The US sanction to General Ramón Humberto Calderón Vindellpresident of the Board of Directors of the Nicaraguan Mining Company (Eniminas), should not affect the normal performance of mining activity in the countrysince the affected party is only an individual person, and that the entity is one more company, not the governing body, sources in the sector affirm.
Two mining industry executives consulted by CONFIDENTIALsaid that for private companies that have concessions for the exploration or extraction of precious metals, exposure to risk is practically non-existent because their governing entity is the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), not the public company that the ex-military man still runs.
On January 10, while the accomplices of the dictatorship were preparing to develop the false inauguration of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo in the presidency and vice-presidency of the Republic of Nicaragua, the United States Department of the Treasury, reported the sanction against Calderón Vindell, and five other officials of the regime.
The arguments put forward by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) indicate that the creation of that institution by the Government of Nicaragua in 2017 “increased state participation in the mining sector, especially in the gold mining, through joint ventures with private companies”.
“The value of Nicaragua’s gold exports has increased dramatically in recent years, boosting the profits of its allies in the private sector and increasing the income of Eniminas, which is managed by important figures in the ruling party,” OFAC mentions.
Gross gold exports grew 172.8% between 2017 and 2021, going from USD 322.7 million to USD 880.5 million. This growth of USD 557.8 million is one of the signs pointed out by the researcher of IBI Consultants, LLC, Douglas Farah, to affirm that Daniel Ortega’s regime is triangulating Venezuelan gold to export it as Nicaraguan.
Nobody does business with Eniminas
“Eniminas is a state company, and as such, it could compete with us, although I am not aware of any private companies that have activities with them,” the sources said.
“All the companies in the sector are private and with whom they have to interact in a forced way according to the law, to manage permits and everything, is with the MEM. Nobody is obliged to do business with Eniminas, and if someone does it, it is because they want to, but they can stop doing it if they want to”, they added.
Given the coverage of the US sanctions, the operation of the state company does not seem to be in question, because they were applied directly to the retired general.
The sources assume that the regime will limit itself to taking administrative functions away from Calderón Vindell, just as they did with other sanctioned men. The MEM has a Directorate of Mines, which functions normally, as does the Ministry of Finance, despite the fact that Iván Acosta is suspended.
“It is true that the sanction is personal, and that if it had been directed against the institution, it would make it impossible for us to do any activity with them, but it can be seen as a sign of what the United States could do in the future,” the sources said.
Eniminas has concessions in its name, and is building a plant in Villanueva, a municipality that, together with Somotillo, is part of the León and Chinandega mining district, where there is formal mining activity, but also artisanal mining, and small-scale mining.
The law allows Eniminas to develop the concessions that had been reserved for the State, which add up to tens of thousands of hectares, and can be developed by implementing business plans alone, or with partners in a joint venture.
“Although the concessions are not necessarily granted in the name of Eniminas, they have a priority right over those concessions,” the sources explained.
