil society organizations, religious institutions, the media and academic institutions in Nicaragua among other sectors of society.

The initiative proposes permanent support for the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN), created by the Human Rights Council of the United Nations (UN), until a solution to the socio-political crisis is achieved. This includes a commitment to hold free and observed elections, the cessation of violence, independent investigations of the murders committed during the protests, and the restoration of citizenship and political and civil rights to the Nicaraguans stripped of these, among them the 222 political prisoners who were expelled to the United States on February 9, 2023, and the group of 94 stripped of their nationality on February 15, 2023.

It is worth mentioning that even though this is an election year in the United States and the world is facing two major armed conflicts, Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas, the Nicaraguan crisis is still present and remains on the agenda of the U.S. Congress.

In the current political climate, this is extremely important because the Nicaraguan crisis should no longer be seen only as a problem of internal order in a small third-world country where human rights are constantly violated, and democracy has been dismantled but as a security problem for the United States and the rest of Central America.

The United States and the region are currently facing an unprecedented migratory crisis, promoted by Daniel Ortega, who eliminated the visa requirement to enter Nicaragua for citizens of Cuba, Haiti, India, and other countries in Asia and Africa, with the support of the governments of Cuba and Venezuela. This has led to the arrival on Nicaraguan soil, by air, of thousands of migrants who then resume their transit by land to the United States. The entry of thousands of irregular migrants is causing a major crisis, with ramifications not only socioeconomic but also in the area of internal security for the United States.

Furthermore, the accelerated political and economic handover of Nicaragua to Russia and China, which prompted Ortega to express his support for Russia in the invasion of Ukraine, led to the inclusion of this issue as one of the new grounds for sanctions in the bill, in the section on the expansion of targeted sanctions.

Along the same line, we can also mention Nicaragua’s failed accusation against Germany in the International Court of Justice. As well as Ortega’s excessive interest in Russia and China becoming part of the Central American Integration System (SICA) and the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN) and the delivery of more than 200,000 hectares of mining concessions to Chinese companies, among many recent examples.

Hence, the importance of this initiative is that it will extend the validity of the Nica Act until 2030 and will combine both the Nica Act and the Renacer Act in this new legislation, which also intends to give the US Government more tools to strike at the economic pillars that sustain the Ortega Murillo dictatorship. The pressures will focus on the mining sector and any other sector determined by US authorities. In addition, diplomatic strategies aimed at restricting the financing Nicaragua receives from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and an exhaustive review of Nicaragua’s participation in the Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Central America, and the Dominican Republic (known as CAFTA-DR) is also contemplated.

It is important to note that this initiative suggests establishing joint diplomatic efforts with the governments of Canada, the European Union, Latin America, and the Caribbean, as well as with the Holy See, the International Red Cross, the United Nations (UN), and the Nicaraguan diaspora in both the United States and Costa Rica.

But we cannot claim victory yet; two tasks remain. The first is to ensure that the initiative continues making its way through the House of Representatives and the Senate and then reaches President Joe Biden for his signature and enactment. We at Concertación Democrática Nicaragüense CDN-Monteverde will focus our efforts on making this happen in the coming months.

The second and most important task is to keep alive the message that good legislation without effective implementation does not produce the desired results. Therefore, the U.S. administration is responsible for making the will of legislators of both parties embodied in this legislation a reality.