III 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 525 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States should continue 

to support the people of Nicaragua in their peaceful efforts to promote 

the restoration of democracy and the defense of human rights, and 

use the tools under United States law to increase political and economic 

pressure on the government of Daniel Ortega. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 2, 2020 

Mr. CRUZ (for himself, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. 

PERDUE, Mr. CARDIN, and Mr. KAINE) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

JUNE 3, 2020 

Reported by Mr. RISCH, with amendments and an amendment to the preamble 

JUNE 16, 2020 

Considered, amended, and agreed to with an amended preamble 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the United States 

should continue to support the people of Nicaragua in 

their peaceful efforts to promote the restoration of democracy and the defense of human rights, and use the 

tools under United States law to increase political and 

economic pressure on the government of Daniel Ortega. 

Whereas the government of Daniel Ortega has concentrated 

power and brought about the progressive deterioration of 

democratic conditions in Nicaragua; 


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Whereas recent elections in Nicaragua, including the 2016 

presidential election, have been marred by irregularities 

and characterized by significant restrictions on the participation of opposition political parties and the absence 

of credible international and local electoral observers; 

Whereas Nicaraguan security forces, paramilitary, police, and 

other actors working under the direction of the Ortega 

regime committed gross violations of human rights and 

acts of repression, resulting in more than 325 deaths, 

over 2,000 injuries, and at least 800 arbitrary detentions 

during the peaceful protests that took place in 2018, according to the Organization of American States; 

Whereas a report by the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts, appointed by the Organization of American States Inter-American Commission on Human 

Rights, determined that the Ortega regime used deliberate, lethal force against protesters and committed acts 

of torture that meet the international legal standard of 

crimes against humanity; 

Whereas an estimated 82,000 Nicaraguans fled the country 

between April 2018 and October 2019, according to the 

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; 

Whereas the Government and people of Costa Rica have graciously accepted nearly 70,000 Nicaraguans, including 

enrolling children in public primary schools, allowing access to legal employment, and making efforts to strengthen the capacity of Costa Rica’s asylum system; 

Whereas the Ortega government failed to comply with its 

commitment to release all political prisoners, releasing 

just 392 people, of which 286 were released to house arrest with charges still pending; 


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Whereas Nicaragua’s Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy alleges that there remain over 150 political prisoners 

held in Nicaraguan prisons as of November 29, 2019; 

Whereas a United States citizen and Navy veteran, 57-yearold Eddy Montes, was shot and killed while in the custody of the Nicaraguan police at La Modelo Prison on 

May 16, 2019; 

Whereas the Government of Nicaragua has failed in its national response to prevent the spread and transmission of 

COVID–19, including through its refusal to implement 

COVID–19 precautions or allow widespread testing for 

local transmission; 

Whereas, on May 8, 2020, according to Amnesty International, over a dozen people who remain in detention 

after being arrested for participating in the 2018 protests 

have now demonstrated symptoms consistent with 

COVID–19; 

Whereas the government of Daniel Ortega has severely restricted freedom of the press by closing five local television stations, attacking independent radio stations, arbitrarily detaining journalists, and arbitrarily restricting 

print supplies from entering the country; 

Whereas, beginning on November 14, 2019, Nicaraguan police conducted attacks on churches throughout the country, cut water to hunger strikers barricaded inside a 

church in Masaya, and arrested 13 people attempting to 

bring them water; 

Whereas doctors, lawyers, academics, and other professionals 

in Nicaragua face persecution and, in some cases torture, 

based on suspicion of aiding or sympathizing with 

protestors; 


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Whereas the Ortega regime has violated the economic and political rights of indigenous communities, Afro-descendent 

populations, rural campesinos, land rights defenders, and 

individuals living in the Caribbean Autonomous Regions 

of Nicaragua; 

Whereas, on November 27, 2018, Executive Order 13851 was 

issued, which blocks the property of certain persons involved in the Nicaraguan crisis, and its application was 

expanded by the Office of Foreign Asset Control of the 

Department of the Treasury on September 4, 2019; 

Whereas the bipartisan Nicaragua Human Rights and 

Anticorruption Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–335; commonly referred to as the ‘‘NICA Act’’) was signed into 

law on December 20, 2018, imposing restrictions on lending to the Nicaraguan government by international financial institutions and requiring the President to sanction 

non-United States persons implicated in egregious human 

rights abuses and corruption in Nicaragua; 

Whereas the NICA Act expresses the support of Congress for 

a negotiated solution to the Nicaraguan crisis and includes an annual certification to waive sanctions if the 

Ortega government takes steps to restore democratic governance and uphold human rights; 

Whereas, in the absence of such steps, the Department of 

State and the Department of the Treasury have imposed 

targeted sanctions on Nicaraguan officials and entities, 

including First Lady and Vice President Rosario Murillo, 

Daniel Ortega’s sons, Rafael Ortega Murillo and 

Laureano Ortega Murillo, and Nicaragua’s Banco 

Corporativo (Bancorp); 


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Whereas, in June 2019, the Government of Canada imposed 

sanctions on 12 members of the Government of Nicaragua engaged in gross and systemic human rights violations; and 

Whereas, in advance of any future election, the Government 

of Nicaragua urgently needs to undertake electoral reforms, including the appointment of independent new 

magistrates to the Supreme Electoral Council, the restoration of a 50 percent plus one threshold for the presidential election, the establishment of a second round of 

voting if the electoral threshold is not reached, the establishment of a detailed electoral calendar, and stronger observation by political parties: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) calls on the Government of Nicaragua to 

3 immediately release all political prisoners without 

4 conditions and cease all acts of violence, repression, 

5 and intimidation against dissenting voices in Nica6 ragua; 

7 (2) urges the Ortega government to respect 

8 Nicaraguans’ constitutional rights and implement 

9 the electoral reforms mentioned above in order to 

10 permit the holding of free, fair, and transparent 

11 elections; 

12 (3) encourages the United States Government 

13 to align United States sanctions with diplomatic ef14 forts to advance electoral reforms that could lead to 

15 free, fair, and transparent elections in Nicaragua; 


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1 (4) expresses full support for the people of 

2 Nicaragua, Nicaraguan independent media, and Nic3 araguan civil society organizations that are working 

4 for a peaceful return to democratic order in Nica5 ragua; 

6 (5) supports the efforts of the United States 

7 Government to apply pressure on the Ortega govern8 ment in order to hold accountable those actors in9 volved in human rights abuses, acts of significant 

10 corruption, and the undermining of democratic insti11 tutions in Nicaragua; 

12 (6) urges the international community to hold 

13 the Ortega government accountable for human 

14 rights abuses and to restrict its access to foreign fi15 nancing unless or until it allows for free, fair, and 

16 transparent elections monitored by credible inter17 national and local electoral observers; 

18 (7) urges the United States Government to in19 vestigate and hold accountable those responsible for 

20 the death of Eddy Montes, a United States citizen 

21 and Navy veteran, who was shot and killed while in 

22 the custody of the Nicaraguan police at La Modelo 

23 Prison on May 16, 2019; and 


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1 (8) urges the Ortega government to implement 

2 measures consistent with public health guidance to 

3 limit the spread of coronavirus in Nicaragua. 

Æ 


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