US Sanctions Nicaragua-Based Russian Training Center and Two Gold Mining Companies

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs Training Center in Managua (RTC), the International Mining Company Ltd (Comintsa), and Capital Mining Investment Nicaragua Ltd.

According to the statement, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) "is targeting the Ortega-Murillo regime’s repression of the Nicaraguan people and its ability to manipulate the gold sector and profit from corrupt operations."

The Treasury Department states that the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs' training center in Managua "trains those under the Ortega-Murillo regime's command with "the Russian authoritarian government’s playbook of oppression."

"[The training center] is a key actor in the Nicaraguan regime’s repression of civil society and unjust detention and imprisonment of individuals for expressing dissent, or otherwise peacefully exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms" says the statement. 

The statement also points to the two mining companies as being "government-affiliated gold companies generating revenue for the Ortega-Murillo regime."

The statement affirms that "Gold is Nicaragua’s top commodity export, and this action aims to degrade the ability of the Ortega-Murillo regime to manipulate the sector and profit from the corrupt operations of COMINTSA and Capital Mining."

The statement indicates that Comintsa "is owned and managed by Salvador Mansell Castrillo, who is under OFAC sanctions," while Capital Mining is described as "an intermediary in the gold sector controlled by Laureano Ortega Murillo and Mansell Castrillo".

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Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson stated that “[b]y leveraging the training it receives from the Russia-backed RTC and the revenue it generates from exploiting the gold sector, the Ortega-Murillo regime has continued its anti-democratic campaign of repression against its citizens." 

“The United States remains committed to using our tools to support the Nicaraguan people, including by constraining the Ortega-Murillo regime’s ability to fund its oppressive and destabilizing activities,” Nelson added.

Following the sanctions, all U.S. citizens will be prohibited from transacting with these entities, and any assets they hold in the United States will be blocked..

Visa restrictions for more than 250 people

Additionally, the U.S. State Department reported that it imposed visa restrictions on more than 250 employees of the Nicaraguan government, including police and paramilitary personnel, prison officials, prosecutors, judges and higher education officials, as well as select non-governmental actors.

The State Department emphasizes that these individuals were included in the visa restrictions "for their roles in supporting the Ortega-Murillo regime in its attacks on human rights and fundamental freedoms, its repression of civil society organizations and for profiting off of vulnerable migrants."

The State Department statement notes that "Daniel Ortega, Rosario Murillo, and those under their command continue to unjustly detain those who courageously advocate for a free civil society, freedom of religion and freedom of expression."

This article was published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by our staff. To get the most relevant news from our English coverage delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Dispatch.