Ever since Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo’s dictatorship established diplomatic relations with China in December 2021, three years and seven months have passed, and facts have shown the enormous cost of this decision, not only for Nicaragua but also for Central America and even the United States.

By the end of 2021, Ortega understood that relations with the democratic international community were so damaged that they would not return to the status quo prior to 2018. So, in order to survive, he decided to strengthen relations with China and Russia, and at the same time began a gradual break with the world he had coexisted with since he returned to power in 2007.

The decision to leave the Organization of American States (OAS) in November 2021 and establish relations with China a month later, after breaking ties with Taiwan and focusing on eliminating its presence in Central America, were decisions that set the course for a path of no return, in pursuit of the totalitarian dynastic succession of the Ortega-Murillo family.

Obviously, these decisions have high costs, starting with the aforementioned separation from the democratic world and submissive surrender to the world’s major dictatorships, and the consequent loss of access to the resources that international financial institutions (IFIs) provided to the country.

For this reason, the dictatorship has had no choice but to surrender completely to these dictatorships, in a process that has become practically a second colonization and an institutional setback never seen in Nicaragua’s independent history.

Nicaragua mortgaged to China

This can be seen in the interaction between the dictatorship and China in recent months. Between June and July, among other activities, Nicaraguan officials continued to make multiple trips to China and vice versa. A Chinese delegation participated in the July 19 commemoration, where they seated their delegate alongside the dictators, inaugurated the new headquarters of the Chinese Embassy in Nicaragua, opened the second Confucius Institute and delivered 920 homes built by the Chinese.

Likewise, during these months, the dictatorship continued to mortgage the country to the Chinese. This was done through financing with two new loans of more than $210 million for a digital connectivity project and the modernization of Port of Corinto, and through the granting of mining concessions to Chinese companies.

Given the lack of access to resources from the international community, China has become practically Nicaragua’s main lender, if not its only one. In addition, Chinese companies are taking charge of construction projects, and the Chinese are taking control of sensitive infrastructure such as Puerto Corinto. This deepens the totalitarian control of the state, as these processes lack transparency and private participation.

The Chinese management of the Port of Corinto, the Punta Huete international airport, and the digital connectivity project also pose threats to US security.

In the case of the transfer of natural resources, there has been rapid approval of a large number of mining concessions to various Chinese companies, whose contracts include shady figures linked to the Ortega-Murillo family. This promotes corruption and deters foreign investment in Nicaragua.

Consolidating political trust with the Chinese

Also in early June, Chinese companies began construction in Nicaragua on the third photovoltaic plant they had promised.

In the political arena, as China’s ambassador to Managua, Chen Xi, said during the inauguration of the new diplomatic headquarters: “Political trust has been consolidated more and more every day.” An example of this is Nicaragua’s decision to join the Chinese International Mediation Organization, which seeks to attract dictatorships to separate themselves from the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The statements made by dictator Ortega at the Air Force anniversary ceremony, affirming that China will provide military support to Nicaragua, are another example of what this new colonization is producing.

It is no coincidence that according to the China Index 2024, which measures that country’s level of penetration in the world between 2022 and 2024, Nicaragua and Chile are the countries most influenced by the Asian giant in the period mentioned, even though that index does not yet incorporate what happened in 2025, which has further accelerated Nicaragua’s surrender to the Chinese.

From the Nicaraguan Democratic Concertation (CDN), we urge the international community, especially the United States, to turn its attention to Nicaragua and take note of the threat posed by the Ortega Murillos’ surrender to these dictatorships in exchange for support to permanently entrench themselves in power.

Blood tourism and sportswashing by the Ortega Murillo regime

For dictators Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, controlling the narrative of events is essential to ensuring their continued hold on power and controlling society, manipulating public opinion to guarantee the loyalty of their structures and impose disinformation.

}One of the first measures they promoted to distort reality was to eliminate all independent media outlets, including those belonging to religious groups. In addition, they denationalized and forced nearly 300 journalists, commentators, and media owners into exile.

The elimination of all critical voices led them to imprison and exile priests, religious leaders, and evangelical pastors; to close more than 5,000 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and all private universities to end academic freedom in public universities.

They persecute anyone with political or social leadership or the ability to narrate reality. Through their monopoly on communication, which includes monitoring and tracking social media, they distort the truth by manipulating facts and spreading misinformation.

The imposition of the official version of peace and love, which only exists in the cruel mind of Rosario Murillo, includes prohibiting cable companies from offering international news channels and specific programs.

Content creators are banned

International journalists are also restricted from entering the country and, because they identify themselves as such, are restricted from reporting from Nicaragua. This measure extends to many YouTubers and other content creators, even those who focus on tourism, and when they manage to cross the border and are found recording, they are subject to police harassment along with their Nicaraguan collaborators.

The elimination of historical memory has been a constant practice since the massacres and extrajudicial executions committed by the dictatorship beginning in April 2018. This effort includes: preventing the distribution of books or historical novels alluding to the crisis and the presentation of documentaries, removing the crosses that family members and friends installed in the places where the victims fell to the bullets of police and paramilitaries, and even going so far as to force the Catholic hierarchy to erase from the walls of the Divina Misericordia church in Managua the traces of bullets and destruction caused by the attack in which two students were killed and several others wounded.

The refusal to allow international organizations and human rights NGOs to enter the country and the withdrawal of various international organizations from the country, in order to avoid uncomfortable witnesses, is part of the policy of distorting the truth and imposing the official narrative, which in recent times has been accompanied by strong campaigns to promote tourism, sporting events, and concerts.

The dictatorship imposes so-called blood tourism, which promotes visiting a country with a long history of violence, massacres, and human rights abuses, seeking to ignore and hide these dark facts that remain unpunished.

Sportswashing to improve image

Similarly, they use sportswashing as a tool to improve the country’s image and reputation, hoping that the sporting events they organize will make people forget about crimes against humanity.

They seek the same with the constant concerts featuring renowned artists. When they visit Nicaragua, they ignore the serious human rights crisis in a country subjected to a regime of terror, where its inhabitants enjoy no freedom or human rights and live in fear, compelled to accept the official narrative and subjected to the will of the family that has established a dynastic dictatorship.

The heavy investment made by the Ortega-Murillo to promote Nicaragua as a great tourist destination in prestigious international media with large audiences, the organization of high-level sports competitions, and recreational events led by popular artists seek to divert attention from the country’s crisis and the suffering of its citizens, distracting the international press from the problems and criticism of the dictatorship.

Taking as an example the rejection of blood diamonds, due to their association with pain and death because of war, the Nicaraguan Democratic Concertation (CDN) calls on tour operators, travelers, athletes, and international artists to learn about the reality in Nicaragua and to stop participating in the Ortega Murillo dictatorship’s attempts to hide the truth and promote a non-existent normality. Furthermore, it warns those who get involved, attracted by promotions, to be aware that they are being exploited by those who do not respect human dignity.