There are no records of the passage of migrants through Nicaragua who continue on towards the United States, according to a publication in the newspaper La Prensa on Monday, in which a source from the General Directorate of Migration and Immigration (DGME) confirms that none Passports issued will be stamped at the airport so that “when they arrive in the United States, they will not be able to see that they have flown through Nicaragua.”
Instead, they are charged a fee of between $150 and $200, which, according to the same source, brings in about $63,000 on a typical day. “The amount of money flowing into the regime in cash is astronomical and does not go to the Ministry of Finance of the Republic because it does not even issue a receipt,” he says.
The Nicaraguan opposition media today provides more data on the management of the migratory movement that Daniel Ortega’s regime has made a lucrative business, both economically and politically, as it causes discomfort to the United States by making it easier for Latin Americans to access its borders Citizens and also Africans or Eastern Europeans. According to the report, Washington is concerned about the possible arrival of people from some of these countries linked to terrorism.
They are charged a fee of between $150 and $200, which, according to the same source, brings in about $63,000 on a typical day.
At the same time, it is not clear where the amount paid per migrant will go, which, according to La Prensa’s source, is withheld by the customs officials themselves, who calculate at their own discretion. “Corruption is being unleashed there,” he says. According to their calculations, there are around 600 seats available on commercial flights every day, of which 70% (420 people) are migrants. “There are also the charter flights, which we know took up to 28 days,” he emphasizes.
Migrants arrive mainly via Aruba, Haiti or the Dominican Republic, although there are also other, more unusual countries of origin that are becoming more common, such as Bulgaria, from where there were five flights last week and are suspected to be citizens of the former Asian Bring republics. the USSR.
“70% or 80% of the people on every commercial Avianca flight on the San Salvador – Managua route are people from Africa,” the source adds to La Prensa. Since October 23 last year, the government of Nayib Bukele has been charging a fee of one thousand dollars from migrants of 57 nationalities – Africans and Indians – passing through the capital’s airport.
As a result of this excess demand, Avianca even had to limit routes from some places in Latin America and Africa to Managua, as the company itself announced on its social networks.
“Flights quickly filled up, leaving no seats available for passengers from the Nicaraguan diaspora and tourists arriving from Central America, Spain and South America, especially those using El Salvador Airport as a transfer point,” Nicaraguan Aviation said. The suspension is temporary and was carried out in agreement with the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The tourism sector affirms that the measure aims to “protect regular guests who travel during the high season at the end of the year, migration does not leave foreign exchange for Nicaragua, tourism and the nostalgia market does.”
The tourism sector reiterates that the measure aims to “protect regular guests who travel during the high season at the end of the year. Migration leaves no foreign currency in Nicaragua, but tourism and the nostalgia market do. Above all, the intangible element of family reunification.” ” Once these dates have passed, Avianca plans to introduce a tariff similar to the Salvadoran one, which would affect certain countries in the same way. “This tax can be generated by having on the arrival of each passenger from These countries will be profiled, like Panama did a month ago,” a businessman was quoted as saying in the local press, asking for patience and calm.
The direct connection to Miami is not among those affected, although connections in San Salvador or Guatemala City will be discontinued. Avianca continues to operate flights from San Jose (Costa Rica) and Panama.
Haiti is also among the countries that have suspended charter flights to Nicaragua due to the huge influx of migrants, and Port-au-Prince said it did so at the request of the United States to stop the flow of migrants into its territory. “There are major concerns around safety, comfort and logistics. There is great chaos at the moment. The aviation sector and chaos do not mix. Numerous accidents can occur. We have to reorganize,” said Laurent Joseph Dumas, director of civil aviation, in an interview with local press in Port-au-Prince.
Between August and October 2023 alone, 31,475 passengers from Haiti arrived in Managua on board 268 flights, said Manuel Orozco, director of the migration, remittances and development program of the Inter-American Dialogue based in Washington, a few days ago. In his opinion, Ortega is “selling the Managua airport as a bridge for Haitians heading to the United States.”
Other analysts make the same thesis about using migration as a weapon against Washington. “Do anything that impacts the United States. It is definitely aimed at creating pressure or politicizing it against the United States, because it is an extremely controversial and sensitive issue for Americans,” argued Juan Sebastián Chamorro.
Eliseo Núñez, political analyst, recalls that the technology was also used by Belarus on the border with Poland
Eliseo Núñez, political analyst, recalls that the technology was also used by Belarus on the border with Poland. “While the United States did not interfere with him, Ortega provided him with services to stop migration, drug trafficking and problems related to terrorism,” he claims. The expert recalls the crisis of 2015, when almost 2,000 Cubans crossing the border were detained at the border with Costa Rica, triggering one of the worst crises of the last decade. The crowd reached about 8,000 people and required the coordinated response of several Central American countries to bypass Nicaragua.
Things changed when Ortega decided to resort to the weapon of immigration in 2017, after the protests that sparked repression against demonstrators and opposition figures and led the United States to take measures against the regime.
La Prensa quotes a former diplomat who anonymously claims that Ortega is exploiting migrants’ needs to get money from them. “$150 per migrant is a lot of money, and that is also what is charged to those who come from the south, from Costa Rica, and enter by land. This doesn’t just apply to those at the airport,” he says.
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