Country Reports on Terrorism
April 30, 2008
Released by the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism
Nicaragua
In January, Daniel Ortega was inaugurated as the elected President of Nicaragua. Ortega reestablished formal diplomatic ties with Iran, which now has a resident, accredited Ambassador in the capital, and aggressively sought to expand relations with Cuba and Venezuela. In November, the government relaxed visa requirements for all travelers from Iran, permitting visa-free entry. As a member of the Central American Four (CA4), with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, Nicaragua shared common immigration and customs policies with its CA4 partners. The Nicaraguan government’s recent decision to grant visa-free entry for Iranians created consternation among the other CA4 members.
Nicaragua is the only Central American nation without a Financial Intelligence Unit. A counterterrorism bill, first proposed in 2004, remained moribund in the National Assembly. The new Penal Code, however, included language that specifically penalized terrorism financing and used an international definition of money laundering. The judicial system remained a vulnerability that could be exploited by international terrorist groups, because it was highly politicized, corrupt, and prone to manipulation by political elites and organized crime.
President Ortega has made several public statements supporting Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, including his September address to the UN General Assembly in New York. Ortega’s statements questioned the authority of the UN, NATO, and other international actors to prevent any nation (namely Iran) from its “right” to develop nuclear weapons.
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