Nicaraguan Newspapers Confidentiality Reported Russia said on Sunday it had set up a spy center at one of Nicaragua's military bases, with the backing of the country's communist regime.
ConfidentialityCiting anonymous sources in the Nicaraguan military, the report warned that the communist regime was using a system of spy stations to monitor embassies and uncover possible “traitors” of dictator Daniel Ortega.
The Russian spy base is reportedly located at an army base on Mount Mocolon, south of the capital, Managua. Known as “Unit 502,” the base is part of the Nicaraguan Army's Military Intelligence and Counterintelligence Directorate (DICIM). Confidential information, As part of the National Defense Strategy, DICIM processes information received by the Army's radio direction finding system, which geographically locates telephone, television or radio signals generated in the radioelectric spectrum.
The paper claimed that over the years Russia had turned the base into one of its major spy sites, with Russian personnel solely in charge of managing and controlling both the equipment and the intelligence it received, and that Nicaraguan authorities were “guarding” the base.
According to the sources, the Russian soldiers at the spy base are accompanied by a Nicaraguan lieutenant colonel who acts as a translator to “instruct and train” the Nicaraguan soldiers.
“The installation and activation of the Russian spy equipment was overseen by Brigadier General Leonel Gutierrez Lopez, head of DICIM.” Confidentiality He cited anonymous sources.
One of the sources further stated, Confidentiality Russia installed antennas and other spy equipment at multiple military bases in Nicaragua in mid-2017, the same year that Ortega's government was toppled. Appointed The Russian-Nicaraguan Counter-Drug Training Center in Managua.
Ortega at the 44th anniversary ceremony of the Nicaraguan Police in September 2023 Hospitalized He claims that the Russian-built anti-drug training centers helped the Ortega regime carry out a crackdown on dissent during a wave of anti-communist protests in 2018, when thousands took to the streets to demand an end to Ortega's decades-long dictatorship of Nicaragua. The Ortega regime's repressive response to the protests left more than 300 people stranded in Nicaragua. Dead.
The source further noted that four Russian officers, the only ones who understood spy equipment, supervised the antenna installation work, while Nicaraguan officers and soldiers carried out the construction work.
The allegedly Russian-run spy center in Mokolon received one such “giant” satellite dish in late 2017, along with other Russian-made equipment, which was installed in one of the buildings around the base. Confidential information, There are currently five antennas installed at the base.
One of the sources described the base's original “huge” antenna as “similar” to one installed at a Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) ground station, a base on the slopes of Nejapalagoon outside Managua that is also believed to serve as a Russian intelligence center in Nicaragua.
“Everyone talks about the Nehapa base, but the real Russian intelligence center is in Mokolon. Few people know about the existence of its satellite antenna,” one of the sources said. Confidential information.
In addition to the Russian intelligence center on Mount Mocolon, which serves as a coordination center, the paper listed eight other locations around the country where the Nicaraguan military has installed antennas and other radio listening systems.
The sources warned that Russia had provided the eavesdropping station with SORM-3 software, which enabled the facility to spy on and eavesdrop on the communications of not only “targets” but also “internal enemies” of the Ortega regime.
“access [to the Mokorón base] “It's very restrictive. They're tracking all kinds of communications, especially those coming from embassies, mainly gringo embassies,” another source said. “They're also tracking internal [phone] The latter are very well maintained by the national police, but their numbers are small.”
“DICIM is completely dependent on Russian technology. [military] Officers know the extent of their tracking and wiretapping control,” the source continued.
A former senior military official told the paper that President Ortega is strengthening his government's “self-surveillance” capabilities to uncover potential traitors, and asked “which Nicaraguan opposition parties will he spy on when all of their leaders are already abroad, in exile or in self-exile?”
“This alliance with Russia is for internal espionage, to monitor the military itself and the police, as well as people that Daniel and Rosario trust. [Murillo, Ortega’s wife and vice president]” the ex-soldier insisted.
Russia has significantly increased its support for Nicaragua in recent years, particularly in espionage and crackdown on dissidents following a wave of anti-Communist protests in 2018. In March, Ortega Authorized Experts have criticized the establishment of a Russian-backed “training center” aimed at “retraining and professionalizing” Nicaragua's police as a possible “cover” for a new Russian intelligence service in the country.
The announcement of the new guidance center came just weeks after Nikolai Patrushev, general secretary of Russia's Security Council, visited Managua in February. sign Several agreements with dictator Ortega, including a “cooperation protocol” agreement between the Nicaraguan police and the Russian Ministry of the Interior, in which Russia will “retrain” Nicaraguan police officers and strengthen the Ortega regime's repressive capabilities.
Christian K. Caruso is a Venezuelan author documenting life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter. here.
