Daniel Ortega, dictator of Nicaragua, ended the country’s private sector. On Tuesday 7th, the Supreme Council for Private Enterprises (COSEP) along with its 18 associated chambers was dissolved after 32 years of activity in the region.
Nicaragua’s private sector has distanced itself from the Ortega government since 2018, when its top leaders repudiated human rights abuses by police and paramilitaries. The leaders were arrested. The businessmen were exiled to the United States in February this year.
Lucy Valenti, former president of Nicaragua’s National Chamber of Tourism, said Ortega’s decision was part of the “process of radicalizing and Talibanizing the regime. The dictatorship feels cornered and is taking desperate measures.”
In January 2022, the Divergentes newspaper said Cosep was “ready to negotiate” with the government over the release of three political prisoners active in the employers’ union, which in the end did not happen.
News of the Council’s demise worried businesspeople and investors, who fear the confiscation that could entail the dissolution of the chambers’ legal personality, as has happened to the assets of more than 3,200 NGOs since 2018.
According to El País, the Nicaraguan Association of Motor Vehicle Dealers (Andiva) has already had its bank accounts frozen while other businessmen are “running against time” to protect property and assets.