U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

30–709PDF WASHINGTON : 2018

HEARING ON NICARAGUAN CRISIS: NEXT STEPS TO ADVANCING

DEMOCRACY AND MARKUP ON H. RES. 981, CONDEMNING

THE VIOLENCE, PERSECUTION, INTIMIDATION, AND

MURDERS COMMITTED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF NICARAGUA

AGAINST ITS CITIZENS

HEARING AND MARKUP

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON 

THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

JULY 12, 2018

Serial No. 115–160

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

(

Available: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/, http://docs.house.gov,

or http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/

(II)

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

DARRELL E. ISSA, California 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

MO BROOKS, Alabama 

PAUL COOK, California 

SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania 

RON DESANTIS, Florida 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

TED S. YOHO, Florida 

ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois 

LEE M. ZELDIN, New York 

DANIEL M. DONOVAN, JR., New York 

F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., 

Wisconsin 

ANN WAGNER, Missouri 

BRIAN J. MAST, Florida 

FRANCIS ROONEY, Florida 

BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania 

THOMAS A. GARRETT, JR., Virginia 

JOHN R. CURTIS, Utah 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

KAREN BASS, California 

WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts 

DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

AMI BERA, California 

LOIS FRANKEL, Florida 

TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii 

JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas 

ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois 

BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania 

DINA TITUS, Nevada 

NORMA J. TORRES, California 

BRADLEY SCOTT SCHNEIDER, Illinois 

THOMAS R. SUOZZI, New York 

ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York 

TED LIEU, California

AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director

JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

PAUL COOK, CALIFORNIA, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida 

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas 

MO BROOKS, Alabama 

RON DESANTIS, Florida 

TED S. YOHO, Florida 

FRANCIS ROONEY, Florida 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas 

ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois 

NORMA J. TORRES, California 

ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

HEARING WITNESSES 

The Honorable Carlos Trujillo, U.S. Permanent Representative, Organization 

of American States ............................................................................................... 10

The Honorable Michael Kozak, Senior Advisor and Senior Bureau Official, 

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of 

State ...................................................................................................................... 19

Ms. Barbara Feinstein, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Latin 

America and the Caribbean, U.S. Agency for International Development ..... 26

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING 

The Honorable Paul Cook, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of California, and chairman, Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere: 

Prepared statement .............................................................................................. 4

The Honorable Carlos Trujillo: Prepared statement ............................................ 13

The Honorable Michael Kozak: Prepared statement ............................................ 21

Ms. Barbara Feinstein: Prepared statement ......................................................... 28

MARKUP ON 

H. Res. 981, Condemning the violence, persecution, intimidation, and murders 

committed by the Government of Nicaragua against its citizens .................... 47

APPENDIX 

Hearing/markup notice ............................................................................................ 56

Hearing and markup minutes ................................................................................ 57

Markup summary .................................................................................................... 59

The Honorable Paul Cook: Questions submitted for the hearing record to 

all witnesses ......................................................................................................... 60

(1)

HEARING ON NICARAGUAN CRISIS: NEXT STEPS TO 

ADVANCING DEMOCRACY AND MARKUP ON H. RES. 981, 

CONDEMNING THE VIOLENCE, PERSECUTION, 

INTIMIDATION, AND MURDERS COMMITTED BY THE 

GOVERNMENT OF NICARAGUA AGAINST ITS CITIZENS 

THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2018

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE,

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC. 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:03 p.m., in room 

2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Paul Cook (chairman 

of the subcommittee) presiding. 

Mr. COOK. A quorum being present, the subcommittee will come 

to order. 

I would like to now recognize myself for an opening statement. 

For too long, Daniel Ortega has ruled Nicaragua through fear 

and intimidation, undermined democracy, and enriched himself 

through systemic corruption. Today, hundreds of thousands of 

Nicaraguans from all sectors of society have said no more. 

In response, over the last 2 months, Ortega has fought to maintain his control, unleashing his security forces on unarmed citizens 

and violently suppressing the protests in which he has left close to 

300 people dead, including one U.S. citizen. 

The crisis in Nicaragua is also threatening regional trade, business operations, and the safety of Americans living in Nicaragua. 

Attempts by the Catholic Church to mediate a peaceful solution to 

the conflict have failed. Ortega continues to suppress the people, 

and Ortega announced over the weekend that he will not hold early 

elections as many protesters had urged. 

Just this weekend, masked government supporters attacked 

Roman Catholic priests who were seeking to help protesters 

trapped inside a church. 

Yesterday, Felix Maradiaga, the executive director for a leading 

think tank in Nicaragua, an important pro-democracy advocate, 

was attacked and physically beaten by Ortega’s thugs in Leon. I believe his wife is in the audience today. In fact, I just met her. I 

complimented her husband and herself on her courage. 

And most of all, I wish your husband a speedy recovery, and 

thank you very, very much for being here. I just want to say the 

U.S. stands in support and solidarity with you and the Nicaraguan 

people who are seeking to reclaim their freedoms. 

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While some have expressed surprise by the outbreak and violence in what was previously known as the most stable country in 

Central America, this crisis did not occur overnight. In my view, 

it is the result of more than a decade of Ortega’s authoritarian rule 

and built-up resentment from the Nicaraguan people who have 

seen the Ortega family enrich themselves at the expense of the 

country. 

Today, Nicaragua remains the second poorest country in the 

Western Hemisphere after Haiti, and Transparency International 

ranks Nicaragua as one of the region’s most corrupt countries, 

along with Venezuela and Haiti. 

In addition, Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, have undermined democratic institutions in Nicaragua, stacked the courts and 

electoral body with political allies, illegally changed the constitution, eliminated presidential term limits, stripped the opposition 

parties of their legal registration, dismissed the opposition lawmakers from the National Assembly, held fraudulent elections, and 

co-opted many of the country’s television and media outlets to restrict information from reaching citizens. 

In view of these actions and today’s crisis in Nicaragua, we were 

holding this subcommittee hearing and markup of House Resolution 981 to examine recent developments and conduct oversight of 

the administration’s policy to Nicaragua. 

The Trump administration has rightly responded with strong 

statements condemning the Ortega regime for committing violence 

and human rights abuses. The State Department has taken important action to protect U.S. Embassy personnel and their families 

and issue visa restrictions on Nicaraguan Government officials. 

The Treasury Department also recently announced sanctions 

against three top Ortega officials for human rights abuses and corruption. 

I strongly applaud all these actions, but I want to note my concern over an Organization of American States, OAS, resolution 

jointly introduced by the United States and Nicaragua that seemed 

to downplay the crisis and deaths, and could have more strongly 

supported the democratic actors on the ground. 

The U.S. must do more. I urge the State Department and the 

Treasury Department to issue additional visa restrictions and 

Magnitsky sanctions on Ortega regime officials to send a clear message that the United States will not allow government officials who 

exploit Nicaraguan people or who commit human rights abuses to 

visit U.S. destinations or access the U.S. banking systems. 

The U.S. must also do more to support the democratic actors in 

Nicaragua. Also, U.S. funding to support the Nicaraguan people is 

strongly welcomed by this subcommittee. It is essential the U.S. respond to the crisis with a clear strategy and that we consider the 

needs of the actors on the ground in their capacity to manage 

money effectively to achieve results as we consider any additional 

funding. 

Finally, I strongly believe that the U.S. will be most effective if 

we work together to support the Nicaraguan people through, not 

only the Organization of American States and its member states, 

but also with the European Union, Canada, and the Lima Group 

countries to coordinate a united response to the Nicaraguan crisis. 

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I look forward to hearing from our witnesses on how the Trump 

administration is engaging with all these different actors to support the Nicaraguan people. 

And with that, I turn to our Ranking Member Sires for his opening remarks. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Cook follows:]

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Mr. SIRES. Thank you, Chairman, and thank you for holding 

such a timely hearing. And thank you to our witnesses for being 

here. 

But before I begin, I would also like to recognize Berta Valle. 

Thank you for being here. I wish your husband well. I hope he has 

a speedy recovery, and tell him that we appreciate his courage and 

his determination. So thank you for being here. 

You know, as we know, Nicaragua is currently in the throes of 

a civil conflict as Ortega’s government continues to oppress its citizens for pursuing greater democratic rights. 

Since Ortega came to power, he has gradually consolidated power 

in the hands of his family and his cronies at the expense of the Nicaraguan citizens. 

The peaceful protests that began in April initially opposed the 

proposed government’s reform to Social Security. However, as violent attempts by government security forces to quash the protests 

failed, the demonstration gradually became a call for a more democratic Nicaragua. 

The Catholic Church attempted numerous times to mediate dialogue between Ortega and the opposition groups, but Ortega’s regime has repeatedly failed to uphold its end of the agreement. 

Over the course of the last several months, as negotiations over 

dialogue has evolved, hundreds of Nicaraguan citizens are estimated to have been killed, with thousands more injured. 

Recently, international observers from the International Commission of Human Rights, the United Nations Commission of Human 


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Rights, and European Unions have finally arrived in Nicaragua to 

begin investigating the violence, despite Ortega’s reluctance. 

Now, many Nicaraguans are demanding political reforms and the 

resignation of Ortega and his wife before the scheduled elections in 

2021. 

The United States cannot stand idly by and ignore the demands 

of the Nicaraguan people while the Ortegas and his confidantes 

push the country undoubtedly toward a civil war. 

That is why my colleagues, Representative Ros-Lehtinen, Ranking Member Engel, Chairman Cook, and I have introduced a bipartisan resolution condemning the ongoing violence in Nicaragua and 

urging the administration to impose sanctions on individuals who 

qualify under the Global Magnitsky Act. 

I have also worked with my friend, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, to pass 

a Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act to hold the regime accountable for its misuse of international loans. This bill will direct 

the U.S. to not support international loans to Nicaragua until the 

government increases transparency and has free and fair elections. 

Unified pushback from the international community shows the 

courageous Nicaraguans on the ground that the world stands 

shoulder-to-shoulder with them. It is the only way to help Ortega 

see the writing on the wall. He has to give up his grip and enact 

long overdue and meaningful political reforms people are fighting 

for. 

I am eager to hear from the administration’s view the potential 

outcomes of the Nicaraguan crisis, and look forward to hearing how 

they plan on standing up for the protesters and promote democratic 

reforms to Nicaragua moving forward. 

Thank you, Chairman, for holding this hearing. 

Mr. COOK. Thank you very much. 

My able staff always passes me notes here. And I didn’t have my 

right glasses on. I thought it said IRS. And I said, I paid my taxes, 

but it was to remind me that Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is going to make 

an opening statement. 

So, Ms. IRS, you are up. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I have been called worse, but that is pretty 

low. 

But thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, thank you to Ranking 

Member Sires for putting together this very important hearing as 

the Nicaraguan people march through the streets today on a national strike to demand Ortega’s exit from power. 

And like Albio Sires, I also have a wonderful constituent, Nora 

Sandigo, who is there in the audience.Nora, please stand up. And 

she has been such a valiant fighter for the people of Nicaragua and 

all of Central America. Mucha gracias, Nora. 

And I especially want to commend the wonderful work that 

USAID Administrator Green, who is a dear friend of this subcommittee, for what he has been doing to assist the people of Nicaragua and Venezuela. I have to say that I am relieved that this administration, unlike the previous administration, is paying close attention to the Western Hemisphere and has shown a willingness to 

lead on many fronts, including Ortega’s escalating repression in 

Nicaragua. 

8

I have already led two letters urging sanctions on Ortega’s cronies for their roles in corruption and human rights violations 

against the Nicaraguan people. And the administration has responded by including all of these individuals on the Global 

Magnitsky list, that we should build on that list, which is why I 

intend to send another letter in the near future with all of our colleagues here, because we know that these despots will do anything 

to cling to power, and they only respond to pressure. 

Ortega is the sole individual responsible for the ongoing violence 

and the rising death toll in Nicaragua today, but it is not something that just happened overnight. It is not like we didn’t know 

what to expect when Ortega reclaimed power in Nicaragua. 

I came to Congress in 1989. And at that time, democracy was 

sort of looming in Nicaragua after Ortega’s first reign of terror, 

which took the lives of over 100,000 Nicaraguans. Due to his repression, thousands of Nicaraguans had already fled their native 

homeland to seek refuge in our great country, and we are so proud 

in South Florida to have a growing Nicaraguan-American community. 

And as a political refugee myself, just like Mr. Albio Sires, we 

fled Castro’s grip on power in our native homeland of Cuba, so we 

can relate to the hardships that the Nicaraguan people face in a 

new country. So that is why, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member, 

it pains me so much to see Nicaragua go down this path again. 

He has pulled off many tricks to position himself in the place he 

is now with the help of his wife and so-called vice president, 

Rosario. And you know, she is wicked. He is bad and she is a great 

partner in terror. He has been able to systematically weaken and 

dismantle democratic institutions in Nicaragua. What a pair. 

He and his family control every institution, every aspect of the 

country. He has co-opted and coerced the private sector. He has unleashed his thugs to violently crush any and all dissent, all of 

which has caused angst, frustration, despair among the Nicaraguan people. 

And that brings us to the tragic situation that we have today. In 

April, the Nicaraguan people said ‘‘basta ya,’’ enough is enough, 

took to the streets in opposition to Ortega and his corrupt policies. 

And in just 2 short months, almost 400 Nicaraguans’ lives, and the 

life of at least one U.S. citizen, have been taken at the bloody 

hands of the murderous Ortega regime. 

Thousands of people have been injured, hundreds mysteriously 

disappeared, while hundreds of thousands from all ages and all socioeconomic backgrounds continue to be intimated, repressed, and 

threatened on a daily basis. 

The violence is escalating, and the advanced technical weapons 

being used is alarming. Ortega has doubled down on his repressive 

tactics. 

In just this week, he has ruled out early elections, sent henchmen to fire shots near the residence of the U.S. Ambassador to 

Nicaragua. Just this week, killed more than 30 people, sent more 

of his mobs to physically attack priests and ransack churches. 

These are not the actions of someone who wants to work in good 

faith to reach a peaceful resolution. These are not the actions of 

someone who truly wants a national dialogue. These are the acVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:14 Oct 19, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 Z:\WORK\_WH\071218\30709 SHIRL
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tions of a thug who wants to stay in power no matter what the 

cost. And to that end, Ortega has expanded his cooperations with 

regimes across the region and beyond. 

Just last week, several reports indicated that Maduro had sent 

a shipment of weapons to Ortega. And there are reports that suggest the Cubans have shipped in their military personnel and snipers to Nicaragua as well. And we have known for years about 

Ortega’s coziness with Putin. 

So there are a lot of alarming trends, Mr. Chairman. None of 

them good. But at least the people of Nicaragua know where the 

U.S. stands, and we stand with the people of Nicaragua. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Ranking Member. 

Mr. COOK. Thank you, Ms. IRS. 

Before I recognize you to provide your testimony, I am going to 

explain the lighting system in front of you. 

You will each have 5 minutes to present your oral statement. 

When you begin, the light will turn green. When you have a 

minute left, the light will turn yellow. And when your time is expired, the light will turn red. 

I ask that you conclude your testimony once the red light comes 

on. I will gently tap. Sometimes I come down hard. I haven’t got 

the right glasses, and I might hit my colleague to the right by mistake. 

After our witnesses testify, members will have 5 minutes to ask 

questions. I urge my colleagues to stick to the 5-minute rule to ensure that all members get the opportunity to ask questions. 

Our first witness to testify will be Ambassador Carlos Trujillo, 

the U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States, OAS. Prior to this, the Ambassador served as a State 

representative in the Florida House, special adviser at the U.S. 

Mission to the United Nations, assistant State attorney in Miami, 

and has been a member of three real estate holding companies in 

Florida. 

He earned a BS in business administration from Spring Hill College and a JD from Florida State College of Law. 

Our second witness is Ambassador Michael Kozak, a senior adviser and senior bureau official in the Bureau of Democracy, 

Human Rights, and Labor at the U.S. Department of State. Prior 

to this, the Ambassador served in numerous senior positions in the 

executive branch, including senior director on the National Security 

Council, principal deputy assistant secretary of state, Ambassador 

in Minsk, U.S. negotiator with Cuba, special Presidential envoy to 

negotiate the departure of General Noriega, assistant negotiator for 

the Panama Canal treaties, and staff of the Middle East peace negotiator. 

He earned his JD and BA from the University of California at 

Berkeley. 

Our last witness to testify will be Ms. Barbara Feinstein, the 

deputy assistant administrator in the Bureau for Latin America 

and the Caribbean at the U.S. Agency for International aid, 

USAID. Prior to this, Ms. Feinstein served as USAID’s senior deputy assistant administrator for Legislative Affairs, in the Office of 

USAID Administrator, on the professional staff of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations and 

10

the House International Relations. She has also served in various 

capacities at the Department of State and Defense. 

She earned a BA from the University of California at Berkeley 

and a master’s from Princeton University. I would like to mention 

to staff, obviously Berkeley is—what about my alma mater? 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Which one is your——

Mr. COOK. No, I am only kidding. I won’t tell you. I don’t want 

to embarrass my alma mater for graduating me. 

Ambassador Trujillo, you are recognized. 

STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE CARLOS TRUJILLO, U.S. 

PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE, ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES 

Ambassador TRUJILLO. Thank you. 

Chairman Cook, Ranking Member Sires, members of the subcommittee, thank you for conducting this hearing and for allowing 

me the opportunity to come before you to address the most urgent 

matter and the critical need to work together to uphold freedom, 

democracy, and respect for human rights for the people of Nicaragua. 

On June 4, at the 48th Regular Session of the General Assembly 

of the Organization of American States, Secretary Pompeo underscored that ‘‘we join with the nations around the world in demanding that the Ortega government respond to the Nicaraguan people’s 

demand for democratic reform and hold accountable those responsible for violence.’’

The Secretary’s remarks echoed those of Vice President Pence 

during the May 7 visit to the OAS headquarters in which he also 

stressed the United States will continue to stand with all Nicaraguans peacefully exercising their fundamental freedoms in the 

face of tremendous repression, and the will to continue to press for 

democracy and accountability in Nicaragua. 

Let me begin today by underscoring that the United States condemns the Nicaraguan Government’s ongoing violence and intimidation campaign against its own citizens, and more recently, 

church officials. 

The United States is under no illusion as to who is responsible 

for this violence. The United States condemns the attacks in 

Diriamba and surrounding areas over the last several days, including the heavy-handed tactics against the mediators of the national 

dialogue, such as Cardinal Brenes, who recently returned from 

Rome. 

The United States has backed up our words of condemnation 

with actions. Last week, we announced the designation of three 

Nicaraguan officials for human rights abuses and corruptions 

under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. 

The strategic designation targeted those who gave shoot-to-kill 

orders that have resulted in the deaths of Nicaraguans who were 

exercising their constitutional rights to oppose their government. 

The designations also targeted facilitators of who those who strive 

to enrich themselves off of the backs of the Nicaraguan people. 

These targeted sanctions, plus earlier and continuing visa revocations, show the United States will expose and hold accountable 

11

those responsible for the Nicaraguan Government’s ongoing violence and intimidation campaign against its own people. 

Let me be clear. It is Ortega’s government that every day renews 

its directive to kill its people in order to remain in power. Local 

human rights groups and international media report that 38 people 

were killed just between July 8 and July 10 in a government offensive that also injured the church officials. Between April 19 and 

July 20, over 300 people have died. More than 2,000 have been injured and over 200 are still reported missing. 

Just yesterday, the Inter-American Commission on Human 

Rights briefed the OAS Permanent Council on its ongoing efforts 

on the ground in Nicaragua and recounted a variety of systematic 

and disturbing human rights abuses. Furthermore, it again made 

clear the Nicaraguan Government’s responsibility for the ongoing 

violence and repression. 

According to Inter-American Commission, the Nicaraguan NGO 

Center For Human Rights and Amnesty International, there is substantial evidence that the government is directing the national police as well as Sandinista Youth and government-controlled gangs 

to repress protesters violently. 

There are credible reports of extrajudicial killings, forced disappearance, and torture in custody. Furthermore, citizens have 

been unable or unwilling to access healthcare for their injuries. 

People have distrust to government-run hospitals that they have 

reportedly forced families to sign certificates that falsifies the cause 

of death in order to retrieve the bodies of their deceased or loved 

ones. 

The United States supports the Commission’s new mechanism to 

investigate human rights abuses and believes strongly that we 

must hold those accountable for human rights abuses, accountable 

for their actions. 

We welcome, in particular, the efforts of the international Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts. I am pleased that the 

Group of Independent Experts is in Nicaragua as we meet today 

investigating the ongoing acts of violence taking place in Nicaragua. It is imperative that OAS member and observer states provide the Commission the support necessary to ensure it can carry 

out its important mission effectively and remain on the ground as 

long as necessary, while performing its vital work unimpeded by 

the Nicaraguan Government. 

For its part, the Government of Nicaragua had indicated its willingness to cooperate with the Commission’s effort, but so far, it appeared to have impeded the work of the Commission, and just yesterday, rejected the IACHR’s finding when presented to the OAS 

Permanent Council. 

It is for this reason that the OAS must continue to shine the 

spotlight on the human rights crisis unfolding before our eyes in 

Nicaragua and hold the Nicaraguan Government accountable. 

Esteemed members of the subcommittee, let me also be clear 

that while these mechanisms and visits are a necessary step toward greater accountability and enhanced citizen security, they 

nonetheless are insufficient to resolve the ongoing crisis of governance and democratic backslide in Nicaragua. The violence and loss 

of life in Nicaragua reflects the need for urgent democratic reforms 

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now, consistent with the purpose, practice, and principles of the 

OAS, especially those articulated in the Inter-American Democratic 

Charter. 

Simply put, the Nicaraguan people deserve far better from their 

government. We strongly support the proposal by many sectors of 

the Nicaraguan societies for free, fair, and early elections with 

credible domestic and international electoral observations in line 

with the terms and spirit of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. 

There is no apparent way to resolve this political crisis. We have 

urged the OAS secretary general to promote and support the reform of democratic institutions in Nicaragua, especially the electoral system, who was manipulated by the government in recent 

years and spark the Nicaraguan people’s demand for fair and 

transparent process. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Ambassador Trujillo follows:]

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Mr. COOK. Thank you, Mr. Ambassador. 

Ambassador Kozak, you are now recognized. 

STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE MICHAEL KOZAK, SENIOR 

ADVISOR AND SENIOR BUREAU OFFICIAL, BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LABOR, U.S. DEPARTMENT 

OF STATE 

Ambassador KOZAK. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member 

Sires, and members of the subcommittee. It feels like old times, 

Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen. I was acting assistant secretary for 

WHA the last time we were talking about Daniel Ortega and Nicaragua, and here we go again. Let’s hope it turns out the same way. 

But thank you for holding this timely hearing. 

On June 14, Vice President Pence called on Daniel Ortega to end 

his government’s crimes and answer his nation’s cry for democracy 

and human rights. The way to do this is to answer their call for 

early, free, and fair elections. 

Our message is simple: Allow the Nicaraguan people to resolve 

this crisis through democratic means. 

The continued campaign of violence against protesters is self-defeating. More than 300 people have died since protests started on 

April 18, and that number is increasing. 

The reason the Ortega-Murillo regime faces these protests is precisely because they have responded to legitimate grievances with 

violence. More of the same will not end the crisis. Daniel Ortega 

should know better than most. This did not work for Somoza. It 

will not work for him. 

There is substantial evidence that the government is directing 

national police, Sandinista Youth, and government-controlled gangs 

to suppress protests violently. There are credible reports of 

extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and torture, and there 

is evidence of the use of snipers. Citizens have been unable to obtain healthcare for their injuries. Government-run hospitals have 

reportedly forced families to sign certificates that falsify the cause 

of death. 

This crisis has been years in the making. It is the product of the 

hollowing out of democratic institutions under Daniel Ortega and 

Rosario Murillo. Their regime has disregarded the rule of law, 

basic tenets of democracy, and international commitments to protect human rights. Instead, the family has governed through pacts, 

where they allocated the political and economic spoils of dictatorship with other groups. 

The ruling party controls the legislative and judicial branches of 

government. The Ortega-Murillo family controls eight of the nine 

major television stations. And when the violence broke out, the 

Ortegas ordered five independent television stations off the air. 

Since the 2008 elections, Ortega has consistently blocked opposition party candidates from the ballot. Before the 2016 general elections, Ortega had the supreme court disqualify a principal opposition leader, and the Supreme Electoral Council was ordered to remove 16 of 27 opposition members from the National Assembly. 

The United States has consistently called on the Government of 

Nicaragua to respect peaceful protest, human rights, freedom of expression, and democratic norms. We are pleased that we have been 

20

joined by many others in calling out these abuses. A European 

Union statement condemned the May 30 Mother’s Day violence. It 

urged that the government implement all Inter-American Human 

Rights Commission recommendations and permit the entry of relevant U.N. bodies. U.N. Secretary-General Guterres said that it 

was essential that those responsible for such serious human rights 

violations are held to account. 

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for the 

creation of international commission to investigate the violence. 

And as OAS Secretary General Almagro indicated yesterday, early, 

free, and fair elections are imperative if Nicaragua is to solve this 

crisis. 

Now, we have called on other elements of the Nicaraguan Government who have admirably not involved themselves in these 

abuses to live up to the hemisphere’s shared commitment to democracy. We admire the many in Nicaraguan public service who do not 

allow their professional loyalty to be abused by a corrupt family 

seeking to cling to power through brutal means. 

As my colleagues have indicated, we have used visa revocations 

and restrictions under section 6 of 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration 

and Nationality Act, to restrict the visas of people who are responsible for these crimes, and we have—most recently, used the Global 

Magnitsky Act. These are the beginnings of an effort to support the 

efforts of the Nicaraguan people through using the tools that you 

in Congress have provided us. 

Those who continue to collaborate with the Ortega-Murillo regime in abusing the human rights of the Nicaraguan people and 

preventing them from exercising their democratic rights will find 

themselves and their families in the same situation as those who 

just had their visas and economic activities restricted. But those 

who respect human rights and democratic institutions have our respect, and more importantly, they have the respect of their own 

people. 

The subcommittee is wise to shine a spotlight on this crisis 

brought about by the insistence of one family in clinging to power 

through violence. The Nicaraguan people deserve a government 

that respects their vote and respects human rights. This is why we 

support the dialogue under the auspices of the Catholic Church, so 

long as it is aimed at implementing the call for early, free, and fair 

elections. 

We will work closely with this committee to support the efforts 

of the Nicaraguan people to bring about a democratic end to their 

suffering. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

[The prepared statement of Ambassador Kozak follows:]

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Mr. COOK. Thank you, Mr. Ambassador. 

Before I introduce our next speaker, it is somewhat of an anomaly that 2 days in a row we have a witness from USAID. And I 

am delighted, very impressed with my visit down there and other 

places. So obviously, everybody on the staff loves you, I guess. 

So, Ms. Feinstein, you are now recognized. Thank you for being 

with us. 

STATEMENT OF MS. BARBARA FEINSTEIN, DEPUTY ASSISTANT 

ADMINISTRATOR, BUREAU FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE 

CARIBBEAN, U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

Ms. FEINSTEIN. Thank you. 

Chairman Cook, Ranking Member Sires, and members of the 

subcommittee, thank you for this invitation to testify today and for 

holding this hearing at such a critical time. 

On behalf of the United States Agency for International Development, I want to thank the subcommittee for its unyielding commitment to advancing human rights and democracy in our hemisphere 

and for your support of USAID’s work in Nicaragua. 

As many of you know, the United States is the only remaining 

donor working on democracy, governance, and human rights in the 

country. And it is thanks to your support that we have been able 

to maintain a crucial lifeline for civil society organizations, human 

rights defenders, emerging leaders, and independent media, all of 

whom remain under grave attack. 

At no time has that lifeline been more critical than in the last 

few months, as the Ortega government has sustained a brutal 

crackdown against the Nicaraguan people, censoring media and 

unleashing a reign of terror against any who challenge its repression, including the recent brutal attacks against the clergy as well 

as Felix Maradiaga. 

According to the latest figures, more than 300 people have been 

killed since the protests began in April 2018, most at the hands of 

the national police, pro-government youth groups, and/or para-police. 

In early June, I had the privilege of joining Administrator Green 

in meeting with some of the courageous student leaders, independent journalists, and human rights defenders who came to 

Washington, D.C., to shine a light on the atrocities underway in 

their country. We heard firsthand how students are putting their 

lives on the line to protest injustice, peacefully demand their 

rights, and condemn the killings, torture, and disappearances of 

their friends and fellow students. 

Human rights defenders spoke of jail sentences and other threats 

that both they and their families are facing—punishment for daring to speak the truth. And journalists shared stories of the perilous environment within which they are operating—some murdered in cold blood for chronicling the government-sanctioned brutality we continue to witness to this day. 

Administrator Green has added his voice to that of Vice President Pence and Secretary of State Pompeo in condemning the 

atrocities committed by the Ortega regime. 

27

USAID commends the bravery of the students, journalists, 

human rights defenders, civil society, religious leaders, and indigenous groups who have united their voices in a call for justice, rule 

of law, and a return to democratic order. We also recognize and respect that any meaningful change must be led by the Nicaraguan 

people themselves. This is their movement, and we will provide appropriate support when requested and warranted. 

Indeed, as this crisis has unfolded, USAID has provided rapid assistance to scores of civil society groups, human rights organizations, independent media, and others involved in peaceful protests. 

To ensure reporting of independent and accurate information at 

a time when government-controlled forces are systematically censoring independent media, either through cyber attacks, destruction of physical infrastructure, online slander campaigns, or unfounded criminal charges, USAID is providing critical assistance to 

journalists from 14 different independent media outlets. This assistance, which builds upon longer term efforts to strengthen independent media in the country, is helping to combat disinformation 

and disprove the distorted narrative promoted by the Ortega government. 

USAID has also mobilized technical expertise to provide on-thespot assistance with digital security for USAID partners working 

in civil society and media who have seen an increase in online attacks, heightened online surveillance, and attempts by the government to take websites off-line. 

To ensure human rights protections, USAID has awarded multiple, small grants to Nicaraguan human rights and civil society organizations. These funds are enabling these groups to provide 

short-term legal aid for those detained, injured, or for the families 

of those killed in the protests. Our resources are also helping to coordinate and support networks of human rights defenders, to document violations, and to elevate cases of human rights abuses to the 

Inter-American and U.N. systems. 

USAID continues to recalibrate our approach to assist those in 

need and to position the agency to respond to opportunities as they 

emerge. 

The United States will continue to respond as appropriate, and 

we express our solidarity with the courageous protestors, journalists, and other democratic actors in civil society seeking a better future for themselves and their families. 

Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee, thank you for 

shining a spotlight on this crisis and for your commitment to advancing the freedom and human rights of citizens throughout the 

hemisphere. 

I look forward to your questions. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Feinstein follows:]

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Mr. COOK. Thank you very much. 

I am going to forego my remarks at the time. I am very pleased 

with the number of members that we have here. And we got a busy 

afternoon, multiple committees, so I am going to come back later 

on. But right now, I do want to turn to the ranking member Sires 

for his questions. 

Mr. SIRES. You have to go? Go ahead. I will go after you. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much, Albio, Ranking Member Sires. 

Mr. COOK. This is the way everybody should get along. 

Mr. SMITH. New Jerseyans. I am chairing a hearing at 3 o’clock 

on tuberculosis, so I will have to leave. 

But I want to thank, first of all, our three highly distinguished 

witnesses who are incredibly effective, just have done yeoman’s 

work for human rights. And I just want to thank all of you for 

what you are doing now, particularly during this crisis. I do have 

just a couple of comments and questions, and I will be brief. 

And, Ambassador Kozak, as you said, here we go again. It was 

36 years ago that I first met with Daniel Ortega in Managua. I 

went down on a trip. It was Frank Wolf, Tony Hall, Bob McCune, 

and I. We met with him and Tomas Borge. It was a contentious set 

of meetings. And we brought up one issue after another with regards to human rights abuse, the systematic use of torture, and 

here we go again. 

So, you know, it is the same person, Comandante Ortega, as he 

even preferred to be called then. 

And I guess my first question would be about—and thank you for 

those three designations under the Magnitsky Act. Hopefully, there 

will be more. And I am sure that is under very active consideration. 

But, you know, as Mark Green and you, Ambassador Kozak, 

heard from students just about a month ago, some of those students who got food and sustenance during their crisis with the government got sick, fell ill. Because the belief is that they were intentionally—they ate intentionally tainted food. 

When Frank Wolf and I and the other two met with Daniel Ortega, three of us drank the drink that was given to us by Daniel 

Ortega. One did not. Tony Hall did not. He didn’t get sick. We got 

violently ill for about 14 days. 

Can’t say for sure, but what a terrible indicator, now these wonderful students have gotten sick from that. And if you might want 

to speak to that, because you know, we know what Cuba has done 

to our diplomats. You know, these other ways, you know, the billy 

clubs and the torture and the bullets are one way, and the beatings. Another way is to kill people or hurt them severely through 

poison. And, of course, what they do in Cuba was outrageous. 

Secondly, very quickly, the prelates, including the nuncio, who is 

an ambassador. And certainly, when you mistreat an ambassador, 

that crosses a line internationally. What is being done, if you could 

speak to that. 

You know, the church over and over again, as we all know so 

well, whether it be in DR Congo—and I am going there in about 

a month—we see it in South Sudan—the church steps up. It did 

it in Nicaragua for so many times, years under Obando y Bravo. 

33

My question is what could be done with regards to our governance accounts to further fortify the church’s incredible role in mediating and trying to bring peace and reconciliation? 

I have many other questions, but, again, having been given this 

opportunity to go first because of my hearing, I will forego that and 

submit those questions for the record. 

Ambassador KOZAK. Thank you, Mr. Smith. It is a pleasure to 

see you again. 

The poisoning issue that you mentioned, unfortunately, I have 

seen that in too many places, that it all went to the same spy 

school. So I don’t have anything specific on this one, but it wouldn’t 

surprise me. We have seen it before in too many places. 

And, again, there seems to be no respect there for what you do 

to diplomats, but more importantly, what they are doing to their 

own people. 

On the nuncio, I think it would be up to the Vatican to, you 

know, make a protest over mistreatment of their envoy. 

And Barbara can talk too—but I think we are in a position to 

be supportive of mediation efforts. And, you know, if we are successful and we are trying to plan for success here, if we are able 

to get agreement to an early election, you know, there is a whole 

string of things that will come with that. Observers, both international and domestic, reformation of the electoral machinery and 

so on. So I think we are very cognizant of that in trying to set stuff 

aside. 

I would make one request to you and the other members of the 

committee, which is, we are getting near the end of the fiscal year. 

And the gap we always run into is that, at the beginning of the 

year, all money gets frozen, sometimes for like 6 months while we 

do all the negotiations. And if we are lucky enough that we are 

moving on this, we may be coming back to you and saying, can we 

get an early release of funds next year to try to deal with that. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you so very much. I do have other questions, 

but I will wait. 

Mr. COOK. Thank you, Ambassador. 

Ranking Member Sires. 

Mr. SIRES. Thank you, Chairman. 

You know, I am always amazed at the audacity of these people 

like Ortega. He goes and puts his wife as vice president. You have 

the second poorest country in the region. He goes and buys $80 

million worth of tanks from Russia. I assume that he is going to 

turn those tanks on his people. 

To me, if anybody continues to deal or work or invest with this 

Ortega thug, we have to find a way of stopping that, because he 

is just getting richer and richer and richer. I understand his brother is rich, his wife is very rich, he is very rich. And I am concerned 

that it is going to lead to a civil war in that country again. 

They went through a civil war once before, which was really devastating to the country. I don’t know if they ever have recovered 

from it. And I am afraid that the way he is behaving, with the support of some of these other countries, it is going to head that way. 

So what more pressure can we put on this thug from Nicaragua 

that we are not doing now? I know that there was $10 million in 

the budget for Nicaragua. I hope that we don’t go through with 

34

that. I hope that we can get the NICA bill through the Senate. I 

think that would send a strong message to the international community not to deal with this thug. 

So what else can we do as a Congress here? We have a resolution 

condemning the Ortega regime. 

Ambassador, can you think of anything else that we can——

Ambassador TRUJILLO. Thank you for your question. I think one 

thing from the multilateral perspective, Representative, having 

friends and allies also lend support from a financial perspective 

and also from a diplomatic perspective. 

Inside of the OAS, we are pursuing a resolution which, hopefully, 

we will take up either tomorrow or the following week. Like all resolutions, it is important for its passage. In order to receive its passage, we need 18 votes. Without revealing our vote count here in 

public, I will be happy to sit down with you and go over some of 

the countries that diplomatic pressure would be very, very important in a multilateral setting in getting their support. 

Getting financial support for the Commission on Human Rights, 

having as many people as we can on the ground, supervising, taking notes of the violations of human rights is also very, very important. 

To date, the missions run about $1.4 million. The U.S. mission 

has contributed $500,000, with a willingness to do more. Unfortunately, a lot of other countries have not contributed any resource 

whatsoever to supporting—to supporting those efforts. And I think 

acts like the NICA Act and other bilateral pressure that does exist, 

the Global Magnitsky sanctions, individual visa revocations, is 

something that could take place. 

I think a variety of not only multilateral, but bilateral pressure, 

and that combination and that timing, that systematic approach 

and that coordination, could really lead to create the conditions for 

true, earnest diplomatic solutions to this problem. 

Mr. SIRES. Well, I will be happy to work with you on any of 

those, because—you know, when you have the killings—and I understand now they have snipers trying to kill the most active members of these demonstrations. It seems that they are going by the 

same way Venezuela is going. I think they got the idea from Venezuela. And I wonder where Venezuela got the idea from. 

So it is really disheartening that they were going on a path that 

everybody was looking up to Nicaragua, and now we are just taking a step backwards. And sometimes it bothers me that we don’t 

see this coming here in America. I think that we have to really 

start focusing more on the Western Hemisphere and what is going 

on in the Western Hemisphere, because every time we look the 

other way, Russia seems to be stepping in. You have seen China 

to be stepping in. And now, we have places where Iran is starting 

to set up these schools throughout the Western Hemisphere. And 

I just worry that we are always a step behind some of these people 

and some of these countries. 

I mean, Ortega was known to be a no-good crook for years. And 

yet we have people investing money with the regime, investing 

money with the clan from Ortega. You know, it just boggles my 

mind that we always seem to be a step behind some of the things 

that go on in the Western Hemisphere. 

35

Thank you. 

Mr. COOK. Yes. 

I would like to recognize the gentleman from Florida, Mr. Yoho. 

Mr. YOHO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate it. I appreciate the panel being here. 

I want to build off of what Albio Sires says, and I agree with his 

sentiment that the West, the Western Hemisphere, the democracy 

is falling down. 

And, Ms. Feinstein, I would like to have from you, what do we need to do different? I mean, we have invested $194 million in 10 

years in Nicaragua, and a lot of that goes to good governance. It 

is obviously not working. 

What is the major impediment that you run into when we are 

spending the American taxpayers money on what we claim to be 

democracy, what they are doing is nothing near a democracy? I 

want to know what we have to do on the ground different. 

Ms. FEINSTEIN. Thank you, Congressman, for that question. Ultimately, the solution to what happens in Nicaragua, as has been the 

case to this point, and will be the case going forward, rests with 

the people of Nicaragua, including the Government of Nicaragua. 

And the situation that we are seeing today is a product of actions 

taken by Daniel Ortega, by Rosario Murillo, and the various actions that we are responding to right now. It is very clear that the 

responsibility lies with——

Mr. YOHO. Okay, let me interrupt you there. 

Ms. FEINSTEIN. Yes. 

Mr. YOHO. Because we agree, Ortega is a bad player. And the 

people can’t respond because of the form of government he has. 

When did we see this starting to deteriorate? And could we have 

intervened earlier or done something different, putting more pressure on the Ortega government, gone in there and maybe pulled 

back trade or pulled back support earlier on? 

Ms. FEINSTEIN. I would defer to my colleagues in terms of diplomatic initiatives. I would say, broadly speaking, at this point in 

time, and this is also to the ranking member’s question, I think 

there is an important role that other countries in the region can 

also play, and I think that Congress can have a very important role 

in leaning on other actors, including in Central America, in Mexico, 

in the region, since instability in this country is not in their interest, in addition to its economic implications. 

I would say at this very point in time, we are well-positioned, 

since we have been a lifeline to civil society in Nicaragua. We have 

been the only actor in this space in recent history, which has allowed us to undertake interventions in four key areas. In human 

rights, independent media, legal assistance, and digital security, 

which are keeping people alive, allowing them to document human 

rights violations. And going forward, as hopefully a greater accountability can be brought to bear, whether it is within Nicaragua, ideally, one day, but certainly in Inter-American fora, and 

in international fora, the kind of documentation that is taking 

place on the ground right now will be absolutely essential to that. 

Mr. YOHO. I agree with all of what you are saying, and we are 

documenting that, but yet it is getting worse, the whole situation. 

And it is not just Nicaragua. It is Honduras. It is all these other 

36

countries. There has got to be a paradigm shift. We have got to do 

something different. And we can work with civil society, but if you 

have got a corrupt government, it is not going to change. 

What do we have to do? I mean, the only way I can see it happening is empowering the people to change government, because 

empowered people can change government. But if they don’t have 

the rule of law and the honoring of human rights, you are never 

going to have it. 

They will tolerate it, the dictators, or the Ortegas of the world, 

they will tolerate a certain amount of human rights—if we come in 

there and we demand these things, they will tolerate us with a little bit of that, but they are doing a whole lot of corruption, and a 

decay of what we believe as democracy, the best way to live in the 

world, free people. 

Is there anything else? I mean, where do you begin, I mean, 

without changing governments or the people in there? And certainly, we have been down that road and we don’t want to do that. 

What about having a coalition of other governments? The OAS, to 

have them come in there and put more pressure on them as an organization, or are they as inept as the U.N.? 

Does anybody want to——

Ambassador TRUJILLO. I think, Congressman, the OAS, from a 

multilateral perspective, could put pressure, multilateral pressure 

with some of the other countries, but sometimes I don’t feel like 

that is even enough. 

I think if the real problem here is corruption, we need to attack 

the individual corrupt actors. Congress, the U.S. Government has 

multiple tools in order to attack these individual corrupt actors. 

Once you show that these actors don’t have impunity before the 

law, they have to move those assets, whether it is——

Mr. YOHO. We have been talking about this for 20, 30 years, but 

we are not getting the results. So what was your suggestion on how 

do you hold them accountable? Who is going to hold them accountable, besides the——

Ambassador TRUJILLO. So I think the Global Magnitsky Act hold 

those three people accountable, but we know that they are not the 

only ones. There are other people who are stealing and looting the 

riches of the Nicaraguan people. They need to be held accountable. 

The banks that do business with these individuals need to be held 

accountable. These individuals have the impunity of being able to 

travel to the United States. Their visas should be held——

Mr. YOHO. I have got to cut you off because I am out of time. 

And I thank you for your time. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. COOK. Thank you very much. 

I now recognize the gentleman from York, Mr. Espaillat. 

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member. 

Just in a few weeks, our President will be meeting with Vladimir 

Putin. Vladimir Putin has long sought to deepen ties with allies 

that share a resentment of the U.S. leadership, both locally in the 

Western Hemisphere as well as across the world. 

With Nicaragua and Russia increasingly deepening their relationship, and Russian weapons being used by the Ortega regime 

against opposition demonstrators—as was previously stated by one 

37

of my colleagues, Russian tanks were bought—what are we doing 

to help our country? What are we doing to help resolve this situation? 

If we have a hunky-dory relationship with one of the main actors 

disturbing and creating havoc in Nicaragua, what do you suggest 

for our government to do vis-a-vis Russia with regards to the situation in Nicaragua? 

Ambassador Kozak, if you can. 

Ambassador KOZAK. Thank you for that question, sir. I would say 

that I wouldn’t characterize our relationship with Russia as hunkydory. We have got more sanctions and pressure on them now than 

we have had in a long time. Unfortunately, the relationship between Russia and the Ortegas goes back to the times we were talking about——

Mr. ESPAILLAT. But I would say our relationship——

Ambassador KOZAK [continuing]. The late 1970s. 

Mr. ESPAILLAT. I would say our relationship with Russia right 

now is better than with NATO, given what transpired in the last 

couple of days. 

Ambassador KOZAK. I am not going to characterize broad relationships, but I would say, with respect to Nicaragua and Russia—

I happened to be in Nicaragua talking to the Ortegas when that 

first report of the sale of the tanks came up, and asked him about 

it. He was evasive. In fact, almost lied saying, oh, no, they were 

just armored vehicles. 

For the life of me, I can’t figure out what he is going to do with 

$80 million worth of T72 tanks. They aren’t very good at battling 

your own people in the streets, and he doesn’t have any enemies 

with tanks. 

But the thing that is really hurting that regime right now is 

what he is doing to himself. They have effectively destroyed the 

economy much better than anything we could have done. 

So I think we want to keep warning Russia against adventurism 

in this region, just as we are against some of their bad activities 

in Eastern Ukraine, Croatia—or Crimea and in Georgia. But, you 

know, that is not going to be the solution to the problem in Nicaragua. The solution to the problem there is for the Ortegas to step 

down and get out of the way and let the country get on with its 

future. But it is, unfortunately, a longstanding problem of the Russians providing support to these kinds of regimes. 

I think it is not only founded in the old days, it was founded 

somewhat in ideology. Now it is founded heavily in just anti-Americanism and corruption. These are corrupt oligarchs on both sides, 

and it is no good for anybody else. 

Thank you, sir. 

Mr. ESPAILLAT. One last quick question is, Congress appropriated 

$10 million in development assistance to Nicaragua for fiscal year 

2018, although the White House requested zero funding. 

In your opinion, Mr. Trujillo, what kind of resources are needed 

on the ground there to help promote democracy? Are there any specific programs, initiatives that could be funded? And do you have 

an idea, a ballpark figure of what kind of moneys is necessary to 

keep the process moving forward for these pro-democratic forces on 

the ground? 

38

Ambassador TRUJILLO. Well, Congressman, I think our immediate concern from the OAS perspective is ground support for the 

International Commission on Human Rights and technical experts 

that prevent human right abuses. We know that their request initially was $1.4, $1.5 million. That 

request, obviously over time as conditions worsen, will continue to 

go up. That would be an immediate area in which the United 

States could have an influence in protecting human life. 

For a recommitment to democratic institutions, the OAS has 

worked on that in the past, but part of that is there has to be a 

commitment from the government to engage in the recommitment 

to democratic institutions. And that could range from a couple of 

million dollars—the OAS had a budget for $30 million—it could go 

up into the hundreds of millions of dollars, depending on how much 

commitment we have to rebuilding a democratic institution, an 

electoral institution, an independent judiciary. 

So it could be extensive, it could be exhaustive, but I think the 

one thing we have to focus on is if the government lacks the willingness to negotiate and to cooperate and to rebuild the democratic 

institutions, no amount of money will be necessary—will be sufficient. 

Mr. ESPAILLAT. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. COOK. Thank you very much. I guess it gives new meaning 

to the old saying, a chicken in every pot and a tank in every garage. 

I want to turn to my good friend, the gentleman from Texas, Mr. 

Castro. 

Mr. CASTRO. Thank you, Chairman. 

The situation in Nicaragua is dire. And I appreciate the President and the administration’s actions in designating certain individuals in Nicaragua complicit in violence against civilians under 

the Global Magnitsky Act. 

And in the past weeks, hundreds of civilians have been killed by 

the government of Daniel Ortega. Elections are scheduled for 2021, 

and President Ortega has denied early elections. But 2021 is a long 

time away. And Nicaraguans now exist in a very hostile political 

environment. 

Are you pressuring the Nicaraguan Government to hold elections 

earlier than scheduled? 

Ambassador KOZAK. Yes, sir. I think as we have all testified, that 

is what we have been calling for. We are standing with the call of 

the Nicaraguan people for early elections, as that seems to be the 

only available option for solving the crisis. 

Nobody is going to be able to reconcile with the regime in power, 

and so it is really important for them to get out of the way and 

let the country make a future for itself. But, you know, it is how 

do you make that happen mechanically. How do you put enough 

pressure on the family, basically, to make that choice and get out 

of the way. 

Mr. CASTRO. Let me ask you, what American businesses are very 

active in Nicaragua? Which ones come to mind? 

Ambassador KOZAK. It has been a while, but I think Walmart, 

you said? Cardel, Walmart. I mean, Walmart was building a place 

to sell their products. But, again, I don’t know that there is anyVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:14 Oct 19, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 Z:\WORK\_WH\071218\30709 SHIRL
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thing we need to do about that. The deterrent now on anyone investing anything in that place is the behavior of the government. 

They are doing a dandy job of creating sanctions against themselves, and that is actually increasing pressure on them. The people in the streets is a huge pressure that is being generated by Nicaraguan people themselves. The flight of capital out of the country, 

the lack of investment, is a direct reaction to the behavior of the 

government. And, you know, we are a supporting player in this 

and, as we have all discussed, trying to take the measures that we 

can with the tools you have given us. 

And just to follow up, I would say why have we not used Global 

Magnitsky before? Well, it came into force about a year ago, and 

it is a tremendous tool, because it allows us to go after corrupt and 

human rights abusing officials in other countries without imposing 

sanctions on the entire country. We are able to be much more targeted, so we really appreciate that. 

Mr. CASTRO. And let me ask you a question about OAS. As you 

know, there has been widespread condemnation in the Americas of 

our government’s policy of separating young children from their 

parents, including at OAS. And, you know, how is this affecting our 

ability to deal through OAS on these other issues like Nicaragua? 

Ambassador TRUJILLO. Thank you, Congressman, for the question. We did host a hearing on the border issue on the separation 

of families, and obviously it was a unique issue that was addressed 

at that one particular hearing. Since then, there has been absolutely no push back. 

I think we have realigned with our allies and focusing on the 

issues that all of us are concerned about in the Western Hemisphere, mainly the deteriorating situation in Nicaragua, also the 

continuing deteriorating situation in Venezuela. I have personally 

had multiple meetings with a host of different OAS member states, 

a lot of countries we have traditionally aligned with, and we are 

continuing in a very good working relationship. 

Mr. CASTRO. Good. I yield back. 

Mr. COOK. Thank you. 

I would like to recognize the gentlewoman from California, Mrs. 

Torres. 

Mrs. TORRES. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you, Ambassador Kozak and Trujillo and Ms. Feinstein for being here with us 

to talk about the instability in Nicaragua, which has been very 

alarming to us and our constituents. I am quite a fan of the Global 

Magnitsky Act, and I want to encourage you to continue to use 

that, you know, to the extent that we can, in other regions too, including Guatemala. Some of these very corrupt individuals, specifically Members of Congress, need to know that they just can’t come 

to the U.S. to visit Disneyland when they are treating their people 

so badly. 

I want to talk to you about TPS. I want to talk to you about the 

ongoing unrest, and the State Department has told some of U.S. 

Government employees and their families to leave Nicaragua, and 

are now telling U.S. citizens to reconsider their travel into Nicaragua. So are you also looking at maybe getting the Trump administration to reevaluate the temporary protective status that is reVerDate 0ct 09 2002 15:14 Oct 19, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00043 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 Z:\WORK\_WH\071218\30709 SHIRL
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quiring some 5,300 Nicaraguans to return by January 5 of 2019? 

Has there been any conversations around that issue? 

Ambassador KOZAK. I have not been part, but my bureau would 

not normally be part of TPS. 

Mrs. TORRES. But as you are assessing the situation down there, 

I am hoping that there would be some commonsense communication between, you know, the right hand and the left hand to advise 

the White House that maybe this is a policy that we should revisit 

to send people back to a country that is in such disarray and civil 

unrest. 

Ambassador KOZAK. We can certainly carry your recommendation back. 

Mrs. TORRES. Thank you. 

Ambassador KOZAK. I would make the distinction, though, that 

when we draw down the staff in embassies, it is largely because 

the Embassy is a particular target. 

Mrs. TORRES. I understand that. 

Ambassador KOZAK. It is not just because of generalized violence 

in the society, it is a very particular target, and we are trying to 

narrow the size of the target for the bad guys to get at. 

Mrs. TORRES. I understand, but your safety——

Ambassador KOZAK. But we will happily take your recommendation to my colleagues. 

Mrs. TORRES. Thank you. And just for the record, your safety is 

very important to me also. 

Ambassador KOZAK. Yes. 

Mrs. TORRES. Let’s talk about the region and the impact that this 

instability in Nicaragua is maybe having in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, that are already, you know, having their own 

issues. Can you talk a little bit about that? What are you seeing? 

Are you seeing folks crossing the border into these countries? 

Ambassador KOZAK. Yes. My sense is we haven’t seen a huge 

outflow at this point. Nicaraguans tend to migrate more to Costa 

Rica than to the other places. 

Mrs. TORRES. How can we engage our partners there, Chile, 

Costa Rica, some of our, you know, more affluent partners to help 

mitigate this situation there? 

Ambassador KOZAK. Well, I think—and I will turn to my colleague, and certainly in the OAS, they are being engaged and engaged bilaterally. I mean, one of the things that is important, 

though, that you alluded to in your question is, you know, up until 

recently, Nicaragua was sort of the island of stability, and it was 

the other countries around, but it was a false stability. And, you 

know, we did see this coming, not the flash point that set off the 

latest violence, but you could just see this building up over years 

that the more the Ortegas have squashed out any kind of political 

alternatives to themselves, they have even split their own movement. The fact that she was made the vice president over the objections of, I think, most of the Sandinista Party is pretty apparent. 

So they were creating this powder keg all along. It finally got lit 

off with the Social Security protest. 

But it is concerning, because we have had enough trouble with 

the countries that have had instability because of gang violence 

and narcotraffickers and so on and now you have got this to boot. 

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Mrs. TORRES. Thank you. Mr. Trujillo? 

Ambassador TRUJILLO. As far as the migration issue, Congresswoman, in the OAS context, it hasn’t really come up. I think the 

one thing we do see in Costa Rica is Nicaraguans who have some 

sort of legal recognition trying to adjust that recognition or trying 

to extend that recognition, but from a migration issue of Nicaraguans leaving Nicaragua and either heading north or heading 

south——

Mrs. TORRES. China—can I ask? Sorry, I only have 15 seconds. 

China, what are you seeing? We have talked about Russia, but is 

China also—what are their activities there in Nicaragua, and are 

we concerned? 

Ambassador TRUJILLO. I haven’t seen any from my perspective. 

Mrs. TORRES. Okay. Thank you. I yield back. 

Mr. COOK. Thank you very much. 

I am going to recognize the gentleman from Ohio, Mr. Chabot. 

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And I had 

two hearings going on here at the same time, so I apologize for 

being a little bit late. And if I would ask some of the questions that 

have already been asked for that, I apologize. 

Although I don’t serve on the subcommittee, I am very interested 

in the deteriorating situation in Nicaragua, and have been on the 

Foreign Affairs Committee for 22 years now and have chaired the 

Middle East and the Asia committee, but not this one. 

Over years of corruption and illegal and democratic behavior, the 

murderer, Daniel Ortega, has consolidated his power and uprooted 

democracy in Nicaragua. Since the latest crisis began in April, the 

situation in Nicaragua has pretty much gone off the cliff, from 

what I understand. The Ortega regime has resorted to extreme and 

disproportionate force to attack protestors, many of them women. 

This includes gangs of pro-government Sandinista thugs used to 

terrorize and kill innocent people. Even Nicaraguan bishops were 

attacked recently. 

So far, approximately, my understanding is approximately 300 

people have been killed and anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500 or more 

injured. And we must not let this crisis create a trend in Latin 

America by allowing Nicaragua to follow the path of authoritarian 

governments like Cuba and Venezuela who continue to squander 

their resources and oppress their own people. 

Lastly, as a cosponsor of H.R. 981, I want to thank Chairman 

Cook for his leadership and for a holding markup for the resolution. I support that passage of that legislation. And I have been 

contacted by some folks back in my district who have family in 

Nicaragua and have been on the phone with them, you know, multiple times, sometimes daily over the week, you know, quite a lot, 

and religious folks in my district who support the folks who have 

family down there and have seen what is going on firsthand. 

And so my question would be initially, and again, having not had 

the benefit of having heard everything that you already said about 

this, but what is the best thing that our government can do in 

working with our folks on the ground there to protect both American citizens that are there, their families? What influence, if any, 

do we have with the Ortega government? What is happening that 

I can take back to my constituents to let them know that we are 

42

doing everything possible to help those folks who really need our 

help right now? 

Ms. FEINSTEIN. Thank you, Congressman, for that question. Just 

to let you know in terms of what you can take back to your constituents with regard to what the U.S. Government is doing on behalf of the Nicaraguan people. Thanks to the generosity of this 

Congress and this committee in particular, we have been a longstanding presence in Nicaragua working side-by-side, shoulder to 

shoulder with civil society there, which is playing an absolutely 

critical role in getting out the narrative about what is going on, including the horrific atrocities that you have referenced in your testimony. And we think it is important that a light is shone on that 

for the people of Nicaragua—to take away from the distorted narrative that the government is putting forward, as well as to shine 

a light on it in the international community to document the 

human rights violations that are going on so that they can be prosecuted at some point in time. 

We are undertaking a series of interventions, as I said, related 

to human rights. Also, independent media, legal assistance to victims and their families who are being brutally attacked at this 

point in time, and also digital security as the government perpetrates a very systematic campaign to try to delegitimize civil society actors through malign information that is placed online 

through pulling down their accounts on Facebook, Twitter, et 

cetera. We are providing support to those actors as well. And I 

defer to my colleagues to speak to American citizens. 

Mr. CHABOT. I would welcome any comments by the other gentlemen. Mr. Ambassador? 

Ambassador KOZAK. Thank you. And I would just add, with respect to American citizens, I would advise your constituents, stay 

in close touch with the Embassy. There is a counselor warden system, so the Embassy is constantly trying to monitor, you know, 

what are the danger zones, what are the trip points and so on and 

warn people against that. So having that good communication. 

Also, there is like a phone tree that they set up, and you want to 

be sure that if somebody does get in trouble, that that gets back 

quickly to the Embassy. 

Yes, we have some influence with them. I think if they were rational actors, they would understand that messing with Americans 

would not be healthy, but, you know, they are not all rational actors. So it is something people should be very, very careful, pay 

very close attention to the warnings and the advice that the Embassy provides them. 

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you. And, of course, some of it is, you know, 

there are American citizens who have family on the ground who 

are not American citizens, so it is not only the American citizens 

that I am concerned about or my constituents are, but it is the 

Venezuelans who are not necessarily citizens but have American 

connections. And being America, we care about not just Americans 

but others who are, you know, people who aren’t causing the problems here, which is obviously people outside the Ortega government. Thank you very much. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for letting me ask 

questions even though I am not on the committee. Thank you. 

43

Mr. COOK. Thank you very much. 

I am going to recognize Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for questions, comments, et cetera, et cetera. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. Thank 

you to excellent panelists. 

Ambassador, is it time we revisit Nicaragua’s participation in 

CAFTA? 

And, Ambassador Trujillo, you were recently in Nicaragua where 

you met with Ortega. How will you ensure that Ortega meets the 

commitments made on the CEN dialogue, and please tell us more 

about the meeting and how it went. 

Ambassador Kozak. 

Ambassador KOZAK. Well, I would say we should be looking at, 

you know, all the different points of pressure, but as I indicated 

earlier, on anything on the economic side, they are doing such a 

good job of harming themselves that, you know, they almost don’t 

need any help from us. And you need to, you know, look beyond 

the Ortegas too as to what you want to see for the country and the 

future. But, again, good thought to take a look at that point of 

pressure as well as the many others that we have and see what 

we can do. 

Again, always in the role of we are the supporting players. We 

are trying to back the play of the people of Nicaragua themselves 

and not to have an agenda of our own. Thank you. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Ambassador Trujillo? 

Ambassador TRUJILLO. Thank you, Congresswoman. In my meeting, I think the U.S. message is that the violence must stop immediately. I think before there is any dialogue, before there is any 

conversation, you can’t have a week in which 20, 30, 40 people perish based on acts of violence perpetrated by the government. So our 

message is very clear that the violence must stop immediately. 

I think furthermore, there is a dialogue process, but the dialogue 

has to be kept in earnest. And what I mean by that is that people 

sit down, but there is no commitment to really advance an agenda. 

And in order for an agenda to advance that leads to a commitment 

to democracy for the government, there should be some sort of written game plan that is executed and which both parties commit to. 

So part of our conversation was, besides stopping the violence 

and committing to protect the citizens, which is a fundamental 

duty of government, there should also be a written game plan in 

which all the concern from all sides were addressed, both parties 

are bound by that agreement mediated by the church, and that 

agreement is further carried out, which was at first initially well 

received. Unfortunately, in the last 21⁄2 weeks, we have not had a 

written response as to the agreement that would create the conditions for real earnest dialogue. And I think one thing that further 

deteriorated the dialogue is when you invite the church to be the 

mediators of the dialogue and then you proceed to attack and beat 

them, torture them, humiliate them, it makes it very difficult for 

them to continue to want to participate. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you, Ambassador Trujillo, and keep 

encouraging the OAS to do the right thing in Nicaragua. They have 

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tacks on democracy in Nicaragua. Their silence is deafening. Yes, 

sir. 

Ambassador TRUJILLO. Thank you, Congresswoman. And I think 

that is changed. June 30 we passed our first resolution to capture 

the space. And part of the problem at the OAS is if it is a difficult 

conversation, we always default to the path of least resistance, 

which is doing absolutely nothing. So just capturing the space was 

very important to have the conversation as to Nicaragua. Since 

then, we have had a report from the commission, the International 

Commission on Human Rights, which addressed and held the government responsible for the violation of human rights. We had a 

follow-up hearing yesterday as to all the violations in which the 

majority of the larger population countries in the Western Hemisphere opined condemning the government for the violations of 

human rights, which is a very important step for people to recognize that Ortega and Murillo are responsible for the crimes against 

humanity that are currently taking place. 

And our next step is to pass a resolution condemning the violence 

and calling for free, fair, and early elections. That is the next process that we are currently working on, but I think just creating a 

space in which the Nicaraguan people know that, not only the 

United States, but the international community is supporting their 

cause and is keeping account of the violators of human rights, and 

one day we will seek justice for all those people who violate human 

rights is a very, very important message to send, not only to the 

government, but a lot of the government actors we are still deciding which side to pick. 

Mr. COOK. Mrs. Torres, one more question. 

Mrs. TORRES. Thank you so much for the opportunity to do the 

followup. 

On the Chinese investment in Nicaragua, specifically related to 

the canal that they had envisioned, and there was an agreement 

that was made, although I understand that in that agreement, 

there is no requirement to actually have identified funding for it. 

It might not be the Chinese Government, but there is a Chinese 

billionaire, people with a lot of money that are investing in this 

project. What are you seeing there? 

Ambassador TRUJILLO. Congresswoman, I personally, from the 

OAS perspective, have not seen it. I have heard the rumblings of 

a competing Panama Canal, but I haven’t seen anything. Obviously, I was only there for less than 24 hours, so I didn’t have the 

opportunity to see anything specifically related to that. 

Mrs. TORRES. My concern again is because it would require a relocation of many villages and many people within the area that has 

been identified around the lakes and rivers that have been identified for the purpose of building this canal. You know, this is the 

time to take advantage of moving those people by force out of the 

way, right? Please continue to look out for those issues as we move 

forward. 

Thank you, Chairman, for the opportunity again. 

Mr. COOK. Thank you very much. 

I have a couple of quick questions, and I am going to apologize 

in advance for speaking up on the OAS, but I am very, very concerned about the influence of Venezuela on the OAS and some of 

45

the nations that are in close proximity to the Caribbean. In terms 

of the voting power, each one of them has one vote. And I think 

it is not a secret that some of the rebates for oil and things like 

that influence the voting patterns of certain states, which obviously 

affects how the OAS might vote on Venezuela but also Nicaragua. 

It becomes kind of a calculus problem in that each state has one 

vote, and I have always thought the OAS had a very, very strong 

influence and I see this influence being diluted by those things that 

are happening. 

Ambassador, would you like to comment on that or am I delusional? 

Ambassador TRUJILLO. Thank you, Chairman. I think that was 

the case for many, many years until recently. The last OAS General Assembly, the United States was able to lead a resolution on 

Venezuela that passed 19 to 4, with a few abstentions. This is the 

first time in recent history that we are able to advance a resolution 

that condemns the government and that doesn’t recognize the elections, the sham elections that just took place in Venezuela. I 

thought that was an important turning point in the U.S.-OAS leadership in the organization, the ability of the organization to stay 

relevant and get things done. 

But I think, furthermore, looking forward, we have to create an 

alternative, not a financial alternative or a competing Petrocaribe 

program, but why is the U.S. a better alternative than China, than 

Russia, than Venezuela for the U.S. interests? And I think it is incumbent upon all sectors of the U.S. Government to really advocate 

on why our partnership is much more important to a lot of these 

countries than some of the partnerships that they have sought. 

To that end, we have tried to work with some of the other partners in creating energy alternatives, plugging them into the right 

people, whether it is OPEC, whether it is Energy, whether it is 

Treasury, and finding ways in which we can help advance their 

personal interests and help advance their lack of reliance or less 

reliance on some of these foreign actors. 

But it is a very challenging environment, and the most challenging thing is a country with 60,000 or 80,000 people has the 

same exact vote as the United States of America. The country that 

puts in tens of thousands of dollars has the same vote as the country who puts in tens of millions. It is a very challenging environment. Obviously, we are trying to overcome those challenges as 

best we can, but I think it is also important on Congress to stay 

attuned as to who some of these countries are, because they oftentimes come and they will vote one way in the OAS and they will 

come here to Congress and ask for unlimited resources and unlimited projects, and sometimes there is not enough coordination and 

not enough communication in which we all know that they have to 

help advance the U.S. taxpayer and the American interests. 

Mr. COOK. Thank you. The other thing I just wanted to throw, 

and it goes back to many, many years ago when you had a situation in the communist government in Poland, and there was an individual, a cardinal who went on to Rome. I think we all know the 

history, and I think he was the one that the communist regime at 

the time feared most for good reason. 

46

And I look at the role of the Catholic church in Nicaragua. I 

know it is a very, very strong influence. And I am just wondering, 

as a variable, I am not going to preach to the Ortegas, but I think 

when they turn against the Catholic church, strange things might 

happen. 

Any comment on that viewpoint? I say my prayers, I have to, I 

am in Congress, but I know a lot of people pray and so——

Ambassador TRUJILLO. I think, Chairman, that was a turning 

point. At least in the OAS, the majority of the countries are Roman 

Catholic, predominantly Roman Catholic, and just the affinity toward the clergy in general and the government’s lack of respect toward the clergy they invited into the dialogue really sent 

shockwaves across the organization. I think any time the government engages in violent acts against the clergy that is just trying 

to be a peaceful mediator for college students and people protesting 

for freedom and democracy, it is very, very difficult to overcome. 

And I think going forward, the credibility of the government as an 

institution is always going to be second to that of the church, especially in Nicaragua, and it is going to be very, very difficult for 

them to navigate that water. 

Mr. COOK. Thank you. 

First of all, I want to thank our witnesses for speaking today. I 

want to thank the members. You know, they are not here anymore, 

they are tired of listening to me, but we actually had a great turnout, considering there is multiple meetings and things going on, because they know how important this is. 

And to our two visitors that have gone through so much, once 

again, I underscore your courage for being here, your inspirations. 

This is a tough, tough, tough issue, but obviously, I think you see 

the bipartisan interest in this. We are all concerned. And not just 

from—but the humanitarian aspects of it and what goes on, and 

you have to live with it all the time. 

So great panel. I thought we had a great discussion, and thank 

you for being here. 

So I have to do, pursuant to committee rule 7, the members of 

the subcommittee will be permitted to submit written statements 

to be included in the official hearing record. Without objection, the 

hearing record will remain open for 5 business days to allow statements, questions, extraneous materials for the record subject to the 

length limitation in the rules. 

There being no further business, the subcommittee is adjourned. 

Now where do I go? 

Thank you again. 

We are not done yet for anybody that wants to hang around. 

[Hearing adjourned.] 

Mr. COOK. The subcommittee will come to order. 

Pursuant to notice, we meet to mark up House Resolution 981, 

a bipartisan measure, condemning the violence committed by the 

Government of Nicaragua against its own citizens. 

Without objection, the resolution is considered read and open for 

amendment at any point, and all members may have 5 days to submit statements and materials for the record. 

[The information referred to follows:]

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Mr. COOK. I now recognize myself to speak on this measure. 

We have just concluded a subcommittee hearing on the crisis in 

Nicaragua with administration officials, and we meet now to consider House Resolution 981 to publicly condemn the Ortega regime’s violent oppression and human rights violations against the 

Nicaraguan people. 

I am an original cosponsor of this resolution, and I want to applaud the leadership of Chairman Emeritus Ros-Lehtinen and the 

bipartisan efforts of this subcommittee to move this resolution forward. 

I have heard from many Nicaraguans in the United States who 

are concerned about the crisis in Nicaragua and the nearly 300 

people who have died since the unrest broke out in April. 

The continued violence and oppression by the Ortega regime is 

reprehensible. Unfortunately, Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario 

Murillo, have chosen to inflict greater oppression rather than work 

through dialogue to achieve a peaceful resolution to this crisis. 

On Sunday, 38 people were killed, making it the deadliest day 

in Nicaragua since the protests began. The United States will not 

stand idly by while the Ortega regime continues to oppress its people with impunity. 

This resolution condemns the Ortega regime’s violence, supports 

the Nicaraguan people in their pursuit of democracy, and calls for 

more U.S. sanctions. I also believe the United States should work 

more closely with the other democratic partners in the Organization of American States, European Union, Canada, and the Lima 

Group to work toward a peaceful resolution of the crisis. 

With that, I will now recognize the ranking member for his comments on the resolution. 

Mr. SIRES. Mr. Chairman, I support this resolution, and I will be 

speaking more on this resolution when we have the full committee. 

Mr. COOK. Thank you, sir. 

Do any other members seek recognition to speak on the resolution? 

Yes, sir. 

Mr. CASTRO. Thank you, Chairman. 

I support the resolution condemning the violence and persecution 

and intimidation by the Ortega government in Nicaragua. Let it be 


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known to all that the United States will stand up to left wing and 

right wing dictators who oppress their people, deny people human 

rights, and stifle democracy. And I believe this resolution is a condemnation of those actions by the Ortega government. 

I yield back. 

Mr. COOK. Thank you, sir. 

Any other members wanting to speak? 

Are there any amendments? 

Hearing no further recognition or request for recognition, the 

chair moves the subcommittee favorably report the resolution to 

the full committee. 

All those in favor, say aye. 

All opposed, say no. 

In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it. The motion is approved and House Resolution 981 is reported favorably to the full 

committee. 

With that, no more business, this meeting is now adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 3:37 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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