Nicaragua’s ruling family has largely resisted sanctions imposed by the United States in recent years, when US officials accused the country’s dictatorship of leaning toward autocracy.
Now, it seems, the Ortega’s resolve may be wavering.
Shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the most prominent son of dictator Daniel Ortega discreetly approached Washington to restart dialogue, according to officials and diplomats familiar with the matter, as the Joe Biden administration imposed sanctions on Moscow, one of the few remaining allies of the Central American country.
The key theme on his mind: relief from family sanctions.
Laureano Ortega’s meteoric rise helped his family consolidate power. Today he manages Nicaragua’s most important relationships, forging diplomatic and energy deals with high-level Chinese and Russian diplomats.
A senior US State Department official was sent to the Nicaraguan capital, Managua, to meet with Laureano Ortega in March, but the meeting did not take place, as the Ortega apparently became wary. Laureano, 40, is seen by some analysts as the favorite to succeed his father, the 76-year-old former revolutionary leader, who is said to be in poor health.
Despite Daniel Ortega’s friction with Washington, Nicaragua’s economy depends heavily on the United States, the country’s biggest trading partner. Russia, Venezuela and Cuba, Ortega’s staunch allies, are not on Nicaragua’s list of top five trading partners.
But sanctions aimed at thwarting Ortega’s dictatorial tendencies have hit the family and his inner circle hard. High-ranking generals and several of the president’s sons, including Laureano, were punished by Washington, their companies blacklisted and accused of laundering money for the regime.
The high-profile character of the opening was taken by Washington as a sign that Latin America’s autocracies may be rethinking their alliance with Russian President Vladimir Putin, while his country’s armed forces are bogged down in Ukraine and its economy devastated. by sanctions.
The Biden administration hopes to make inroads with Putin’s Latin American partners, portraying Russia as a declining power with little to offer.
On March 5, shortly after the invasion of Ukraine, senior US officials flew to Venezuela for talks, the highest-level negotiations between the countries in many years. Those negotiations secured the release of two imprisoned Americans, while Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro indicated a willingness to increase his country’s oil production if Russian oil exports were banned.
The United States quickly banned Russian oil, and the European Union is about to impose its own embargo.
The Nicaraguan regime is in a precarious financial situation. “Russia can’t give them money right now, and the Venezuelan wallet is closed,” said Arturo McFields, former Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), who resigned in March in protest against Daniel Ortega’s dictatorial regime. .
McFields said he was briefed on Nicaragua’s contact with Washington before resigning and added that the Ortega family and their inner circle are suffering under Washington’s sanctions.
The president’s children are unable to lead the comfortable lives they have become accustomed to, while the money needed to pay pro-government paramilitaries or expand the police force to handle growing dissent dwindles each month, McFields and a former senior US official said. .
With Russia and Venezuela also exposed to sanctions, Nicaragua has no one to turn to for economic relief, McFields said.
Speaking of the Ortegas, he said: “The family needs money to keep their cronies, the police and their paramilitaries happy, because they have nothing to offer other than repression.” He added: “But they know this is not good, because they are creating a cauldron for another April 2018″—a reference to the massive protests against Ortega that were violently suppressed by police and pro-government paramilitary groups.
Laureano intended to secure sanctions relief for the Ortega and their inner circle in exchange for the release of political prisoners, a priority for the Biden administration, according to US officials with knowledge of the negotiations.
Daniel Ortega’s spokeswoman and vice president, his wife, Rosario Murillo, did not respond to questions about the negotiations; instead, she sent emails with “revolutionary” slogans. In the past, she has denounced sanctions as imperialist aggression.
A senior State Department official said it was unclear whether Laureano Ortega’s approach was motivated by fears that Russia’s growing isolation would affect the Ortega regime, which is increasingly seen as a rogue state by much of America. Latina, or whether it was the by-product of internal dissent between the family and the “old guard”—the dictator’s allies since his Sandinista days, who work under his regime.
As the family tightens its grip on the state, members of the old guard are increasingly at odds with the Ortega – uncomfortable with their growing dynastic ambitions – and are also affected by Washington’s sanctions, according to the US official and McFields. . The State Department official spoke on condition of anonymity because it was a sensitive matter that was not disclosed.
“A key takeaway from this opening is that the US sanctions on Nicaragua are clearly of concern to the family,” said Dan Restrepo, who was national security adviser for Latin America to former President Barack Obama. “Probably even more so as the US ramps up its sanctions regime against Russia. This combination is clearly taking a toll on regime members.”
If the Ortega family is willing to discuss the release of political prisoners, Washington will get involved, the State Department official added. Otherwise, the US is preparing to put additional pressure on the regime, with more sanctions.
Laureano Ortega approached Washington through a third party, said the official, who declined to comment further. Another person familiar with the negotiations said Ortega approached the State Department through Nicaragua’s ambassador to Washington, Francisco Obadiah Campbell Hooker.
When contacted by phone, Campbell denied it and said he had no knowledge of the matter.
Laureano Ortega is the presidential adviser who manages Nicaragua’s trade, investment and international relations. Last year, he met with China’s deputy foreign minister to sign an agreement withdrawing Nicaragua’s recognition of Taiwan and forged the first nuclear cooperation agreement with Russia.
Daniel Ortega often consults with his wife, Murillo, before making major policy decisions, McFields and a US official said, in a relationship so close that the couple is often referred to as “OrMu”, a mixture of their surnames.
It is unclear whether Laureano Ortega or Murillo will eventually replace Daniel Ortega, according to analysts and US officials. Murillo is in her 70s and, if chosen, she could hold the presidency for a period before handing the reins to her son.
“Laureano doesn’t have enough autonomy to move a finger without having the full agreement of Ortega and Murillo,” said Carlos Fernando Chamorro Barrios, a Nicaraguan journalist who fled last year, just months before his sister, Cristiana Chamorro, a presidential candidate, was arrested. .
​
“Laureano is used as a messenger by his mother and father. That’s as high as he could go.”
