I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1918 

To oppose loans at international financial institutions for the Government 

of Nicaragua unless the Government of Nicaragua is taking effective 

steps to hold free, fair, and transparent elections, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 5, 2017 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. SIRES, Mr. DUNCAN of South Carolina, 

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. YOHO, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. DIAZBALART, Mr. NORCROSS, Mr. CURBELO of Florida, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. 

BILIRAKIS, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Ms. WILSON of 

Florida, Mr. POE of Texas, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. DESANTIS, Mr. 

BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. MCCAUL, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. DONOVAN, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. THOMAS

J. ROONEY of Florida, and Mr. FRANCIS ROONEY of Florida) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To oppose loans at international financial institutions for 

the Government of Nicaragua unless the Government 

of Nicaragua is taking effective steps to hold free, fair, 

and transparent elections, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nicaraguan Invest3 ment Conditionality Act (NICA) of 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) In 2006, Nicaragua, under President 

7 Enrique Bolan ̃os, entered into a $175,000,000, 5- 

8 year compact with the Millennium Challenge Cor9 poration (MCC). 

10 (2) After the 2008 municipal elections, the 

11 MCC stated that there was a pattern of decline in 

12 political rights and civil liberties in Nicaragua. 

13 (3) In 2009, the MCC terminated the compact 

14 and reduced the amount of MCC funds available to 

15 Nicaragua by $61,500,000, which led to the compact 

16 ending in 2011. 

17 (4) According to Nicaraguan law, the National 

18 Assembly is the only institution allowed to change 

19 the constitution but in 2009, Daniel Ortega cir20 cumvented the legislature and went to the Supreme 

21 Court, which he controls, to rule in his favor that 

22 Presidential term limits were inapplicable. 

23 (5) The House Committee on Foreign Affairs 

24 convened a congressional hearing on December 1, 

25 2011, entitled ‘‘Democracy Held Hostage in Nica26 ragua: Part 1’’ where former United States AmbasVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Apr 12, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1918.IH H1918

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1 sador to Nicaragua Robert Callahan testified, 

2 ‘‘First, that Daniel Ortega’s candidacy was illegal, 

3 illegitimate, and unconstitutional; second, that the 

4 period leading to the elections and the elections 

5 themselves were marred by serious fraud; third, that 

6 Daniel Ortega and his Sandinista party have system7 atically undermined the country’s fragile govern8 mental institutions.’’. 

9 (6) From fiscal year 2012 until present, the 

10 Department of State found that Nicaragua did not 

11 meet international standards of fiscal transparency. 

12 (7) On January 25, 2012, a press statement 

13 from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: ‘‘As 

14 noted by international observers and Nicaraguan 

15 civil society groups, Nicaragua’s recent elections 

16 were not conducted in a transparent and impartial 

17 manner, and the entire electoral process was marred 

18 by significant irregularities. The elections marked a 

19 setback to democracy in Nicaragua and undermined 

20 the ability of Nicaraguans to hold their government 

21 accountable.’’. 

22 (8) According to the Department of State’s 

23 2015 Fiscal Transparency Report: ‘‘Nicaragua’s fis24 cal transparency would be improved by including all 

25 off-budget revenue and expenditure in the budget, 


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1 auditing state-owned enterprises, and conducting a 

2 full audit of the government’s annual financial state3 ments and making audit reports publicly available 

4 within a reasonable period of time.’’. 

5 (9) According to the Department of State’s 

6 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 

7 2015: ‘‘In 2011 the Supreme Electoral Council 

8 (CSE) announced the re-election of President Daniel 

9 Ortega Saavedra of the Sandinista National Libera10 tion Front (FSLN) in elections that international 

11 and domestic observers characterized as seriously 

12 flawed. International and domestic organizations 

13 raised concerns regarding the constitutional legit14 imacy of Ortega’s re-election. The 2011 elections 

15 also provided the ruling party with a supermajority 

16 in the National Assembly, allowing for changes in 

17 the constitution, including extending the reach of ex18 ecutive branch power and the elimination of restric19 tions on re-election for executive branch officials and 

20 mayors. Observers noted serious flaws during the 

21 2012 municipal elections and March 2014 regional 

22 elections.’’. 

23 (10) According to the Department of State’s 

24 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 

25 2015 in Nicaragua: ‘‘The principal human rights 


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1 abuses were restrictions on citizens’ right to vote; 

2 obstacles to freedom of speech and press, including 

3 government intimidation and harassment of journal4 ists and independent media, as well as increased re5 striction of access to public information, including 

6 national statistics from public offices; and increased 

7 government harassment and intimidation of non8 governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society 

9 organizations.’’. 

10 (11) The same 2015 report stated: ‘‘Additional 

11 significant human rights abuses included consider12 ably biased policies to promote single-party domi13 nance; arbitrary police arrest and detention of sus14 pects, including abuse during detention; harsh and 

15 life-threatening prison conditions with arbitrary and 

16 lengthy pretrial detention; discrimination against 

17 ethnic minorities and indigenous persons and com18 munities.’’. 

19 (12) In February 2016, the Ortega regime de20 tained and expelled Freedom House’s Latin America 

21 Director, Dr. Carlos Ponce, from Nicaragua. 

22 (13) On June 3, 2016, the Nicaraguan Su23 preme Court—which is controlled by Nicaragua’s 

24 leader, Daniel Ortega—instructed the Supreme Elec25 toral Council not to swear in Nicaraguan opposition 


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1 members to the departmental and regional electoral 

2 councils. 

3 (14) On June 5, 2016, regarding international 

4 observers for the 2016 Presidential elections, Presi5 dent Ortega stated: ‘‘Here, the observation ends. Go 

6 observe other countries . . . There will be no obser7 vation, neither from the European Union, nor the 

8 OAS . . .’’. 

9 (15) On June 7, 2016, the Department of 

10 State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and 

11 Labor posted on social media: ‘‘Disappointed govern12 ment of Nicaragua said it will deny electoral observ13 ers requested by Nicaraguan citizens, church, and 

14 private sector . . . We continue to encourage the 

15 government of Nicaragua to allow electoral observers 

16 as requested by Nicaraguans.’’. 

17 (16) On June 14, 2016, President Ortega ex18 pelled three United States Government officials (two 

19 officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

20 and one professor from the National Defense Uni21 versity) from Nicaragua. 

22 (17) On June 29, 2016, the Department of 

23 State issued a Nicaragua Travel Alert which stated: 

24 ‘‘The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens about 

25 increased government scrutiny of foreigners’ activiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Apr 12, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1918.IH H1918

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1 ties, new requirements for volunteer groups, and the 

2 potential for demonstrations during the upcoming 

3 election season in Nicaragua . . . Nicaraguan au4 thorities have denied entry to, detained, questioned, 

5 or expelled foreigners, including United States Gov6 ernment officials, academics, NGO workers, and 

7 journalists, for discussions, written reports or arti8 cles, photographs, and/or videos related to these top9 ics. Authorities may monitor and question private 

10 United States citizens concerning their activities, in11 cluding contact with Nicaraguan citizens.’’. 

12 (18) On August 1, 2016, the Department of 

13 State issued a press release to express grave concern 

14 over the Nicaraguan government limiting democratic 

15 space leading up to the elections in November and 

16 stated that ‘‘[o]n June 8, the Nicaraguan Supreme 

17 Court stripped the opposition Independent Liberal 

18 Party (PLI) from its long recognized leader. The 

19 Supreme Court took similar action on June 17 when 

20 it invalidated the leadership of the Citizen Action 

21 Party, the only remaining opposition party with the 

22 legal standing to present a presidential candidate. 

23 Most recently, on July 29, the Supreme Electoral 

24 Council removed 28 PLI national assembly members 


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1 (16 seated and 12 alternates) from their popularly2 elected positions.’’. 

3 (19) On November 7, 2016, the Department of 

4 State issued a press release stating: ‘‘The United 

5 States is deeply concerned by the flawed presidential 

6 and legislative electoral process in Nicaragua, which 

7 precluded the possibility of a free and fair election 

8 on November 6. In advance of the elections, the Nic9 araguan government sidelined opposition candidates 

10 for president, limited domestic observation at the 

11 polls and access to voting credentials, and took other 

12 actions to deny democratic space in the process. The 

13 decision by the Nicaraguan government not to invite 

14 independent international electoral observers further 

15 degraded the legitimacy of the election.’’. 

16 (20) In November and December of 2016, the 

17 Board of Executive Directors of the Inter-American 

18 Development Bank postponed consideration of a pol19 icy based loan of $65 million to the Government of 

20 Nicaragua due to the efforts of the United States 

21 mission that expressed serious concerns of the ab22 sence of transparency, systemic corruption, and the 

23 lack of free and fair elections in Nicaragua. 

24 (21) On February 2017, the European Par25 liament issued a resolution on the situation of 


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1 human rights and democracy in Nicaragua and ex2 pressed concern of the ‘‘deteriorating human rights 

3 situation in Nicaragua and deplores the attacks and 

4 acts of harassment to which human rights organiza5 tions and their members and independent journalists 

6 have been subjected by individuals, political forces 

7 and bodies linked to the State’’. 

8 (22) According to the Department of State’s 

9 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 

10 2016: ‘‘[A]ctions by the ruling Sandinista National 

11 Liberation Front (FSLN) party resulted in de facto 

12 concentration of power in a single party, with an au13 thoritarian executive branch exercising significant 

14 control over the legislative, judicial, and electoral 

15 functions.’’. 

16 (23) According to the Department of State’s 

17 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 

18 2016 in Nicaragua, ‘‘The November 6 elections for 

19 president, vice president, national assembly mem20 bers, and representatives for the Central American 

21 parliament did not meet the conditions of being free 

22 and fair . . . The November 6 presidential and leg23 islative elections were marred by allegations of insti24 tutional fraud and the absence of independent oppo25 sition political parties. National observers and oppoVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Apr 12, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1918.IH H1918

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1 sition leaders claimed rates of abstention from 60 to 

2 70 percent.’’. 

3 (24) According to the Department of State’s 

4 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 

5 2016: ‘‘Companies reported that bribery of public of6 ficials, unlawful seizures, and arbitrary assessments 

7 by customs and tax authorities were common . . . 

8 The courts remained particularly susceptible to 

9 bribes, manipulation, and other forms of corruption, 

10 especially by the FSLN, giving the sense that the 

11 FSLN heavily influenced CSJ and lower-level court 

12 actions.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

14 It is the policy of the United States to support— 

15 (1) the rule of law and an independent judiciary 

16 and electoral council in Nicaragua; 

17 (2) independent pro-democracy organizations in 

18 Nicaragua; 

19 (3) free, fair, and transparent elections under 

20 international and domestic observers in Nicaragua; 

21 and 

22 (4) anti-corruption and transparency efforts in 

23 Nicaragua. 


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1 SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall instruct the 

3 United States Executive Director at each international fi4 nancial institution to use the voice, vote, and influence of 

5 the United States to oppose any loan for the benefit of 

6 the Government of Nicaragua, other than to address basic 

7 human needs or promote democracy, unless the Secretary 

8 of State certifies and reports to the appropriate congres9 sional committees that the Government of Nicaragua is 

10 taking effective steps to— 

11 (1) hold free, fair, and transparent elections 

12 overseen by credible domestic and international elec13 toral observers; 

14 (2) promote democracy, as well as an inde15 pendent judicial system and electoral council; 

16 (3) strengthen the rule of law; 

17 (4) respect the right to freedom of association 

18 and expression; 

19 (5) combat corruption, including investigating 

20 and prosecuting government officials that are 

21 credibly alleged to be corrupt; and 

22 (6) protect the right of political opposition par23 ties, journalists, trade unionists, human rights de24 fenders, and other civil society activists to operate 

25 without interference. 


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1 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall 

2 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 

3 written report assessing— 

4 (1) the effectiveness of the international finan5 cial institutions in enforcing applicable program 

6 safeguards in Nicaragua; and 

7 (2) the effects of the matters described in sec8 tion 2 on long-term prospects for positive develop9 ment outcomes in Nicaragua. 

10 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT12 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com13 mittees’’ means— 

14 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

15 Committee on Appropriations, and the Com16 mittee on Financial Services of the House of 

17 Representatives; and 

18 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

19 the Committee on Appropriations, and the 

20 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

21 Affairs of the Senate. 

22 (2) INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITU23 TION.—The term ‘‘international financial institu24 tion’’ means the International Monetary Fund, 

25 International Bank for Reconstruction and DevelopVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Apr 12, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1918.IH H1918

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1 ment, European Bank for Reconstruction and Devel2 opment, International Development Association, 

3 International Finance Corporation, Multilateral In4 vestment Guarantee Agency, African Development 

5 Bank, African Development Fund, Asian Develop6 ment Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, 

7 Bank for Economic Cooperation and Development in 

8 the Middle East and North Africa, and Inter-Amer9 ican Investment Corporation. 

10 (d) TERMINATION.—This section shall terminate on 

11 the day after the earlier of— 

12 (1) the date on which the Secretary of State 

13 certifies and reports to the appropriate congressional 

14 committees that the requirements of subsection (a) 

15 are met; or 

16 (2) 5 years after the date of the enactment of 

17 this Act. 

18 (e) WAIVER.—The President may waive this section 

19 if the President determines that such a waiver is in the 

20 national interest of the United States. 

21 SEC. 5. ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES. 

22 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that, according to the 

23 Organization of American States (OAS) report on the Nic24 araguan 2011 Presidential elections, Nicaragua: Final Re25 port, General Elections, OAS (2011), the OAS made the 


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1 following recommendations to the Government of Nica2 ragua: 

3 (1) ‘‘Prepare alternative procedures for updat4 ing the electoral roll when a registered voter dies.’’. 

5 (2) ‘‘Publish the electoral roll so that new addi6 tions, changes of address and exclusions can be 

7 checked.’’. 

8 (3) ‘‘Reform the mechanism for accreditation of 

9 poll watchers using a formula that ensures that the 

10 political parties will have greater autonomy to ac11 credit their respective poll watchers.’’. 

12 (4) ‘‘Institute regulations to ensure that party 

13 poll watchers are involved in all areas of the elec14 toral structure, including the departmental, regional 

15 and municipal electoral councils and polling stations. 

16 Rules should be crafted to spell out their authorities 

17 and functions and the means by which they can ex18 ercise their authority and perform their functions.’’. 

19 (5) ‘‘Redesign the CSE administrative structure 

20 at the central and field levels, while standardizing 

21 technical and operational procedures, including the 

22 design of control mechanisms from the time registra23 tion to the delivery of the document to the citizens; 

24 the process of issuing identity cards should be timed 


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1 to the calendar and, to avoid congestion within the 

2 process, be evenly spaced.’’. 

3 (b) ELECTORAL OBSERVATION MISSION.—The Presi4 dent shall direct the United States Permanent Represent5 ative to the OAS to use the voice, vote, and influence of 

6 the United States at the OAS to strongly advocate for an 

7 Electoral Observation Mission to be sent to Nicaragua in 

8 2017. 

9 SEC. 6. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

10 The Department of State and the United States 

11 Agency for International Development should prioritize 

12 foreign assistance to the people of Nicaragua to assist civil 

13 society in democracy and governance programs, including 

14 human rights documentation. 

15 SEC. 7. REPORT ON CORRUPTION IN NICARAGUA. 

16 (a) REPORT REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 90 days 

17 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

18 of State, in consultation with the intelligence community 

19 (as defined in section 3(4) of the National Security Act 

20 of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)), shall submit to Congress 

21 a report on the involvement of senior Nicaraguan govern22 ment officials, including members of the Supreme Elec23 toral Council, the National Assembly, and the judicial sys24 tem, in acts of public corruption or human rights viola25 tions in Nicaragua. 


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1 (b) FORM.—The report required in subsection (a) 

2 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain 

3 a classified annex. The unclassified portion of the report 

4 shall be made available to the public. 

Æ 


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