OFAC Sanctions Entities in Nicaragua With Ties to Russia, Ortega Regime

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned three Nicaragua-based entities for their ties to Russia or for earning revenue for President Daniel Ortega’s regime. The designations target the Training Center of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (RTC) in Managua, a subdivision of the Russian government’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as Compania Minera Internacional, Sociedad Anonima (COMINTSA) and Capital Mining Investment Nicaragua, Sociedad Anonima (Capital Mining), gold companies that generate revenue for the government.

Brian Nelson, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said the Nicaraguan government uses “the training it receives from the Russia-backed RTC and the revenue it generates from exploiting the gold sector” to carry out an “anti-democratic campaign of repression against its citizens.”

OFAC, the State Department and DHS also issued a joint business advisory to alert the aviation industry, travel agents and others about the ways Nicaragua and other countries are “exploiting legitimate transportation services to facilitate irregular migration” to the U.S. The advisory said the U.S. will continue to sanction transnational criminal groups, including migrant smuggling organizations and their support networks, for “irregular migration” practices.