Inadequate rule of law, political instability, reputational risk, and the arbitrary enforcement of government regulations remain the primary challenges facing U.S. companies in Nicaragua.

The Nicaraguan Customs Authority (DGA) regularly subjects shipments of goods to bureaucratic delays, arbitrary valuations, and excessive fines.  In some cases, shipments are held for weeks or months without justification.  The Nicaraguan Tax Authority (DGI) has increased the frequency, duration, and scope of audits on businesses.  In some cases, these audits take several months and require businesses to dedicate office space and support staff to the auditors.  Some businesses reported that up to eight different government entities – including labor authorities, social security authorities, and city and regional tax authorities – have arrived at the same time to conduct audits.

An extremely weak legal environment and limited rule of law give affected businesses limited options to address these issues.  Businesses facing adverse administrative actions are unlikely to find legal remedies in the judicial system.  The judicial system is not independent, subject to corruption, and frequently used by the regime to punish political opponents.  Property rights are difficult to defend.  The number of property expropriations, land invasions, and property confiscations has increased significantly since 2018. 

For years, prominent business chambers negotiated directly with the Ortega regime and provided input and recommendations for government economic policy decisions.  Under this “dialogue and consensus” model, chambers met with influential government officials to resolve common business issues on behalf of members.  This model began to deteriorate when Rosario Murillo became Vice President in 2017 and often disregarded chambers’ advice.  Nicaragua’s private sector arrangement of ad hoc deals broke down completely when private sector leaders issued statements critical of the regime’s violent crackdown during the pro-democracy protests and government repression in 2018.  In March 2023, the Nicaraguan government revoked the legal status of Nicaragua’s preeminent business chamber COSEP and 18 member chambers, froze their bank accounts, and confiscated the organization’s assets.  The government alleged the organizations had “failed to complete the registration process” to operate in the country.  Businesses currently have few options to resolve commercial issues with the government.

Businesses operating in Nicaragua must contend with some of the highest energy prices in the region.  Local experts state power losses (including theft), nontransparent local power generation, opaque regional power purchase contracts, and dependency on fossil fuels for power generation drive high energy costs.  A complicated electricity tariff structure subsidizes some users at the expense of others, with larger consumers generally paying the highest costs.  Key information about monitoring and auditing of the electricity market is not publicly available.  The Nicaraguan government nationalized the electricity distribution company Disnnorte-Dissur in 2020.  Businesses in Nicaragua face considerable uncertainty in planning for long-term energy costs.

The range of entities sanctioned by the United States, Canada, or the European Union demonstrates the pervasiveness of abusive and anti-democratic behavior throughout the government.  Sanctioned entities include but are not limited to:

• Vice President and First Lady Rosario Murillo, who has systematically sought to dismantle democratic institutions and loot the wealth of Nicaragua
• President of the National Assembly Gustavo Porras, who presided over significant National Assembly actions or policies that undermined democratic processes or institutions in Nicaragua
• Then-Minister of Health Sonia Castro, whose Ministry refused to treat victims of violent regime repression, fired hundreds of medical personnel who treated protesters, and reported admitted protesters to parapolice, who then removed them from hospitals
• Minister of Finance Ivan Acosta, who arranges financial support for the Ortega regime
• Commander-in-Chief of the Army Julio Aviles, who armed “parapolice” that carried out acts of violence and human rights abuses against the Nicaraguan people
• Laureano Ortega Murillo, son of Ortega and Murillo, who serves as Promotion Advisor of Nicaraguan business facilitation agency Pro-Nicaragua and engaged in corrupt business deals in which foreign investors paid for preferential access to the Nicaraguan economy
• Multiple government officials who manipulated the electoral process to ensure Ortega and his allies prevailed in fraudulent elections, repressed protestors, and silenced independent media.
• Director of the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute Roberto Lopez, who orchestrated Ortega’s use of public retirement funds to reward loyalists, defraud Nicaraguans, and target political opponents
• The entire Nicaraguan National Police, which implements the repressive policies of the Ortega regime
• The state Mining Company ENIMINAS, which funneled profits from gold mining to the regime. 
• Three Nicaraguan judicial officials for revoking the citizenship of more than 300 Nicaraguan citizens.