Nicaragua News
Muffadal Saylawa, Founder and CEO of Oro Chocolate, was en route to Chocoa, Europe’s largest sustainable chocolate convention, when disaster struck. He was traveling well-prepared, having bought plane tickets to Amsterdam, booked an airb&b, rented a booth at the convention, and recruited his sister to help with sales – Muffadal was filled with hope for taking his gourmet chocolate company to t...
During the daily press conference carried out by the health authorities in Costa Rica this Wednesday, June 10, they confirmed 86 new cases of Covid-19 in the country, this is the highest number registered since the virus reached the country. This brings the total number of Covid-19 positive cases to 1,461, out of which 722 are already recovered and 12 have died. 1,146 are Costa Rican citizens w...
(Photo: Archive) Back on May 16 the Costa Rican Government announced its decision to limit the entry of foreign cargo drivers to the country with the purpose of preventing borders from eventually becoming an area of transmission of Covid-19. Before this Presidential decree Costa Rica was testing all cargo drivers for Covid-19 before entering the country, situation that was causing delays with ...
The United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, expressed during a press conference this Wednesday, his concern about the situation of Covid-19 in Nicaragua and particularly how this country has chosen to handle the pandemic. “ (regarding Nicaragua) We’re concerned about numerous credible reports of hospitals filling up and bodies being buried under cover of night, pointing to a much more se...
The Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the OAS, ambassador Montserrat Solano who is currently functioning as President of the Permanent Council (through Dec. 31), confirmed today that she received the request of the Secretary General, Luis Almagro, to apply the Inter-American Democratic Charter in Nicaragua’s Case. “We received the request from the Secretary General, and as it correspon...
Costa Rica deplored the growing repression in Nicaragua and reminded the Government of its obligation to “respect human rights of all people as well as the undeniable need to reopen dialogue”. The situation in Nicaragua was the topic of discussion when the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States held a special meeting on Thursday, December 27, in Simón Bolívar Hall at OAS head...
The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States will hold a special meeting on Thursday, December 27, at 10:00 EST (15:00 GMT) in Simón Bolívar Hall at OAS headquarters in Washington, DC to consider the situation in Nicaragua. ¨Our country will preside over the meeting of the OAS through its Permanent Representative, Ambassador, Montserrat Solano Carboni, and will raise its voice t...
The Government of Costa Rica deplores the announcement of preventive imprisonment ordered today by a Nicaraguan court against Nicaraguan-Costa Rican journalist Lucía Pineda Ubau, of media channel "100% Noticias" of Nicaragua. Pineda was accused by the Nicaraguan government of terrorist acts and inciting hatred, among other charges, and she was put in preventive custody. Her first hearing was se...
Costa Rica’s Consulate in Managua, Nicaragua had to activate the mechanisms and protocols of protection of nationals in response to the arrest of the Costa Rican-Nicaraguan journalist Lucía Pineda Ubau of 100% Noticias. The ad interim Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lorena Aguilar Revelo, gave instructions to the Consulate of Costa Rica in Nicaragua to begin the necessary procedures to request fro...
The United States announced economic sanctions against Nicaragua’s Vice-President and First Lady, Rosario Murillo and President Ortega’s National Security Adviser, Nestor Moncada Lau, for “engaging in rampant corruption, dismantling of democratic institutions, serious human rights abuse, and exploitation of the people and public resources of Nicaragua for private gain”, states the press release. ...
The ongoing crisis in Nicaragua motivated the decision of Canadian airline "Air Transat" to cancel all flights to this Central American country during the upcoming winter. The information was confirmed by Air Transat this Thursday, October 25, and justified their decision “due to the ongoing civil unrest and the weak demand of service”. This airline had three flights a week scheduled from T...
During the Organization of American States (OAS) Assembly that took place on Friday, Costa Rica’s delegate Rita Hernández condemned in her speech the actions of Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega in violently repressing the protests against his government, actions that have left over 350 deaths according the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (CIDH). The statements of Hernández bothere...
On Sunday, October 14 the Nicaraguan Police repressed protesters in a violent manner, a situation that concluded with the arrest of 38 people, among them a Costa Rican and an American. In response to the situation, the Costa Rican government called on an immediate cease of the repression and arbitrary detentions against those participating in protests. “Costa Rica backs the concerns express...
Nicaraguan Police repressed today a group of protesters and detained some 38 people, among them 2 Costa Ricans, when they planned to march on the streets of Managua against President Daniel Ortega. The movement denominated “United for liberty” began at 9 a.m. in Managua and it was organized by the National White and Blue Unit group that is constituted by close to 40 organizations including stud...
The number of Nicaraguans requesting asylum and migrating to Costa Rica shows a considerable decrease since September. June and July this year registered the highest numbers of refugee requests, however, according to Raquel Vargas, director of the General Directorate of Migration, the number of requests received in September was only of a 50% in comparison to the month of August, “During the mo...
The U.S.Embassy in Managua Nicaragua urges American citizens living or visiting Nicaragua to stay informed of scheduled demonstrations, which many times are also subject to change with little or no notice. The U.S. Embassy constantly provides information on these activities through their website and social media channels with the idea that citizens take all necessary precautions. These are so...
OAS: The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) today passed a resolution on the "Recent Events in Nicaragua". Member States express their "strong condemnation regarding acts of violence, repression and human rights violations and abuses" committed against the people of Nicaragua, as documented by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Office of the United Na...
STATEMENT BY HEATHER NAUERT, SPOKESPERSON The United States condemns the Ortega government’s recent arbitrary detention of six prominent student members of the National Dialogue. These students are the latest example of the thousands of citizens who are peacefully and democratically protesting government actions, only to be harassed, detained, disappeared, or even killed. Five of these students...
President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega denied in an exclusive interview with EFE in Managua that his government has used repressive measures to suppress protests and said he does not feel responsible for the deaths that have resulted from the confrontations on the streets between the civil and the authorities that began back in April this year; Ortega, instead, blames the United States and internat...
The Migratory (Immigration) Police carried out operations with the collaboration of the Public Police Force in different areas of the country to detect the presence of immigrants who remain in the country illegally. According to the General Directorate of Migration another operation was carried out last Friday in 21 locations within the country. The areas of importance were communities with a h...
The Government of Nicaragua informed this Friday that they consider the mission of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in their country as "terminated", this comes only two days after the OHCHR filed a critical report regarding the repression in the Central American country. This past Wednesday, the OHCHR had stated that it had encountered obstacles “in conducting its...
President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, stated during a public act that he would be formally asking Costa Rica “for a list of those requesting refuge or asylum in Costa Rica” so that he could go through and identify all those that are related to crimes in Nicaragua. “We will tell them, ‘from this list these are the ones that are accused of crimes, because they tortured, because they killed, beca...
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will extend the technical and financial cooperation it gives to the General Directorate of Migration in Costa Rica with the objective of strengthening the attention to the public in response to the increase in the number of asylum requests. Raquel Vargas, Director of Migration, explained that this donation is the result of efforts made by the Co...
The Working Group on Nicaragua of the Permanent Council of the OAS (Organization of American States) formed by representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico, Panama, Peru and the United States, sent out the following press release: "The OAS' Working Group on Nicaragua reiterates its strong condemnation of the acts of violence, repression, hum...
President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado, spoke today regarding the protests and acts of aggression which occurred on Saturday in San Jose against Nicaraguans in the country. “Costa Rica is known to be a country of peace that respects the rights of others. The majority of the immigrants that arrive to Costa Rica are good people who are looking for job opportunities and different forms to contri...
The Nicaraguan government announced that the Working Group of the Organization of American States (OAS) is “not welcome” in their territory. “They are not welcome in our country, and for this reason they will not be received in our Nation’s soil”, stated the release read by chancellor Denis Moncada during a government’s act. The Working Group, formed by representatives of 12 countries, among...
Costa Rica joined the Organization of American States (OAS) Working Group on Nicaragua, "whose mandate is to contribute to the search for peaceful and sustainable solutions to the evolving situation in Nicaragua, including through consultations with the Government of Nicaragua." The Working Group for Nicaragua is composed of a representative of each regional group and other Member States and mu...
The crisis that continues to affect Nicaragua has left 70,000 people out of jobs according to Lucy Valenti , President of Nicaragua’s National Tourism Chamber (CANATUR). After almost 4 months of violence in the streets, several hotels have been forced to closed their doors due to the decrease in the number of clients. Back in June Volaris Airlines had announced the suspension of its flights ...
Recently, the General Directorate of Migration in Costa Rica had to implement a call center service to handle the large number of appointments for refugee applications, the majority of which come from Nicaraguan citizens. Even though, the Director of Migration, Raquel Vargas and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Epsy Campbell have stated in different occasions that the situation is still not con...
The United States strongly condemns the ongoing violence in Nicaragua and human rights abuses committed by the Ortega regime in response to protests. After years of fraudulent elections and the regime’s manipulation of Nicaraguan law – as well as the suppression of civil society, opposition parties, and independent media – the Nicaraguan people have taken to the streets to call for democratic refo...
(Press Release - US Embassy Managua) On Thursday, July 19, the celebration of the Sandinista Revolution will take place in Managua. The event is scheduled to take place at 2:00 p.m. at Plaza la Fe, although attendees will likely gather before noon. U.S. Government personnel have been advised to remain in their neighborhoods during the celebration. Road closures and traffic disruptions are expe...
The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) presided by Ambassador of Costa Rica Rita Hernandez approved a resolution condemning the acts of violence in Nicaragua and called on all parties to participate “actively and in good faith” in the National Dialogue and urged the Government “to support an electoral calendar”. The resolution approved by the Permanent Council with 2...
The tourism industry in Nicaragua is one of the most affected as a result of the crisis that goes now on three months and has left close to 350 people dead and thousands injured. During the month of June, Volaris Airlines had announced the suspension of its flights from Costa Rica to Nicaragua, and hotels such as Mukul Auberge Resorts Collection in Rivas, the Seminole Hotel and the Teodolinda M...
“The Government of Costa Rica strongly condemns the use of violence in students and citizens on the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAM)”; the Costa Rican government made the statement this Sunday when ten people were killed and dozens more wounded in clashes in Nicaragua. “For decades Costa Rica has dedicated to promoting peace and liberty, democracy and development, for this rea...
A Costa Rican man of name Vicente Rappaccioli Navas who also held Nicaraguan nationality was confirmed dead by his family. The 60-year-old man had been reported missing since June 26 and was last seen as he was leaving his house in Diriamba, Carazo 60 km south of Managua, on his way to the city of San Marcos and aboard his Mitsubishi Montero truck. Family members posted his photo and informa...
Under the slogan, “Together we are a Volcano” (Juntos somos un volcán) thousands of Nicaraguans took to the streets of Managua this Thursday, July 12 to demand the resignation of President Daniel Ortega. The march is the first of three days of scheduled protests against the Nicaraguan government, this Friday protesters call for a national strike and on Saturday a civic caravan. Ortega however, ref...
Nicaraguan college students are looking into the possibility of continuing their studies in the University of Costa Rica (UCR) to avoid having their careers interrupted as a consequence of the crisis in their country. So far ten students have been accepted by the UCR through the figure of student exchanges or student mobility, but another 45 requests have been received by the Office of Interna...
Thousands of supporters of the government of President Daniel Ortega marched this Saturday in Managua, Nicaragua to chants of “He stays, my commander stays!”, “We want peace!”. President Ortega finally broke silence with regards to the demands of early elections made by protestors and ruled out this possibility, speaking to supporters and state employees, he stated: “The rules here are set b...
PRESS RELEASE Reconsider travel to Nicaragua due to crime, civil unrest, and limited healthcare availability. On July 6, 2018, the U.S. government ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel. The U.S. Embassy remains open to provide emergency services for U.S. citizens. Heavily armed, government-controlled parapolice forces in civilian clothing, sometimes numbering i...
The General Directorate of Migration in Costa Rica will be extending the length of tourist Visas to Nicaraguan citizens from three to six months with the purpose of giving them additional time to remain in Costa Rica legally considering the critical situation affecting Nicaragua. Raquel Vargas, director of Migration said, that the extension from three to six months for tourist Visas to Nicarag...