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1 1 (November 10, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govejiq0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congr ssional Resear h Service inforrning thL leiatve debat sin >1914 November 10, 2022 Nicaragua Nicaragua, a Central American country bordering Honduras and Costa Rica, is experiencing significant political repression under the authoritarian rule of President Daniel Ortega, aged 76, and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, aged 71. The erosion of democracy under the Ortega-Murillo government has strained relations with the United States and raised congressional concerns. Congress has sought to monitor and refine U.S. sanctions policy toward Nicaragua. Figure I. Nicaragua MaD Source: Congressional Research Service. Political Situation Daniel Ortega first rose to prominence as a leader of the leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), which toppled the U.S.-aligned Somoza dictatorship that ruled Nicaragua from 1936 to 1979. Ortega was elected president in 1984 but was defeated in 1990 after more than a decade of armed conflict between the FSLN government and U.S- backed Contra insurgents. From 1990 to 2001, Nicaragua held three relatively free and fair elections in which power changed hands peacefully between non-Sandinista presidents. Ortega returned to power in 2006 in elections that many observers also judged to be free and fair. In ensuing years, Ortega's FSLN government supporters increasingly manipulated democratic processes. Subsequent elections won by Ortega in 2011 and 2016 were widely judged to be seriously flawed. In 2021, during Ortega's most recent election (his fifth overall and fourth consecutive term), Ortega was widely condemned for eliminating all viable candidates and parties from participation. In the past, the Ortega government's social welfare programs have helped improve Nicaraguans' standard of living and maintain a strong support base for the FSLN, which Ortega used to consolidate power. In 2018, however, government-approved tax reforms that included tax increases and a reduction of social security benefits sparked mass protests. The Ortega administration's repressive response-which resulted in over 300 dead, thousands injured, and hundreds detained and tortured-generated condemnation worldwide. Despite domestic and international calls for Nicaragua to reform its electoral laws and hold free and fair elections, the Ortega administration has continued to use antidemocratic practices. In 2021, authorities arrested 40 opposition leaders and barred them from participating in national elections. The Organization of American States resolved that these elections had no democratic legitimacy. Nicaragua at a Glance Population: 6.6 million (2022, IMF est.) Area: 46,883 square miles, slightly smaller than Mississippi GDP: $15.8 billion (2022, current prices, IMF est.) Per Capita GDP: $2,380 (2022, current prices, IMF est.) Key Import Partners: U.S. (24.9 %), China (12.5 %), Mexico (8.8 %), Netherlands (7.4 %) (2021, TDM) Key Export Partners: U.S. (56.5 %), Mexico (11.8 %), El Salvador (6 %), Honduras (5.2 %) (2021, TDM) Sources: International Monetary Fund (IMF); Trade Data Monitor (TDM). Currently, the government has closed more than 2,000 nongovernmental organizations involved in such issues as human rights, medical care and resources, education, and civil and social matters. According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Nicaraguan government held more than 200 political prisoners as of October 2022. More than 200,000 Nicaraguans have fled the country for political and economic reasons since 2018, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. A majority of those displaced have sought asylum in Costa Rica, and some have sought entry into the United States. Economic Environment Nicaragua has the second-lowest per capita income in the Western Hemisphere, according to the World Bank. The Ortega administration generally has maintained market- oriented economic policies, and economic growth averaged 4.2% from 2007 to 2017, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, Nicaragua's gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 3.4% in 2018, 3.8% in 2019, and 1.8% in 2020. Unemployment nearly doubled, from 6.2% in 2019 to an estimated 11% in 2021. Experts have attributed these recent years of economic downturn to the effects of the country's political crisis, the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and two major hurricanes.

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