US officials to investigate labor and human rights violations in Nicaragua

WASHINGTON– The Biden administration is opening an investigation into labor and human rights violations in Nicaragua, a U.S. official said Tuesday, which will impact relations with a country with which the United States has concluded a free trade deal amid growing concerns over President Daniel Ortega’s increasingly authoritarian rule.

The investigation launched by the U.S. Trade Representative is expected to be completed within a year, according to the official and another person familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation before its announcement. .

The White House is expected to announce its decision later Tuesday, the two sources said.

The investigation, authorized under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, will examine not only the allegations of abuse, but also the extent to which they affect trade with the United States. Only after this decision has been made will retaliatory measures, if any, be taken.

Nicaragua’s vice president and government spokesperson, Rosario Murillo, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

In May, the US government imposed Section 301 tariffs on a range of Chinese products, including electric vehicles, advanced batteries, solar cells, steel and aluminum. These tariffs largely reflected the government’s conclusion that China was unfairly subsidizing these industries.

“For years, the Chinese government has pumped public money into Chinese companies,” President Joe Biden said of the tariffs. “It’s not competition, it’s cheating.”

In Nicaragua’s case, any retaliatory action would be complicated by its membership in a regional free trade pact, the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

Among the five members of the trade agreement, Nicaragua is one of only two to have a trade surplus with the United States, of around $3 billion in 2022, or almost 20% of its gross domestic product. .

Ortega last month proposed a constitutional reform that would officially make him and his wife, current Vice President Rosario Murillo, “co-presidents” of the Central American nation and extend the presidential term from five to six years.

The proposals occur in a context ongoing repression by the Ortega government, which resulted in the mass imprisonment and forced exile of opponents, including religious leaders and journalists. Since 2018, the government closed more than 5,000 organizationslargely religious, and forced thousands to flee the country.