The business association of Guatemala and Costa Rica expressed its rejection of the “arbitrary” stripping of the legal personality of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (Cosep) and the illegalization of the business chambers of the Nicaraguan employers’ association.
The Guatemalan businessmen assured that the onslaught of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo against Cosep “attempts against the rights of association and freedom, and poses a serious threat to democracy and fundamental principles of Nicaraguan citizens.”
“We send our solidarity to the business unions that have been affected, as well as to all the inhabitants of the neighboring country,” he said in a statement the Guatemalan business sector.
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In addition, he demanded that the Ortega administration “stop the repressive measures that threaten economic growth and stability.”
For its part, the Costa Rican business sector maintained that it “will continue to recognize and support all the Business Chambers of the Private Sector of Nicaragua.”
He added that “we will be offering them” open doors “of this Federation of Chambers of Costa Rica (FEDECAMARAS) for what they consider necessary.”
This 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 personality 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.
This model that they baptized “dialogue and consensus” ended after the start of the protests. Cosep decided to break its “alliance” with the dictatorship and adopt a position in keeping with the new reality the country was experiencing.
