( Spanish) –– The Government of Nicaragua reported that the Canadian mining company Caliber Mining, with operations in the country since 2009, withdrew its request to obtain three concessions in the North Caribbean before the General Directorate of Mines, sanctioned this Monday by the United States Department of the Treasury. Joined. The decision was disclosed by the entity in a publication made by the Ministry of Energy and Mines in the official newspaper The Gazette this Tuesday.
For its part, Caliber Mining did not confirm the measure consigned by the Nicaraguan government. On its website, the company express this Tuesday that “it is proactively reviewing recent sanctions and has contacted the United States Department of the Treasury to ensure full compliance with these provisions.” is working to know the position of the company regarding what the General Directorate of Mines points out in The Gazette.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, signed a decree on Monday that expands the power of the Treasury Department “to act against certain people who operate or have operated in the gold sector of the Nicaraguan economy,” as a way of demanding that the government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo a response for their constant attacks on freedom of expression and the right of assembly of Nicaraguans.
According to a statement from the US Department of the Treasury, the sanctions imply, among other things, that “all property and interests in property of these persons that are in the United States or that are in the possession or under the control of persons Americans are blocked and must be reported” to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
In addition, “all transactions by United States persons or within the United States (or transiting through the United States) involving property or interests in property of designated persons or persons affected by other blocking measures are prohibited, unless they are authorized. by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or who have some other type of waiver”.
The sanction of the US Department of the Treasury against the General Directorate of Mines of Nicaragua this Monday is added to others that the Joe Biden government has recently taken against the sector. On June 17, Washington sanctioned the Nicaraguan Mining Company, Eniminas. And last year, on November 15, 2021, he did the same against Salvador Mansell, Minister of Energy and Mines of Nicaragua, in response to both the government repression of the rights of Nicaraguans and what he considered “a farce” of elections. nationals, on November 6, 2021.
For its part, the Nicaraguan government has not officially reacted to these sanctions. On previous occasions, similar measures have been considered by President Ortega as interventionist actions that seek to violate the country’s sovereignty. is trying to get a response from the Nicaraguan government to the sanctions imposed by the United States.
