The U.S. Congress, through the Upper House of the Senate and the Lower House of Representatives, has shown, through hearings, interviews with leaders, and proposed legislation that puts more pressure on Nicaragua, that it is still interested in helping to resolve the socio-political crisis  the country  has been facing for the past six years.

The most recent actions are Senate Bill 1881 and House Bill HB 6954 (Restoring Sovereignty and Human Rights in Nicaragua Act of 2023), both under the same title.

Both proposals include similar but not identical contents. Once approved by the subcommittees and submitted to a vote in the plenary sessions of each House, they will enter the final process to become law, which is generally a minor task.

In April 2024, a Senate Committee on Foreign Relations subcommittee approved its proposal. The bill’s purpose is to evaluate performance and accountability for the Nicaraguan State’s transgressions in the absence of a functional and democratic rule of law.

The bill is awaiting to be scheduled for a vote in the full Senate after the 2024 summer recess. It was formulated to extend the Nicaraguan Conditionality Act until 2030. The bill has eight particular items that will allow for policy actions by the U.S. government.

The items extending authority to the Nica Act of 2018 retain aspects referring to sanctions, which now include (Sec. 103 and 104) those who have participated in acts of repression against religious authorities. It also extends sanctions to the structures of the Army through the Military Social Security Institute (IPSM).

In addition, it establishes that it must scrutinize the execution of loans granted by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI). Although the United States is not a member of CABEI, it can indirectly exert pressure against the financial decisions made by the institution that benefit the regime.

The Title II section refers to the Free Trade Agreement between the Dominican Republic, Central America, and the United States (known as DR-CAFTA) and introduces elements present in the Renacer Act related to the review of the trade agreement. In other words, it extends and maintains the subject matter. The important thing is that Congress is emphasizing that trade with Nicaragua cannot continue under the same terms amid a dictatorship.

A new and significant component is the emphasis on section 203, which invokes the Trade Act of 1974. This determines that if a trading partner is a country that does not behave like a market economy, then the United States will have the discretion to impose tariffs and other measures.

The Act provides that “it is the principal statutory authority under which the United States may impose trade sanctions on foreign countries that violate trade agreements or engage in other unfair trade practices.” In addition, “when negotiations to eliminate the offending trade practice fail, the United States may take action to increase import duties on the foreign country’s products as a measure to rebalance lost concessions”.

Other proposal components include collaboration with the United Nations on human rights issues.  Section 301 opens the door to support the civic democratic movement.

Approval of this bill is very likely. However, the approval of the preliminary bill in the Lower House is required. This bill will enter three subcommittees in the period after the summer recess.

The probability of this bill’s approval before the end of the year or before the November 2024 elections is intermediate or more likely.

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.