I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2946 

To advance the strategic alignment of United States diplomatic tools toward 

the realization of free, fair, and transparent elections in Nicaragua and 

to reaffirm the commitment of the United States to protect the fundamental freedoms and human rights of the people of Nicaragua, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 30, 2021 

Mr. SIRES (for himself, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. GREEN of Tennessee, Ms. 

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mrs. MURPHY of Florida, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. 

SOTO, Mr. VARGAS, and Mr. DEUTCH) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition 

to the Committees on Financial Services, and the Judiciary, 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 advance the strategic alignment of United States diplomatic tools toward the realization of free, fair, and transparent elections in Nicaragua and to reaffirm the commitment of the United States to protect the fundamental 

freedoms and human rights of the people of Nicaragua, 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Reinforcing Nicaragua’s Adherence to Conditions for 

4 Electoral Reform Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘RENACER Act’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 4. Restrictions on international financial institutions relating to Nicaragua. 

Sec. 5. Targeted sanctions to advance democratic elections. 

Sec. 6. Developing and implementing a coordinated sanctions strategy with diplomatic partners. 

Sec. 7. Inclusion of Nicaragua in list of countries subject to certain sanctions 

relating to corruption. 

Sec. 8. Classified report on the involvement of Ortega family members and Nicaraguan government officials in corruption. 

Sec. 9. Classified report on the activities of the Russian Federation in Nicaragua. 

Sec. 10. Report on human rights abuses in the interior of Nicaragua. 

Sec. 11. Supporting independent news media and freedom of information in 

Nicaragua. 

Sec. 12. Amendment to short title of Public Law 115–335. 

Sec. 13. Definition. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress makes the following findings: 

9 (1) Adopted by the Organization of American 

10 States (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘OAS’’) on Oc11 tober 21, 2020, the Resolution Restoring Democratic 

12 Institutions and Respect for Human Rights in Nica13 ragua Through Free and Fair Elections (in this sec14 tion referred to as the ‘‘OAS Resolution’’) reiterated 

15 hemispheric concern that the government of Presi16 dent Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua has failed to reVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:11 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2946.IH H2946

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1 lease all political prisoners and implement agreed2 upon measures to ensure freedom of expression. 

3 (2) The OAS Resolution called on the Ortega 

4 government to accept the deployment of domestic 

5 and international electoral observation missions and 

6 outlined a need for timely, inclusive negotiations to 

7 achieve meaningful electoral reforms, including the 

8 modernization of the Supreme Electoral Council, the 

9 revitalization of a pluralistic political process, and an 

10 independent audit of Nicaraguan voter rolls. 

11 (3) A November 19, 2019, report from the OAS 

12 High Level Commission on Nicaragua noted the Or13 tega government had engaged in significant efforts 

14 since April 2018 to curtail the fundamental rights of 

15 the citizens of Nicaragua, including repeated acts of 

16 police intimidation and at least 325 murders, which 

17 were predominately committed by government secu18 rity forces. 

19 (4) On April 21, 2018, Nicaraguan journalist 

20 A ́ngel Gahona was killed while broadcasting live on 

21 social protests in the country. Since April 2018, the 

22 Ortega government has increased its harassment of 

23 independent media, which includes December 2019 

24 police raids of the digital newspaper Confidencial 

25 and the 100% Noticias news channel, and a SepVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:11 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2946.IH H2946

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1 tember 2020 court-ordered seizure of assets belong2 ing to independent broadcaster Nicavision Canal 12. 

3 (5) Since 2007, family members of President 

4 Daniel Ortega and their political allies have pur5 chased over a dozen TV channels, radio stations, 

6 and online news sites in Nicaragua, including Canal 

7 4, 8, and 13, Radio Nicaragua, and El 19 Digital, 

8 to increase pro-government media coverage and si9 lence media coverage critical of the government. 

10 (6) Sandinista National Liberation Front mem11 bers of the National Assembly of Nicaragua, with 

12 support from the Ortega government, recently ap13 proved legislation to obstruct citizen mobilization 

14 and codify the persecution of political opponents, in15 cluding— 

16 (A) the Foreign Agents Regulation Law on 

17 October 15, 2020, which requires civil society, 

18 nongovernmental organizations, and citizens 

19 who receive funds originating from abroad to 

20 register as ‘‘foreign agents’’, and bars them 

21 from engaging in domestic political activity; 

22 (B) the Special Cybercrimes Law on Octo23 ber 27, 2020, which established prison sen24 tences for individuals who spread information 

25 online that the Government of Nicaragua deems 


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1 to be false or construes to cause alarm, terror, 

2 or unease in the public; 

3 (C) the Self-Determination Law on Decem4 ber 21, 2020, which provides President Ortega 

5 with the authority to unilaterally declare citi6 zens ‘‘terrorists’’ or ‘‘traitors to the homeland’’ 

7 for opposing his rule and ban them from run8 ning for public office, effectively preventing any 

9 individuals who supported the 2018 protests 

10 from being candidates; and 

11 (D) the reform to the Consumer Protection 

12 Law on February 4, 2021, which provides the 

13 Government of Nicaragua the authority to man14 date Nicaraguan commercial banks to overturn 

15 and ignore sanctions imposed by the United 

16 States with respect to persons on the list of 

17 specifically designated national and blocked per18 sons maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets 

19 Control of the Department of the Treasury. 

20 (7) According to preliminary reports of the 

21 Government of Nicaragua, Hurricanes Eta and Iota, 

22 which made landfall in Nicaragua on November 3 

23 and November 16, 2020, respectively, affected more 

24 than 3,000,000 individuals and resulted in an eco25 nomic loss in excess of $742,000,000. Indigenous 


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1 Miskito and Mayangna communities situated in the 

2 North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region bore the 

3 brunt of the devastation, with at least 23 indigenous 

4 territories and upwards of 147,000 indigenous in5 habitants directly impacted by the weather phe6 nomena. 

7 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

8 It is the sense of Congress that— 

9 (1) ongoing efforts by the government of Presi10 dent Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua to suppress the 

11 voice and actions of civil society, political opponents, 

12 and independent news media violate the fundamental 

13 freedoms and basic human rights of the people of 

14 Nicaragua; 

15 (2) Congress unequivocally condemns the pas16 sage of the Foreign Agents Regulation Law, the 

17 Special Cybercrimes Law, and the Self-Determina18 tion Law by the National Assembly of Nicaragua, 

19 which represent clear attempts by the Ortega gov20 ernment to curtail the fundamental freedoms and 

21 basic human rights of the people of Nicaragua; 

22 (3) Congress recognizes that free, fair, and 

23 transparent elections predicated on robust reform 

24 measures and the presence of domestic and inter25 national observers represent the best opportunity for 


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1 the people of Nicaragua to restore democracy and 

2 reach a peaceful solution to the political and social 

3 crisis in Nicaragua; 

4 (4) the United States should align the use of 

5 diplomatic engagement and all other foreign policy 

6 tools, including the use of targeted sanctions, in sup7 port of efforts by democratic political actors and 

8 civil society in Nicaragua to advance the necessary 

9 conditions for free, fair, and transparent elections in 

10 Nicaragua; 

11 (5) the United States, in order to maximize the 

12 effectiveness of efforts described in paragraph (4), 

13 should— 

14 (A) coordinate with diplomatic partners, 

15 including the Government of Canada, the Euro16 pean Union, and partners in Latin America and 

17 the Caribbean; and 

18 (B) advance diplomatic initiatives in con19 sultation with the OAS and the United Nations; 

20 and 

21 (6) pursuant to section 6(b) of the Nicaragua 

22 Investment Conditionality Act of 2018, the Presi23 dent should waive the application of restrictions 

24 under section 4 of that Act and the sanctions under 

25 section 5 of that Act if the Secretary of State cerVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:11 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2946.IH H2946

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1 tifies that the Government of Nicaragua is taking 

2 the steps identified in section 6(a) of that Act, in3 cluding taking steps to ‘‘to hold free and fair elec4 tions overseen by credible domestic and international 

5 observers’’. 

6 SEC. 4. RESTRICTIONS ON INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL IN7 STITUTIONS RELATING TO NICARAGUA. 

8 Section 4 of the Nicaragua Investment Conditionality 

9 Act of 2018 is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating subsections (a), (b), and 

11 (c) as subsections (b), (c), and (d), respectively; 

12 (2) by inserting before subsection (b), as redes13 ignated by paragraph (1), the following: 

14 ‘‘(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con15 gress that the Secretary of the Treasury should take all 

16 possible steps, including through the full implementation 

17 of the exceptions set forth in subsection (c), to ensure that 

18 the restrictions required under subsection (b) do not nega19 tively impact the basic human needs of the people of Nica20 ragua.’’; 

21 (3) in subsection (c), as so redesignated, by 

22 striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

23 (b)’’; and 

24 (4) by striking subsection (d), as so redesig25 nated, and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(d) INCREASED OVERSIGHT.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The United States Execu3 tive Director at each international financial institu4 tion of the World Bank Group, the United States 

5 Executive Director at the Inter-American Develop6 ment Bank, and the United States Executive Direc7 tor at each other international financial institution, 

8 including the International Monetary Fund, shall 

9 take all practicable steps to increase scrutiny of any 

10 loan or financial or technical assistance provided for 

11 a project in Nicaragua to ensure that the loan or as12 sistance is being used for the intended purposes. 

13 ‘‘(2) MECHANISMS FOR INCREASED SCRU14 TINY.—The United States Executive Director at 

15 each international financial institution described in 

16 paragraph (1) shall use the voice, vote, and influence 

17 of the United States to encourage that institution to 

18 develop oversight mechanisms for new and existing 

19 loans or financial or technical assistance provided 

20 for a project in Nicaragua to ensure that such loans 

21 and assistance are being used for the intended pur22 poses. 

23 ‘‘(e) INTERAGENCY CONSULTATION.—Before imple24 menting the restrictions described in subsection (b), or be25 fore exercising an exception under subsection (c), the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:11 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2946.IH H2946

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1 retary of the Treasury shall consult with the Secretary of 

2 State and with the Administrator of the United States 

3 Agency for International Development to ensure that all 

4 loans and financial or technical assistance to Nicaragua 

5 are consistent with United States foreign policy objectives 

6 as defined in section 3. 

7 ‘‘(f) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the 

8 date of the enactment of the RENACER Act, and annu9 ally thereafter until the termination date specified in sec10 tion 10, the Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination 

11 with the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the 

12 United States Agency for International Development, shall 

13 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re14 port on the implementation of this section, which shall in15 clude— 

16 ‘‘(1) summary of any loans and financial and 

17 technical assistance provided by international finan18 cial institutions for projects in Nicaragua; 

19 ‘‘(2) a description of the implementation of the 

20 restrictions described in subsection (b); 

21 ‘‘(3) an identification of the occasions in which 

22 the exceptions under subsection (c) are exercised 

23 and an assessment of how the loan or assistance 

24 provided with each such exception may address basic 


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1 human needs or promote democracy in Nicaragua; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(4) a description of the results of the in4 creased oversight conducted under subsection (d).’’. 

5 SEC. 5. TARGETED SANCTIONS TO ADVANCE DEMOCRATIC 

6 ELECTIONS. 

7 (a) COORDINATED STRATEGY.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State and 

9 the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with 

10 the intelligence community (as defined in section 3 

11 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 

12 3003)), shall develop and implement a coordinated 

13 strategy to align diplomatic engagement efforts with 

14 the implementation of targeted sanctions in order to 

15 support efforts to facilitate the necessary conditions 

16 for free, fair, and transparent elections in Nica17 ragua. 

18 (2) BRIEFING REQUIRED.—Not later than 60 

19 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

20 every 60 days thereafter until December 31, 2021, 

21 the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the 

22 Treasury shall brief the Committee on Foreign Rela23 tions of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign 

24 Affairs of the House of Representatives on steps to 

25 be taken by the United States Government to deVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:11 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2946.IH H2946

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1 velop and implement the coordinated strategy re2 quired by paragraph (1). 

3 (b) TARGETED SANCTIONS PRIORITIZATION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Pursuant to the coordinated 

5 strategy required by subsection (a), the President 

6 shall prioritize the implementation of the targeted 

7 sanctions required under section 5 of the Nicaragua 

8 Investment Conditionality Act of 2018 with respect 

9 to foreign persons directly or indirectly obstructing 

10 the establishment of conditions necessary for the re11 alization of free, fair, and transparent elections in 

12 Nicaragua. 

13 (2) TARGETS.—In carrying out paragraph (1), 

14 the President shall specifically target foreign persons 

15 involved in directly or indirectly obstructing the es16 tablishment of conditions described in that para17 graph, including— 

18 (A) officials in the government of Presi19 dent Daniel Ortega; 

20 (B) family members of President Daniel 

21 Ortega; 

22 (C) members of the National Nicaraguan 

23 Police; 

24 (D) members of the Nicaraguan Armed 

25 Forces; 


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1 (E) members of the Supreme Electoral 

2 Council of Nicaragua; 

3 (F) party members and elected officials 

4 from the Sandinista National Liberation Front 

5 and their family members; 

6 (G) individuals or entities affiliated with 

7 businesses engaged in corrupt financial trans8 actions with officials in the government of 

9 President Daniel Ortega, his party, or his fam10 ily; and 

11 (H) individuals identified in the report re12 quired by section 8 as involved in significant 

13 acts of public corruption in Nicaragua. 

14 SEC. 6. DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING A COORDINATED 

15 SANCTIONS STRATEGY WITH DIPLOMATIC 

16 PARTNERS. 

17 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find18 ings: 

19 (1) On June 21, 2019, the Government of Can20 ada, pursuant to its Special Economic Measures Act, 

21 designated 9 officials of the Government of Nica22 ragua for the imposition of sanctions in response to 

23 gross and systematic human rights violations in 

24 Nicaragua. 


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1 (2) On May 4, 2020, the European Union im2 posed sanctions with respect to 6 officials of the 

3 Government of Nicaragua identified as responsible 

4 for serious human rights violations and for the re5 pression of civil society and democratic opposition in 

6 Nicaragua. 

7 (3) On October 12, 2020, the European Union 

8 extended its authority to impose restrictive measures 

9 on ‘‘persons and entities responsible for serious 

10 human rights violations or abuses or for the repres11 sion of civil society and democratic opposition in 

12 Nicaragua, as well as persons and entities whose ac13 tions, policies or activities otherwise undermine de14 mocracy and the rule of law in Nicaragua, and per15 sons associated with them’’. 

16 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con17 gress that the United States should encourage the Govern18 ment of Canada, the European Union and governments 

19 of members countries of the European Union, and govern20 ments of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean 

21 to use targeted sanctions with respect to persons involved 

22 in human rights violations and the obstruction of free, 

23 fair, and transparent elections in Nicaragua. 

24 (c) COORDINATING INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS.— 

25 The Secretary of State, working through the head of the 


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1 Office of Sanctions Coordination established by section 

2 1(h) of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 

3 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a(h)), and in consultation with the 

4 Secretary of the Treasury, shall engage in diplomatic ef5 forts with governments of countries that are partners of 

6 the United States, including the Government of Canada, 

7 governments of countries in the European Union, and gov8 ernments of countries in Latin America and the Carib9 bean, to impose targeted sanctions with respect to the per10 sons described in section 5(b) in order to advance demo11 cratic elections in Nicaragua. 

12 (d) BRIEFING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 60 

13 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 

14 60 days thereafter until December 31, 2021, the Secretary 

15 of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treas16 ury, shall brief the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

17 Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

18 House of Representatives on the implementation of this 

19 section. 

20 SEC. 7. INCLUSION OF NICARAGUA IN LIST OF COUNTRIES 

21 SUBJECT TO CERTAIN SANCTIONS RELATING 

22 TO CORRUPTION. 

23 Section 353 of title III of division FF of the Consoli24 dated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260) is 

25 amended— 


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1 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘AND

2 HONDURAS’’ and inserting ‘‘, HONDURAS, AND

3 NICARAGUA’’; and 

4 (2) by striking ‘‘and Honduras’’ each place it 

5 appears and inserting ‘‘, Honduras, and Nicaragua’’. 

6 SEC. 8. CLASSIFIED REPORT ON THE INVOLVEMENT OF OR7 TEGA FAMILY MEMBERS AND NICARAGUAN 

8 GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS IN CORRUPTION. 

9 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 60 days 

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

11 of State, acting through the Bureau of Intelligence and 

12 Research of the Department of State, and in coordination 

13 with the Director of National Intelligence, shall submit a 

14 classified report to the appropriate congressional commit15 tees on significant acts of public corruption in Nicaragua 

16 that— 

17 (1) involve— 

18 (A) the President of Nicaragua, Daniel Or19 tega; 

20 (B) members of the family of Daniel Or21 tega; and 

22 (C) senior officials of the Ortega govern23 ment, including— 


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1 (i) members of the Supreme Electoral 

2 Council, the Nicaraguan Armed Forces, 

3 and the National Nicaraguan Police; and 

4 (ii) elected officials from the Sandi5 nista National Liberation Front party; 

6 (2) pose challenges for United States national 

7 security and regional stability; 

8 (3) impede the realization of free, fair, and 

9 transparent elections in Nicaragua; and 

10 (4) infringe upon the fundamental freedoms of 

11 civil society and political opponents in Nicaragua. 

12 (b) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 

13 In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com14 mittees’’ means— 

15 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

16 the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate; 

17 and 

18 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

19 Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

20 House of Representatives. 

21 SEC. 9. CLASSIFIED REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE 

22 RUSSIAN FEDERATION IN NICARAGUA. 

23 The Secretary of State shall include in the classified 

24 report required by section 8 a separate section on activities 


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1 of the Government of the Russian Federation in Nica2 ragua, including— 

3 (1) cooperation between Russian and Nica4 raguan military personnel, intelligence services, secu5 rity forces, and private Russian security contractors; 

6 (2) cooperation related to telecommunications 

7 and satellite navigation; 

8 (3) other political and economic cooperation; 

9 and 

10 (4) the threats and risks that such activities 

11 pose to United States national interests and national 

12 security. 

13 SEC. 10. REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN THE INTE14 RIOR OF NICARAGUA. 

15 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that, since the June 

16 2018 initiation of ‘‘Operation Clean-up’’, an effort of the 

17 government of Daniel Ortega to dismantle barricades con18 structed throughout Nicaragua during social demonstra19 tions in April 2018, the Ortega government has increased 

20 its abuse of campesinos and members of indigenous com21 munities, including arbitrary detentions, torture, and sex22 ual violence as a form of intimidation. 

23 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 90 days 

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

25 of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional 


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1 committees a report that documents the perpetration of 

2 gross human rights violations by the Ortega government 

3 against campesinos and indigenous communities in the in4 terior of Nicaragua. 

5 (c) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection 

6 (b) shall— 

7 (1) include a compilation of human rights viola8 tions committed by the Ortega government against 

9 inhabitants of the interior of Nicaragua, with a 

10 focus on such violations committed since April 2018, 

11 including human rights abuses and extrajudicial 

12 killings in— 

13 (A) the cities of Managua, Carazo, and 

14 Masaya between April and June of 2018; and 

15 (B) the municipalities of Wiwili, El Cua ́, 

16 San Jose de Bocay, and Santa Maria de 

17 Pantasma in the Department of Jinotega, 

18 Esquipulas in the Department of Rivas, and 

19 Bilwi in the North Caribbean Coast Autono20 mous Region between 2018 and 2021; 

21 (2) outline efforts by the Ortega government to 

22 intimidate and disrupt the activities of CENIDH 

23 and other civil society organizations attempting to 

24 hold the government accountable for infringing on 


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1 the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people 

2 of Nicaragua; and 

3 (3) provide recommendations on how the United 

4 States, in collaboration with international partners 

5 and Nicaraguan civil society, should leverage its dip6 lomatic capabilities, including sanctions, to curtail 

7 the gross human rights violations perpetrated by the 

8 Ortega government and better support the victims of 

9 human rights violations in the interior of Nicaragua. 

10 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

11 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con12 gressional committees’’ means— 

13 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

14 Senate; and 

15 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

16 House of Representatives. 

17 SEC. 11. SUPPORTING INDEPENDENT NEWS MEDIA AND 

18 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION IN NICARAGUA. 

19 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 90 days 

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

21 of State, the Administrator for the United States Agency 

22 for International Development, and the Chief Executive 

23 Officer of the United States Agency for Global Media, 

24 shall submit to Congress a report that includes— 


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1 (1) an evaluation of the governmental, political, 

2 and technological obstacles faced by the people of 

3 Nicaragua in their efforts to obtain accurate, objec4 tive, and comprehensive news and information about 

5 domestic and international affairs; 

6 (2) a list of all TV channels, radio stations, on7 line news sites, and other media platforms operating 

8 in Nicaragua that are directly or indirectly owned or 

9 beneficially controlled by President Daniel Ortega, 

10 members of the Ortega family, or known allies of the 

11 Ortega government; and 

12 (3) a list of any independent press organization 

13 or any person affiliated with the independent news 

14 media that has experienced intimidation, harass15 ment, physical assault, theft of property, or fatal in16 jury by agents of the Government of Nicaragua or 

17 pro-government supporters in direct relation to their 

18 journalistic activities since April 2018. 

19 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection 

20 (a) shall include— 

21 (1) an assessment of the extent to which the 

22 current level and type of news and related program23 ming and content provided by the Voice of America 

24 and other sources is addressing the informational 

25 needs of the people of Nicaragua; 


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1 (2) a description of existing United States ef2 forts to strengthen freedom of the press and freedom 

3 of expression in Nicaragua, including recommenda4 tions to expand upon those efforts; and 

5 (3) a strategy for strengthening independent 

6 broadcasting, information distribution, and media 

7 platforms in Nicaragua. 

8 SEC. 12. AMENDMENT TO SHORT TITLE OF PUBLIC LAW 

9 115–335. 

10 Section 1(a) of the Nicaragua Human Rights and 

11 Anticorruption Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–335; 50 

12 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

14 ‘Nicaragua Investment Conditionality Act of 2018’ or the 

15 ‘NICA Act’.’’. 

16 SEC. 13. DEFINITION. 

17 In this Act, the term ‘‘Nicaragua Investment Condi18 tionality Act of 2018’’ means the Public Law 115–335 (50 

19 U.S.C. 1701 note), as amended by section 12. 

Æ 


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