Daniel Ortega, the president appointed by the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE), authorized the Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN) to sign the donation agreement number 2160570 signed by the Sandinista administration and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on March 24, for an amount of one thousand four hundred and fifteen million Japanese yen.
The amount donated by the Japanese government to Nicaragua is around 10 million dollars, which according to the Ortega-Murillo administration will be used to “promote the economic and social development” of the country.
through the Presidential Agreement 79-2022published in the Official Gazette Gazette, Ortega authorized that the BCN “sign and execute, in the name and on behalf of the Government of Nicaragua, the corresponding interbank agreement with the agent bank in Japan, and carry out or authorize the other procedures and documents that are necessary to make the disbursement and transfer operational.” of the funds corresponding to this donation, as well as for the fulfillment of said interbank agreement».
The presidential agreement published in La Gaceta does not specify what type of works or investments Ortega must carry out to allocate those funds, nor does it detail the mechanism of accountability and control that Japan could exercise, to guarantee that this million dollar donation is used in the “economic and social development” of the country, as announced, and is not intended to oil the repressive machinery of the dictatorship or to fatten the private pockets of the ring of power that surrounds Ortega.
Since the sociopolitical crisis broke out in Nicaragua in April 2018, due to multiple human rights violations and increased repression by the State, the country has been subjected to intense international pressure and restrictions on financing from countries and organizations. multilateral; However, Ortega has managed to dodge the sanctions, and protected by the misfortunes caused by hurricanes Eta and Iota, which hit the country in 2020, and in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sandinista regime has achieved disbursements for above the average of previous years.
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He pointed out that “the certification of this Presidential Agreement will accredit the representation of the Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN), so that, in its capacity as Financial Agent of the Government of the Republic of Nicaragua, through its General Manager, it signs the agreement indicated in the previous article and carry out all the necessary activities and operations that derive from it in accordance with the terms and conditions that have been previously agreed between the Government of the Republic of Nicaragua and the Government of Japan.
According to information from website of the banking entity, Magaly María Sáenz Ulloa, is the current General Manager of the BCN and is the one authorized by the Ortega dictator to sign the donation made by Japan to the country.
Sáenz Ulloa has held this position at BCN since June 2021, who was appointed by the institution’s Board of Directors to serve in this position.
On the other hand, on May 10, the Japanese government also donated supplies valued at more than 400 thousand dollars to the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health (Minsa) to combat COVID-19 and strengthen the cold chain that allows maintaining vaccines. to immunize against the virus.
Through the United Nations Agency for the Defense of Children’s Rights (UNICEF), the Embassy of Japan delivered 80 refrigerators, 125 cold boxes and 130 refrigerants to Minsa to expand the capacity of vaccine storage.
