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. DIAZ- 
BALART, 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 Illi-
nois, 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 Af-
fairs, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a pe-
riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con-
sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nicaraguan Invest-
ment Conditionality Act (NICA) of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) In 2006, Nicaragua, under President 
Enrique Bolan˜os, entered into a $175,000,000, 5- 
year compact with the Millennium Challenge Cor-
poration (MCC). 
(2) After the 2008 municipal elections, the 
MCC stated that there was a pattern of decline in 
political rights and civil liberties in Nicaragua. 
(3) In 2009, the MCC terminated the compact 
and reduced the amount of MCC funds available to 
Nicaragua by $61,500,000, which led to the compact 
ending in 2011. 
(4) According to Nicaraguan law, the National 
Assembly is the only institution allowed to change 
the constitution but in 2009, Daniel Ortega cir-
cumvented the legislature and went to the Supreme 
Court, which he controls, to rule in his favor that 
Presidential term limits were inapplicable. 
(5) The House Committee on Foreign Affairs 
convened a congressional hearing on December 1, 
2011, entitled ‘‘Democracy Held Hostage in Nica-
ragua: Part 1’’ where former United States Ambas-
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sador to Nicaragua Robert Callahan testified, 
‘‘First, that Daniel Ortega’s candidacy was illegal, 
illegitimate, and unconstitutional; second, that the 
period leading to the elections and the elections 
themselves were marred by serious fraud; third, that 
Daniel Ortega and his Sandinista party have system-
atically undermined the country’s fragile govern-
mental institutions.’’. 
(6) From fiscal year 2012 until present, the 
Department of State found that Nicaragua did not 
meet international standards of fiscal transparency. 
(7) On January 25, 2012, a press statement 
from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: ‘‘As 
noted by international observers and Nicaraguan 
civil society groups, Nicaragua’s recent elections 
were not conducted in a transparent and impartial 
manner, and the entire electoral process was marred 
by significant irregularities. The elections marked a 
setback to democracy in Nicaragua and undermined 
the ability of Nicaraguans to hold their government 
accountable.’’. 
(8) According to the Department of State’s 
2015 Fiscal Transparency Report: ‘‘Nicaragua’s fis-
cal transparency would be improved by including all 
off-budget revenue and expenditure in the budget, 
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auditing state-owned enterprises, and conducting a 
full audit of the government’s annual financial state-
ments and making audit reports publicly available 
within a reasonable period of time.’’. 
(9) According to the Department of State’s 
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 
2015: ‘‘In 2011 the Supreme Electoral Council 
(CSE) announced the re-election of President Daniel 
Ortega Saavedra of the Sandinista National Libera-
tion Front (FSLN) in elections that international 
and domestic observers characterized as seriously 
flawed. International and domestic organizations 
raised concerns regarding the constitutional legit-
imacy of Ortega’s re-election. The 2011 elections 
also provided the ruling party with a supermajority 
in the National Assembly, allowing for changes in 
the constitution, including extending the reach of ex-
ecutive branch power and the elimination of restric-
tions on re-election for executive branch officials and 
mayors. Observers noted serious flaws during the 
2012 municipal elections and March 2014 regional 
elections.’’. 
(10) According to the Department of State’s 
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 
2015 in Nicaragua: ‘‘The principal human rights 
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abuses were restrictions on citizens’ right to vote; 
obstacles to freedom of speech and press, including 
government intimidation and harassment of journal-
ists and independent media, as well as increased re-
striction of access to public information, including 
national statistics from public offices; and increased 
government harassment and intimidation of non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society 
organizations.’’. 
(11) The same 2015 report stated: ‘‘Additional 
significant human rights abuses included consider-
ably biased policies to promote single-party domi-
nance; arbitrary police arrest and detention of sus-
pects, including abuse during detention; harsh and 
life-threatening prison conditions with arbitrary and 
lengthy pretrial detention; discrimination against 
ethnic minorities and indigenous persons and com-
munities.’’. 
(12) In February 2016, the Ortega regime de-
tained and expelled Freedom House’s Latin America 
Director, Dr. Carlos Ponce, from Nicaragua. 
(13) On June 3, 2016, the Nicaraguan Su-
preme Court—which is controlled by Nicaragua’s 
leader, Daniel Ortega—instructed the Supreme Elec-
toral Council not to swear in Nicaraguan opposition 
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members to the departmental and regional electoral 
councils. 
(14) On June 5, 2016, regarding international 
observers for the 2016 Presidential elections, Presi-
dent Ortega stated: ‘‘Here, the observation ends. Go 
observe other countries . . . There will be no obser-
vation, neither from the European Union, nor the 
OAS . . .’’. 
(15) On June 7, 2016, the Department of 
State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and 
Labor posted on social media: ‘‘Disappointed govern-
ment of Nicaragua said it will deny electoral observ-
ers requested by Nicaraguan citizens, church, and 
private sector . . . We continue to encourage the 
government of Nicaragua to allow electoral observers 
as requested by Nicaraguans.’’. 
(16) On June 14, 2016, President Ortega ex-
pelled three United States Government officials (two 
officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
and one professor from the National Defense Uni-
versity) from Nicaragua. 
(17) On June 29, 2016, the Department of 
State issued a Nicaragua Travel Alert which stated: 
‘‘The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens about 
increased government scrutiny of foreigners’ activi-
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ties, new requirements for volunteer groups, and the 
potential for demonstrations during the upcoming 
election season in Nicaragua . . . Nicaraguan au-
thorities have denied entry to, detained, questioned, 
or expelled foreigners, including United States Gov-
ernment officials, academics, NGO workers, and 
journalists, for discussions, written reports or arti-
cles, photographs, and/or videos related to these top-
ics. Authorities may monitor and question private 
United States citizens concerning their activities, in-
cluding contact with Nicaraguan citizens.’’. 
(18) On August 1, 2016, the Department of 
State issued a press release to express grave concern 
over the Nicaraguan government limiting democratic 
space leading up to the elections in November and 
stated that ‘‘[o]n June 8, the Nicaraguan Supreme 
Court stripped the opposition Independent Liberal 
Party (PLI) from its long recognized leader. The 
Supreme Court took similar action on June 17 when 
it invalidated the leadership of the Citizen Action 
Party, the only remaining opposition party with the 
legal standing to present a presidential candidate. 
Most recently, on July 29, the Supreme Electoral 
Council removed 28 PLI national assembly members 
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(16 seated and 12 alternates) from their popularly- 
elected positions.’’. 
(19) On November 7, 2016, the Department of 
State issued a press release stating: ‘‘The United 
States is deeply concerned by the flawed presidential 
and legislative electoral process in Nicaragua, which 
precluded the possibility of a free and fair election 
on November 6. In advance of the elections, the Nic-
araguan government sidelined opposition candidates 
for president, limited domestic observation at the 
polls and access to voting credentials, and took other 
actions to deny democratic space in the process. The 
decision by the Nicaraguan government not to invite 
independent international electoral observers further 
degraded the legitimacy of the election.’’. 
(20) In November and December of 2016, the 
Board of Executive Directors of the Inter-American 
Development Bank postponed consideration of a pol-
icy based loan of $65 million to the Government of 
Nicaragua due to the efforts of the United States 
mission that expressed serious concerns of the ab-
sence of transparency, systemic corruption, and the 
lack of free and fair elections in Nicaragua. 
(21) On February 2017, the European Par-
liament issued a resolution on the situation of 
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human rights and democracy in Nicaragua and ex-
pressed concern of the ‘‘deteriorating human rights 
situation in Nicaragua and deplores the attacks and 
acts of harassment to which human rights organiza-
tions and their members and independent journalists 
have been subjected by individuals, political forces 
and bodies linked to the State’’. 
(22) According to the Department of State’s 
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 
2016: ‘‘[A]ctions by the ruling Sandinista National 
Liberation Front (FSLN) party resulted in de facto 
concentration of power in a single party, with an au-
thoritarian executive branch exercising significant 
control over the legislative, judicial, and electoral 
functions.’’. 
(23) According to the Department of State’s 
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 
2016 in Nicaragua, ‘‘The November 6 elections for 
president, vice president, national assembly mem-
bers, and representatives for the Central American 
parliament did not meet the conditions of being free 
and fair . . . The November 6 presidential and leg-
islative elections were marred by allegations of insti-
tutional fraud and the absence of independent oppo-
sition political parties. National observers and oppo-
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sition leaders claimed rates of abstention from 60 to 
70 percent.’’. 
(24) According to the Department of State’s 
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 
2016: ‘‘Companies reported that bribery of public of-
ficials, unlawful seizures, and arbitrary assessments 
by customs and tax authorities were common . . . 
The courts remained particularly susceptible to 
bribes, manipulation, and other forms of corruption, 
especially by the FSLN, giving the sense that the 
FSLN heavily influenced CSJ and lower-level court 
actions.’’. 
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States to support— 
(1) the rule of law and an independent judiciary 
and electoral council in Nicaragua; 
(2) independent pro-democracy organizations in 
Nicaragua; 
(3) free, fair, and transparent elections under 
international and domestic observers in Nicaragua; 
and 
(4) anti-corruption and transparency efforts in 
Nicaragua. 
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SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall instruct the 
United States Executive Director at each international fi-
nancial institution to use the voice, vote, and influence of 
the United States to oppose any loan for the benefit of 
the Government of Nicaragua, other than to address basic 
human needs or promote democracy, unless the Secretary 
of State certifies and reports to the appropriate congres-
sional committees that the Government of Nicaragua is 
taking effective steps to— 
(1) hold free, fair, and transparent elections 
overseen by credible domestic and international elec-
toral observers; 
(2) promote democracy, as well as an inde-
pendent judicial system and electoral council; 
(3) strengthen the rule of law; 
(4) respect the right to freedom of association 
and expression; 
(5) combat corruption, including investigating 
and prosecuting government officials that are 
credibly alleged to be corrupt; and 
(6) protect the right of political opposition par-
ties, journalists, trade unionists, human rights de-
fenders, and other civil society activists to operate 
without interference. 
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(b) REPORT.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
written report assessing— 
(1) the effectiveness of the international finan-
cial institutions in enforcing applicable program 
safeguards in Nicaragua; and 
(2) the effects of the matters described in sec-
tion 2 on long-term prospects for positive develop-
ment outcomes in Nicaragua. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 
Committee on Appropriations, and the Com-
mittee on Financial Services of the House of 
Representatives; and 
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 
the Committee on Appropriations, and the 
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
Affairs of the Senate. 
(2) 
INTERNATIONAL
FINANCIAL
INSTITU-
TION.—The term ‘‘international financial institu-
tion’’ means the International Monetary Fund, 
International Bank for Reconstruction and Develop-
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