Nicaragua’s communist government has given China control of the country’s gold mines in a questionable procedure, Argentine news outlet Infobae has reported. report On the weekend.
Amar Ruiz, a Nicaraguan biologist and activist, told Infobay that the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega has granted at least 13 mining concessions to three Chinese companies in the past six months in an “unusual” process. The concessions were approved quickly and without due process, in some cases just two months after application, she said.
The 13 leases reportedly grant Chinese companies Zhongfu Development, Thomas Metals and Nicaragua’s Xinxin Linze Mining Group exclusive rights to explore and exploit deposits covering about 250,000 hectares for 25 years, renewable for another 25 years.
According to a report by Infobae, the three companies will control 11.66 percent of all mining areas ever leased by communist dictator Daniel Ortega, which official sources estimate to cover around 2 million hectares.
“We don’t even know if there are environmental impact studies that go along with the granting of these permits,” Lewis said. “The time frame in which the permits are granted is so short compared to other processes for other companies that we don’t believe there are any environmental impact studies.”
In recent years, gold has been Nicaragua’s largest export. register Gold export revenues in 2023 will exceed $1.1 billion, up 22.4 percent compared to 2022.
In May, the U.S. Sanctions Regarding Cominza and Capital Mining, two Nicaraguan gold mining companies with ties to the Ortega regime, the Treasury Department explained that Cominza is owned by Salvador Mancer Castrillo, who served as Minister of Energy and Mines in the Ortega administration and was one of its senior officials. Authorized By the United States in 2021.
Similarly, the U.S. Treasury Department explained in a May statement that Capital Mining acts as an intermediary for the Ortega regime in Nicaragua’s gold mining sector, which is controlled by dictator Daniel Ortega’s son, Laureano Ortega Murillo.
“The designation of Cominza and Capital Mining targets government-controlled gold mining companies that generate revenue for the Ortega Murillo regime,” the Treasury Department said. “Gold is Nicaragua’s main export, and these actions are intended to reduce the Ortega Murillo regime’s ability to manipulate the gold mining industry and profit from the corrupt practices of Cominza and Capital Mining.”
America used to be Imposed Sanctions, due to be imposed in October 2022 on Nicaragua’s General Directorate of Mines, were aimed at curbing the authoritarian Ortega regime’s ability to raise funds with gold mining revenues.
Ruiz is the founder of Fundación del Río, a non-governmental organization that advocates for environmental protection. China’s invasion of Nicaragua’s mining industry began in secret, Infobae explained. China’s invasion of Nicaragua’s mining industry began in secret, Infobae explained.
“Initially, they acted as middlemen. So they started with at least two companies. One of them was Heights Resources Development. That company did not emerge as a concession owner in its own right, but it was operating in southeastern Nicaragua and partnered with a company called Topacio SA, which had a concession, but it was El Lama, not in southeastern Nicaragua,” Ruiz said.
“What we’ve seen initially is that they are trying to enter both the industrial concession market and the small-scale mining market,” he continued. “If sanctions are reinstated, these three companies that are on the register will enter directly with permits.”
The environmental activist said Ortega’s government was trying to avoid sanctions on the gold mining industry, which he said “have had, in my opinion, a very limited impact.”
“So while the mining industry continues to export at levels in excess of $1.1 billion, the impact has been greater in the media than it has actually had on the mining industry,” Lewis said.
“But in addition to circumventing sanctions in the short term, China’s presence aims to transform Nicaragua’s mining market, replacing the United States as the country’s main gold buyer and incorporating companies that are not dependent on the U.S. market,” he continued.
Lewis pointed out that China’s presence does not mean gold is being exported to China, arguing that the country’s export market remains unchanged.
“Markets like Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates are growing, but the U.S. market remains the same,” Lewis said.
The Ortega administration has accelerated business ties with China since January 2022, when Nicaragua formally signed an agreement with China. Participated China’s predatory Belt and Road (BRI) debt-trap program.
Nicaragua joined the BRI one month after the Ortega dictatorship took control of the country. break China has worsened ties with Taiwan, accepting Communist China’s “One China principle” and falsely claiming that Taiwan is a sovereign province of China.
China Elevated In December, it upgraded its relationship with Nicaragua to a “strategic partnership,” but this is the first official start A “lifeboat” free trade agreement (FTA) was signed between the two countries on January 1st.
Reports Published A report in early June said Nicaragua had received four loans from China totaling $567 million between January and May. The four loans, which sparked concerns that President Ortega had undermined Nicaragua’s future, have boosted the country’s public debt, which local media estimates will exceed $10 billion by the third quarter of 2023.
Christian K. Caruso is a Venezuelan author documenting life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter. here.
