At the level of great artists, actresses, rulers, businessmen, religious leaders and civil society organizations, was placed the businessman Piero Coen Ubilla, president of Grupo Coen, who for the second consecutive year was placed among the 500 most influential people in Latin America in 2024, which is selected by the Editorial Committee of Bloomberg Online magazine.
Piero Coen Ubilla and businessman Carlos Pellas are the only two Nicaraguans who stand out on this list, which includes “Latin American leaders who are transforming the world in various sectors,” including business, science, art, technology, religion, sports and human rights.
Related news: Businessman Piero Coen rejects “confiscation” and denounces that there has been “no kind of process” against him
Coen and Pellas, by being included in that list, are placed at the same level as great artists recognized worldwide such as Shakira, Karol G, or high representatives of the Catholic Church such as Pope Francis.
Bloomberg Online magazine has published four editions of this list of the 500 most influential people in Latin America. Piero Coen Ubilla has been included in two editions of this publication. The first time was in 2023, when he was highlighted as a “business and alliance leader of the business conglomerate” of Grupo Coen.
According to information shared by Bloomberg Online magazine, the list includes evaluations related to “the creation of value, the promotion of innovative ideas and the contribution to economic growth in Latin America and other regions, based on their projects.”
Grupo Coen shared the information on its website and mentioned that Bloomberg Online magazine highlighted its “strategic alliances forged by Grupo Coen, especially highlighting AirPak’s role as operator of Western Union services in Central America and Mexico, along with its most recent business venture, the launch of the innovative fintech application, Pako.”
Piero Coen was confiscated in 2023
Businessman Piero Coen, despite being one of the most influential in Nicaragua, has also been a victim of the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship. In June 2023, he denounced the confiscation of two of his properties, after the regime filed formal charges against him without mentioning the alleged crimes for which he was being prosecuted.
Related news: The accusation against businessman Piero Coen was “created” more than three months ago
“Officers from the Nicaraguan Police and Attorney General’s Office showed up at various properties that I own personally, which are registered in the Republic of Nicaragua, under my name, as Piero Coen Ubilla, and that of my wife, Jaffa Coen, to take possession of them, claiming that they now belong to the State of Nicaragua,” Coen denounced last year.
He also indicated that until that moment he had not been notified of any legal proceedings against him and neither had he been notified of “any type of proceedings that would justify the actions of the National Police and the Attorney General’s Office that would motivate this confiscation.”
“There is no crime of which I can be accused, much less one that threatens my country or society,” the Nicaraguan businessman stressed at the time.
The Ortega government has never publicly clarified what crimes it accused Piero Coen Ubilla of and under what argument he stole the properties. It is also not known whether the properties were assigned to a specific institution or whether Coen would resume any ties with the government to have them returned to him.