Foreign Relations of Nicaragua - Wikipedia
Foreign Relations of Nicaragua - Wikipedia
Executive [show]
International membership [ edit ] Legislature [show]
At the 1994 Summit of the Americas, Nicaragua joined six Administrative divisions [show]
World Bank
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
World Trade Organization (WTO)
UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
World Health Organization (WHO)
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
International Labour Organization (ILO)
UN Human Rights Commission (UNHRC)
Organization of American States (OAS)
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEA)
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
Central American Common Market (CACM)
Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI).
Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA)
Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
Association of Caribbean States (ACS)
Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)
Latin American Economic System (SELA)
Central American Integration System (SICA)
Territorial disputes with Colombia over the Archipelago de San Andres y Providencia and Quita Sueno
Bank with respect to the maritime boundary question in the Golfo de Fonseca. The ICJ referred to the line
determined by the 1900 Honduras-Nicaragua Mixed Boundary Commission and advised that some
tripartite resolution among El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua likely would be required;
Maritime boundary dispute with Honduras in the Caribbean Sea.
Nicaragua is sovereign over the Rio San Juan, and by treaty Costa Rica has the right to navigate over
part of the river with 'objects of commerce'. A dispute emerged when Costa Rica tried to navigate with
armed members of its security forces.
The flawed municipal elections of November 2008 prompted a number of European donors to suspend direct
budget support to Nicaragua, a move that created a severe budget shortfall for the government. This shortfall,
in turn, caused the Government of Nicaragua to fall out of compliance with its PRGF obligations and led to a
suspension of PRGF disbursements. The IMF is currently in negotiations with the Government of Nicaragua
to reinstate disbursements.[1]
Under current president Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua has stayed current with the Central American-Dominican
Republic Free Trade Agreement, which entered into force for Nicaragua on April 1, 2006. Nicaragua exports
to the United States, which account for 59% of Nicaragua's total exports, were $1.7 billion in 2008, up 45%
from 2005. Textiles and apparel account for 55% of exports to the United States, while automobile wiring
harnesses add another 11%.[1]
Other leading export products are coffee, meat, cigars, sugar, ethanol, and fresh fruit and vegetables, all of
which have seen remarkable growth since CAFTA-DR went into effect. Leading Nicaraguan exports also
demonstrated increased diversity, with 274 new products shipped to the United States in the first year. U.S.
exports to Nicaragua, meanwhile, were $1.1 billion in 2008, up 23% from 2005. Other important trading
partners for Nicaragua are its Central American neighbors, Mexico, and the European Union. Nicaragua is
negotiating a trade agreement with the European Union as part of a Central American bloc.[1]
Despite important protections for investment included in CAFTA-DR, the investment climate has become
relatively insecure since Ortega took office. According to the United States State Department, President
Ortega's decision to support "radical regimes" such as Iran and Cuba, his harsh rhetoric against the United
States and capitalism, and his use of government institutions to persecute political enemies and their
businesses, has had a negative effect on perceptions of country risk, which by some accounts has
quadrupled since he assumed office. The government reports foreign investment inflows totaled $506 million
in 2008, including $123 million in telecommunications infrastructure and $120 million in energy generation.[1]
There are over 100 companies operating in Nicaragua with some relation to a U.S. company, either as wholly
or partly owned subsidiaries, franchisees, or exclusive distributors of U.S. products. The largest are in energy,
financial services, textiles/apparel, manufacturing, and fisheries. However, many companies in the
textile/apparel sector, including a $100 million U.S.-owned denim mill, had shuttered by 2017.[1]
Poor enforcement of property rights deters both foreign and domestic investment, especially in real estate
development and tourism. Conflicting claims and weak enforcement of property rights has invited property
disputes and litigation. Establishing verifiable title history is often entangled in legalities relating to the
expropriation of 28,000 properties by the revolutionary government that Ortega led in the 1980s. The situation
is not helped by a court system that is widely believed to be corrupt and subject to political influence.[1]
Illegal property seizures by private parties, occasionally in collaboration with corrupt municipal officials, often
go unchallenged by the authorities, especially in the Atlantic regions and interior regions of the north, where
property rights are poorly defined and rule of law is weak. Foreign investor interest along the Pacific Coast
has motivated some unscrupulous people to challenge ownership rights in the Departments of Rivas and
Chinandega, with the hope of achieving some sort of cash settlement.[1]
In October 2022, the European Union declared the Nicaraguan representative Zoila Müller non grata.[2]
# Country Date
3 Ecuador 1836[6]
4 Mexico 1839[7]
13 Honduras 1864[14]
18 Brazil 1905[19]
30 Switzerland 1957[31]
34 Uruguay 1964[35]
84 Australia 1987[71]
Formal
Country Relations Notes
Began
The relationship between the two Latin American countries has evolved
amid conflicts over the San Andrés y Providencia Islands located in the
Caribbean close to the Nicaraguan shoreline and the maritime boundaries
covering 150,000 km2 that included the islands of San Andres, Providencia
and Santa Catalina and the banks of Roncador, Serrana, Serranilla and
Quitasueño as well as the arbitrarily designed 82nd meridian west which
Colombia claims as a border but which the International Court has sided
with Nicaragua in disavowing.[99] The archipelago has been under
Colombian control since 1931 when a treaty was signed during US
occupation of Nicaragua, giving Colombia control over the islands.
In 2006, the Finnish government pledged 4.9 million euros to help the
Nicaraguan government integrate the ICT systems of 20 town councils.[102]
In 2008, the Finnish government revoked a 1.95 million euro aid package
meant for Nicaragua in protest of what it alleged was a lack of transparency
in Nicaragua's national budget and its municipal elections.[103]
Israel Israel was the last country that still shipped weapons to the embattled
Anastacio Somoza regime in 1978–1979 (the dictator's father had supported
Israel in 1948, establishing a "special relationship" between Nicaragua and
Israel), becoming the regime's main supplier of arms, after the Carter
administration had cut off supplies amid the public outcry over Somozista
troops' atrocities.[114] This soured the relations with the -Sandinista
government; the relations were then gradually normalized. In March 2017,
Nicaragua and Israel reestablished diplomatic relations after they were
suspended in 2010.[115]
South January The establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea
[119]
Korea 1962 and the Republic of Nicaragua began in January 1962.[119]
Diplomatic
The direct cause for severing relations was the Netherlands’ decision to
Relations
definitively terminate its financial contribution to the Nicaraguan authorities
Netherlands severed in
for the construction of a hospital in Nicaragua, which has been on hold for
October
several years. [122]
2022
Nicaragua is accredited to
Switzerland from its embassy in
Berlin, Germany.
Switzerland is accredited to
Swiss Cooperation Office in
Nicaragua from its embassy in Managua
San José, Costa Rica and
maintains a Swiss cooperation
office in Managua.[124]
Embassy of Nicaragua
in Montevideo
1979 Venezuela and Nicaragua have had diplomatic relations since January
Venezuela 1979. During the Venezuelan government of Carlos Andrés Pérez, they
helped FSLN to overthrow regime of longtime Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio
Somoza Debayle. Relations between Nicaragua and Venezuela have
significantly improved during the Presidency of Hugo Chávez. In 2007
Nicaragua became a formal member of the Bolivarian Alliance for the
Americas (ALBA) international cooperation organization and the Caribbean
oil alliance Petrocaribe. In the recent years Nicaragua has received
discounted oil from Venezuela with low payments. The presidents of
Venezuela and Nicaragua, President Hugo Chávez and President Daniel
Ortega, have both described themselves as good friends and visited one
another's nations.
The following table includes Republic of China, Georgia, and some of the states with limited recognition:
Recognized
Name by Notes
Nicaragua
Sahrawi
Arab Yes Recognized by 34 UN states, claimed by Morocco.
Democratic
Republic
Sovereign
A sovereign entity without territory, established diplomatic relations with 104
Military Yes[135]
states.
Order of
Malta
Diplomatic Nicaragua used to maintain official diplomatic relations with Taiwan instead of
Taiwan relations the People's Republic of China. In 2007, President Daniel Ortega stated that
severed in Nicaragua will maintain its diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Ortega defended
2021 Nicaragua's right of having diplomatic relations with Taiwan and China at the
same time and insisted that Nicaragua will not break its diplomatic relations
with Taiwan and Vice-president Jaime Morales Carazo (during Ortega's first
tenure) criticized the People's Republic of China for conditioning Nicaragua's
diplomatic relations. Nicaragua maintained its diplomatic relations with Taiwan
until 2021.[136] On December 9, 2021, Nicaragua broke off diplomatic relations
with the Republic of China and recognised the PRC as the legitimate Chinese
government.[137]
References [ edit ]