Nicaragua on Monday canceled the legal status of 18 business associations, including the Superior Council for Private Enterprise (COSEP), which brings together other employer chambers, according to a resolution published in the official newspaper La Gaceta.
Alleging breaches of the law and lack of transparency, the decision of the Ministry of the Interior (Interior) deprives practically all business associations in the country of legal status and adds to other measures by the government of socialist Daniel Ortega that have earned it international isolation.
According to the resolution, COSEP and the other associations “did not complete the registration validation process, presenting inconsistencies in the information” of financial statements, without detail of income and expenses or without support for them.
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“With these actions, these organizations do not promote transparency policies in the administration and management of their funds; likewise, they have not reported financial statements in the fiscal period 2022”, maintains the resolution issued by the Minister of the Interior, María Amelia Coronel Kinloch, on March 3.
Among the unions canceled are the associations of Coffee Exporters, Agricultural Producers, the Textile and Clothing Industry, as well as the Chambers of Developers, Construction, Fisheries, Microfinance, Commerce and Services, Industries and Tourism.
COSEP has accompanied Ortega’s administration since he returned to power in 2007, but both parties distanced themselves after the 2018 political crisis, which broke out with street protests and clashes between opposition protesters and pro-government supporters.
