Journalist Wilfredo Miranda Aburto, in coordination with the Pro Transparency and Anticorruption Observatory (OPTA), of the organization Let’s Make Democracy, created a report about “the tip of the iceberg” of the illegal confiscations of property and real estate, belonging to opponents, which were carried out by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
With the beginning of this new “piñata”, the communicator’s research estimates an initial amount of more than 250 million dollars, although this figure is only the beginning of a debt that “continues to increase” and that all “Nicaraguans will have to pay in the future.”
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Since 2018, Ortega has started a new series of “robberies”, which, in the words of Miranda Aburto, were “complicated” to quantify due to the lack of information and fear that prevents victims from sharing data. This repressive measure has affected opponents, businessmen, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), the media, universities, the Catholic Church and diplomatic headquarters.
On February 9, 2023, the Ortega regime deported 222 political prisoners to the United States, confiscating all their assets and freezing their bank accounts. Six days later, the Sandinista government stripped 95 more opponents of their nationality. In total, 317 Nicaraguans were affected.
The report documents 36 cases of confiscations, adding 78 properties with a total value of almost $18 million to government critics. Most of the properties are located in Managua and represent personal and vacation homes, land, farms and commercial modules. Many of them have been transferred to state entities such as the National Social Security Institute (INSS) and the National Technological Institute (INATEC).
In March 2023, the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) asked occupants of confiscated properties to formalize their “occupational status.” A notable example is the Amazonia Condominium, in Managua, where all 16 apartments, valued at 960,000 dollars, They were confiscated. The tenants left the complex after being charged an excessive rental fee of $500.
The regime also extended the confiscation to relatives of those denationalized. Last January, the Police confiscated the Hotel Casablancaproperty of the mother of the former Sandinista magistrate, and godfather of the dictatorial couple, Rafael Solís, as well as the condominium Sotavento Farallon (valued at $2.2 million in 2017), owned by the Chamorro Barrios family.
Attack on NGOs and businessmen
Since 2018, the Ortega and Murillo regime has closed 3,494 NGOs, especially after passing the Foreign Agents Law in October 2020. According to the Miranda report, until April 2024 they have confiscated 41 properties from 30 organizationswith an approximate total value of 8.4 million dollars.
Some affected NGOs include the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH)with four confiscated properties, valued at 1.2 million dollars, transferred to the Ministry of Health (MINSA) and the River Foundation, with 22 properties in the department of Río San Juan, valued at 1.5 million dollars.
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Likewise, Nicaraguan businessmen, formerly allies of the Ortega-Murillo regime, have also suffered significant confiscations. Since March 2023, the government has closed 35 business chambers and associations, including the Higher Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP), whose headquarters valued at $500,000 was confiscated.
Among the confiscated properties, the Union Association of Agricultural Producers of Nicaragua (UPANIC) stands out, with three properties valued at 1,000,100 dollars and 9,800 blocks of land taken and the domains of Piero Coen Ubilla, valued at 100 million dollars, including the complex Old Saint Dominic.
This investigation also identified that the properties of large businessmen could add up to $300 million in non-public confiscations. «What we managed to document only in OPTA, on a business level, at a personal and union level, was the confiscation of $163,478,756but this is a tiny number and is just the tip of the iceberg of confiscations at the business level,” said Miranda Aburto in a virtual conference.
Pockets full of Ortega
According to the investigations of the journalist, co-founder of the Divergent media, only in the confiscation of assets from private universities did Ortega obtain 30,565,000 dollars, “although this figure is minimal compared to the total value of what was expropriated.”
The value of two properties confiscated from the Paulo Freire University, valued at 565,000 dollars, and from the Central American Institute of Business Administration (INCAE), valued at 30,000,000 dollars. The property of the Central American University (UCA), in an area of high capital gains in Managua, could be worth close to 50 million dollars.
While from the Catholic Church, the dictatorship has confiscated 15 properties belonging to nine religious associations, among them the convent of the sisters of the Fraternity of the Poor of Jesus Christ, in León, and the Villa Carmen residence of the Jesuit priests of the UCA.
Despite these actions, the Catholic Church has not provided a detailed balance of its losses, which include the closure of bank accounts and the appropriation of stations such as Radio María.
A source linked to the high Catholic hierarchy told Miranda Aburto that “I have no idea if there is an estimate, but the amount must be enormous, since not only have they frozen the accounts of the Episcopal Conference and the parishes, but they have seized of properties and institutions of the Church and of bank accounts of some priests. “The bishops who are in Nicaragua unfortunately remain silent and minimize these events.”
On the other hand, the regime has confiscated $22,197,011.60 in property and equipment from the media, the amount amounts to $4,423,653.40, among the six media outlets that provided the information for the OPTA report.
One of them was the 100% Noticias channel and according to its director, Miguel Mora, The economic losses exceed the 5,000,000 dollars, including television equipment and vehicles used for coverage. The value of the property is estimated at about 900,000 dollars. Currently, both properties belong to the Ministry of Health (MINSA).
The directors of the newspaper La Prensa also estimated the losses due to the confiscation of their newspaper at more than $20,000,000. This estimate includes the land and assets that were inside at the time of seizure. However, they also emphasize that the lost profits since 2018 must be calculated, that is, the profits that the newspaper has stopped receiving as a direct consequence of the attacks and customs embargoes on the equipment, which were carried out for three years, hindering the release of paper, ink and other supplies.
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“The total number of properties that have been affected to date is not known and in addition the Government has been gradually confiscating high-value movable and immovable property again in terms of complications against the private sector,” Miranda explained. Bored.
Until 2023, Nicaragua would finish paying for Ortega’s first piñata. However, due to the lack of available information, it is not known how much remains to be paid. Given this background, the dictator, once again, once again generates a million-dollar debt for Nicaragua with this new stage of confiscations, which had already begun since the sociopolitical crisis.
