This Thursday the Supreme Court of Justice announced the closure of the “Antonio Leiva Pérez” Mediation and Arbitration Center, belonging to the Nicaraguan Chamber of Commerce and Services (CCSN), an entity that on March 14, was left without legal personality by order of the Ministry of the Interior (Migob).
As part of the most recent attack against private companies with the suspension of the legal status of the Superior Council of Private Companies (Cosep), and of 18 sectoral chambers that comprised it, the judiciary revoked the accreditation of the Mediation Center and Arbitration of the Nicaraguan Chamber of Commerce and Services (CCSN).
Related news: The cancellation of Cosep “further weakens the fragile business environment” in Nicaragua, warns the US.
The Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) indicates that the “Dirección de Resolución Alterna de Conflictos (Dirac) has no responsibility whatsoever regarding the provision of services provided by the Antonio Leiva Pérez Mediation and Arbitration Center, of the Chamber of Commerce and Services of Nicaragua, nor regarding their relations with third parties or users who require any of their services”, therefore they are stripped of any responsibility and process that affects companies or individuals.
The CCSN inaugurated the Mediation Center in 2006, when José Adán Aguerri was president of that organization. During that same year they signed an agreement to be the national headquarters of the Inter-American Commercial Arbitration Commission (CIAC). The center resolved national and international conflicts and used high-tech equipment for the benefit of its business allies.
For the purposes of canceling the center, the CSJ established in La Gaceta that, “the Ministry of the Interior when canceling the legal personality of the Nicaraguan Chamber of Commerce and Services by Ministerial Agreement No. 27-2023 OFSL published through La Gaceta Official Gazette No. 41 of March 6, two thousand and twenty-three, had as a logical and legal consequence that the affected entity loses its legal existence, and all its actions are without effect and legal value.
On March 6, 2023, the regime gave the “final blow” to the non-existent relationship it had with Cosep, which was fractured five years ago. In an unprecedented event, the Ministry of the Interior (Migob) snatched the legal status of the employers and their 18 chambers, just a month ago it also annihilated the Association of Banks, another of the business unions.
The Ortega administration points out to the entities linked to the Nicaraguan private business association “not to promote transparency policies in the administration of funds.” However, before April 2018, the regime defended the alliance it had with the private company.
This “alliance” with the regime allowed them to nominate businessmen for public office, the creation of laws in their favor, exoneration and exemption from taxes, among many other benefits that they took advantage of for more than a decade.
