Symbolic Sanctions Section

On May 15, 2024, the US Treasury Department sanctioned two Nicaraguan gold companies, Compañía Minera Internacional (COMINTSA) and Capital Mining Investment Nicaragua (“Capital Mining”), claiming that they are bringing in revenue for the Ortega-Murillo regime and are engaging in “corrupt practices.”^{1U.S. Department of the Treasury. “Treasury Sanctions Nicaragua-Based Russian Institution and Gold Companies.” Press Release. May 15, 2024. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2339 (accessed June 5, 2024).}

The sanctions were carried out under Executive Order 13851^2Ibid. signed by President Donald Trump in 2018, which authorized sanctions against individuals deemed complicit in government repression of democracy and human rights in Nicaragua.^{3Federal Registry. “Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Nicaragua.” November 2018. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/11/29/2018-26156/blocking-property-of-certain-persons-contributing-to-the-situation-in-nicaragua (accessed June 5, 2024).} Subsequently, in June 2022, the US Treasury Department sanctioned Nicaragua’s state-owned mining company, Empresa Nicaragüense de Minas (ENIMINAS).^{4U.S. Department of the Treasury. “Treasury Sanctions Nicaraguan State Mining Company.” Press Release. June 17, 2022. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0822 (accessed July 3, 2024).} The US Treasury Department’s May 2024 sanctions against COMINTSA and Capital Mining are also the result of Executive Order 14088, signed by President Joe Biden in October 2022, expanding sanctions to include all entities with financial ties to the United States involved in Nicaragua’s gold sector,^{5The Oakland Institute. Nicaragua’s Gold Rush. February 1, 2024. https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/sites/oaklandinstitute.org/files/nicaraguas-gold-rush.pdf (accessed June 5, 2024).} arguing that gold revenues are enabling the Ortega-Murillo regime’s continued stranglehold over Nicaraguan democracy and civil society.^{6U.S. Department of the Treasury. “Treasury Sanctions Nicaragua-Based Russian Institution and Gold Companies.” Op. Cit.} Executive Order 14088 also led to sanctions against the General Directorate of Mines (DGM) in October 2022.^{7U.S. Department of the Treasury. “Treasury Sanctions Nicaragua Directorate of Mines and Government Official Responsible for Decades of Violence.” October 24, 2022. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1046 (accessed June 5, 2024).}

Until May 2024, as previously reported by the Oakland Institute, the sanctions authorized by Executive Order 14088 had not been imposed on any foreign entities, despite the existence of clear violators such as the Canada-based Calibre Mining Corporation, which owns several mines in the United States and US subsidiaries and whose primary investors include US-based asset management giants.^{8The Oakland Institute. Nicaragua’s Gold Rush. Op. Cit.} In July 2023, Fundacion del Rio, a Nicaraguan environmental organization, denounced the approval of five concessions for Calibre in the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region of Nicaragua comprising of 226,083 hectares (ha) – almost the size of the Indio Maiz Biological Reserve size.^{9“New mining concessions granted in Nicaragua denounced.” Confidencial, July 30, 2023. https://confidencial.digital/english/new-mining-concessions-granted-in-nicaragua-denounced/ (accessed October 12, 2024).} Calibre is reported to have worked closely with the Ortega regime to push through the Pavon mine project against the will of local communities.^{10“La soledad de Rancho Grande: Voracidad minera, campesinos emigran, y el obispo Álvarez preso.” Confidencial,  September 23, 2023.} Bishop Rolando José Álvarez Lagos of Matagalpa, who accompanied the peasants in their protest, was placed under house arrest in August 2022. In February 2023, the Ortega-Murillo regime declared him a traitor, stripped him of his citizenship, and sentenced him to 26 years in prison. In January 2024, Bishop Álvarez was expelled from Nicaragua and exiled to Vatican City.

“Pavon is the poster child of how morally bankrupted Canadian mining companies are willing to say and do anything to remain in the good graces of a dictatorship as long as there’s a bit of money to be made.”^{11“Calibre Mining (CXB): Say one thing, do another.” IKN, October 25, 2022. https://iknnews.com/calibre-mining-cxb-say-one-thing-do-another/ (accessed October 13, 2024). https://confidencial.digital/nacion/la-soledad-de-rancho-grande-voracidad-minera-campesinos-emigran-y-el-obispo-alvarez-preso/ (accessed October 12, 2024).}

In part because of the failure to enforce these sanctions, Nicaragua’s gold rush has continued largely unimpeded. Nicaragua exported US$1.13 billions of gold in 2023, with almost 64 percent of it going to the United States.^{12Congressional Research Service. Nicaragua. April 26, 2024. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12247#:~:text=sanctions%20on%20Nicaragua's%20gold%20sector,to%20the%20Nicaraguan%20Central%20Bank. (accessed June 5, 2024).} In 2022, Calibre alone accounted for 35 percent of all Nicaraguan gold exports.^{13Calibre Mining Corp. Calibre Nicaragua Brief. October 25, 2022. https://www.calibremining.com/site/assets/files/5530/20221025-calibre-nicaragua-brief.pdf (accessed June 5, 2024).}

Nicaragua’s gold rush, largely driven by North American companies and financiers, has inflicted a wave of environmental destruction and violence against Indigenous and Afro-descendant Peoples. They have faced massacres, rape, serious injuries, forced displacement, the destruction of food and water sources, kidnapping and arbitrary detention, and other grave harms at the hands of colono artisanal miners and law enforcement conspiring to deprive them of their land to extract the gold wealth beneath.^{14The Oakland Institute. Nicaragua’s Gold Rush. Op. Cit.} Hundreds of Indigenous Miskitu people have had to flee their territories and seek refuge in Costa Rica or the United States.^{15Laura Hobson Herlihy. “Indigenous Miskitu Migrants Are Fleeing for their Lives.” NACLA, January 18, 2024. https://nacla.org/indigenous-miskitu-migrants-are-fleeing-their-lives (accessed October 4, 2024).} As of October 2024, the Nicaraguan government is holding three Indigenous Miskitu political leaders and eight Indigenous Mayangna forest rangers in detention in retaliation for their efforts to protect their territories from colonization.^{16“Dictadura guarda silencio sobre proceso contra Steadman Fagot, mientras Yatama ha llamado a levantarse en defensa de sus territories.” Artículo 66. September 23, 2024. https://www.articulo66.com/2024/09/23/dictadura-steadman-fagot-yatama-territorios-indigenas/ (accessed October 4, 2024); “Demand for Release of Eight Indigenous Forest Rangers Held as Political Prisoners in Nicaragua.” Confidencial. August 5, 2024. https://confidencial.digital/english/demand-for-release-of-eight-indigenous-forest-rangers-held-as-political-prisoners-in-nicaragua/ (accessed October 4, 2024).}

With the May 2024 sanctions designations, the US Treasury Department chose to not sanction Calibre Mining or any other North American interests and to instead target two relatively small mining companies, COMINTSA and Capital Mining, which it says are affiliated with the Ortega-Murillo regime.^{17U.S. Department of the Treasury. “Treasury Sanctions Nicaragua-Based Russian Institution and Gold Companies.” Op. Cit.} This reflects a lack of serious action to confront the drivers of violence and dispossession that are devastating Indigenous and Afro-descendant Peoples in Nicaragua.

Until the US Treasury Department truly enforces its sanctions on all corporations driving violence against Nicaragua’s Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities and financing the dictatorial Ortega-Murillo regime, Executive Order 14088 will be nothing more than a smokescreen to punish individual competitors of the US mining and financial interests instead of serving as a tool to pursue democracy and human rights that Washington claims to stand for. Meanwhile, Indigenous and Afro-descendant Peoples continue to suffer horrific violence, arbitrary detention, dispossession, displacement, and forced exile at the hands of gold miners and the Ortega-Murillo regime.

COMINTSA: An Intermediary for the Ortega-Murillo Regime

According to the US Treasury and local media, Compañía Minera Internacional (COMINTSA) is owned by Nicaraguan Minister of Energy and Mines (MEM) Salvador Mansell Castrillo,^{18“Régimen cancela concesión minera a Plantel Los Ángeles, 1.200 familias quedan en desempleo en La Libertad y Santo Domingo.” 100%Noticias, June 29, 2022. https://100noticias.com.ni/nacionales/116390-cancelan-concesion-minera-los-angeles-chontales/#google_vignette (accessed June 5, 2024).} previously sanctioned by the US Treasury in November 2021.^{19U.S. Department of the Treasury. “Treasury Sanctions Nicaragua-Based Russian Institution and Gold Companies.” Op. Cit.}

Little is known about COMINTSA’s origins, but the earliest records of the company appear to be two letters from April 12, 2021, in which Ye Planet, a company that was once incorporated in the state of California^{20California Secretary of State Business Search. “Ye Planet Holding Group. (3369810).” https://bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov/search/business (accessed June 5, 2024).} and which has a Mexican subsidiary^{21Dateas. “Ye Planet Minerals S. A. De C. V. - Sociedades Mexicanas con Inversión Extranjera.” https://www.dateas.com/fr/explore/sociedades-mexicanas-inversion-extranjera/ye-planet-minerals-s-a-de-c-v-45961 (accessed June 5, 2024).} dedicated to iron mining,^{22Dun’s Guide. “Ye Planet Minerals, S.A. de C.V.” https://www.dunsguide.com/company/01cdf66bb00540dcd4fcc722d324ff3b/ye-planet-minerals-sa-de-cv (accessed July 3, 2024).} expressed interest to MEM Minister Mansell and General Director of Mines Norman Henríquez Blandón in investing in Nicaragua alongside COMINTSA.^{23Yoliveth Echeverria to Salvador Mansell, April 21, 2021. Scribd. https://www.scribd.com/document/662843549/YE-Planet-Nota-Compania-Internacional-Minera-12-04-2021 (accessed June 5, 2024); Yoliveth Echeverria to Norman Henríquez Blandón, April 21, 2021. Scribd. https://www.scribd.com/document/662843533/Nota-Director-Norman-YE-Planet-12-04-2021 (accessed June 5, 2024).} Between April and June 2021, COMINTSA formally requested three mining concessions in Nicaragua: Tutuwaka, covering some 6,000 hectares (ha); La Reyna II, comprising 4,132 ha; and El Ocote, with an expanse of 1,369 ha.^{24“Ortega entrega a una empresa desconocida más de 11,500 hectáreas para exploración minera, incluidas zonas de reservas naturales.” La Prensa. June 29, 2022. https://www.laprensani.com/2022/06/29/economia/3014304-ortega-entrega-a-una-empresa-desconocida-mas-de-11500-hectareas-para-exploracion-minera-incluida-zonas-de-reservas-naturales (accessed July 3, 2024).}

All three requests were granted between April and June 2022.^25Ibid. Shortly thereafter, MEM rejected a concession request from a company owned by US citizen Randy Martin and instead granted it to COMINTSA.^{26“Régimen cancela concesión minera a Plantel Los Ángeles, 1.200 familias quedan en desempleo en La Libertad y Santo Domingo.” 100%Noticias. June 29, 2022. https://100noticias.com.ni/nacionales/116390-cancelan-concesion-minera-los-angeles-chontales/ (accessed July 2, 2024).} Largely unknown to the public, COMINTSA became the subject of public and media speculation as it began accumulating concessions. As Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa put it in 2022, “in the established mining industry nobody knows the mining company, and what little people know about it they prefer not to say for fear of reprisals.”^{27 “Ortega entrega a una empresa desconocida más de 11,500 hectáreas para exploración minera, incluidas zonas de reservas naturales.” La Prensa, June 29, 2022. https://www.laprensani.com/2022/06/29/economia/3014304-ortega-entrega-a-una-empresa-desconocida-mas-de-11500-hectareas-para-exploracion-minera-incluida-zonas-de-reservas-naturales (accessed July 2, 2024).}

COMINTSA has actually served as an intermediary for the Ortega-Murillo regime to deliver mining concessions to Chinese mining companies.^{28Amaru Ruiz (@AmaruRuiz). “#Hilo 2/4. Esta empresa COMINTSA ha servido de intermediaria para entregar concesiones a empresa China como Zhong Fu Development, S. A. (Zhong Fu, S. A.) a la,” Twitter, May 15, 2024, 9:42am, https://x.com/AmaruRuiz/status/1790784744470278243 (accessed July 2, 2024).} In April 2024, COMINTSA transferred its rights to the Tutuwaka concession to Zhong Fu Development S.A..^{29“Minera china ha recibido concesión de más de 200 mil hectáreas.” Onda Local. April 17, 2024. https://ondalocalni.com/noticias/2689-minera-china-concecion-200-mil-hectareas-nicaragua/ (accessed July 2, 2024).}

The presence of Chinese mining companies in Nicaragua has markedly increased in recent months. Between October 2023 and April 2024, three Chinese mining companies – Zhong Fu Development S.A., Thomas Metal S.A., and Nicaragua XinXin Linze Minera Group S.A. – received 13 metallic mining concessions from the Ortega government.^{30“China busca oro en Nicaragua, y recibe 13 concesiones en 190 días.” Confidencial. May 27, 2024. https://confidencial.digital/nacion/china-busca-oro-en-nicaragua-y-recibe-13-concesiones-en-190-dias/ (accessed July 2, 2024).} As of July 1, 2024, these three companies had been granted 14 concessions totaling 230,868 ha – 12 percent of all land granted in metallic mining concessions in Nicaragua.^{31MEM. Solicitudes de concesión minera y concesiones mineras. July 1, 2024. https://www.mem.gob.ni/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/LISTA-CONCESIONES-MINERAS-Julio-010724.pdf (accessed July 4, 2024) and well as through an analysis of the countries of origin of these firms’ parent companies.} These include a concession approved to Nicaragua XinXin Linze Minera Group S.A. on May 16, 2024^{32“Empresa china suma más de 39 mil hectáreas para explotación minera otorgadas por el régimen en solo tres meses.” Divergentes. June 20, 2024. https://www.divergentes.com/empresa-china-suma-39-mil-hectareas-para-explotacion-minera/ (accessed July 3, 2024).} – the day after the US Treasury Department’s sanctions on COMINTSA and Capital Mining. The timing of this action indicates that the Ortega-Murillo regime has been largely undeterred by Washington’s targeted sanctions on the country’s gold sector.

Amid the threat of US sanctions on Nicaragua’s gold sector, the rise of Chinese mining companies since 2023 is allegedly part of an Ortega-Murillo regime effort to reorganize the country’s gold industry by increasing exports to China and decreasing its dependence on the US market.^{33Sánchez, F. “El régimen de Daniel Ortega le entrega a China el oro de Nicaragua en trámites exprés.” infobae. June 22, 2024. https://www.infobae.com/america/america-latina/2024/06/22/el-regimen-de-daniel-ortega-le-entrega-a-china-el-oro-de-nicaragua-en-tramites-expres/ (accessed July 3, 2024).} This reportedly aligns with the Chinese government’s priority of diversifying its reserves with gold.^34Ibid. That said, as noted by Amaru Ruiz, Director of the human rights and environmentalist organization Fundación del Río, Chinese mining companies “are in the process of setting up their plants and operations, in other words, they are not at the export level.”^{35Sánchez, F. “El régimen de Daniel Ortega le entrega a China el oro de Nicaragua en trámites exprés.” Op. Cit.} The US remains the top export destination for Nicaraguan gold, with 64 percent of Nicaraguan gold exports arriving in the United States in 2023.^{36Congressional Research Service. “Nicaragua.” April 26, 2024. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12247#:~:text=sanctions%20on%20Nicaragua's%20gold%20sector,to%20the%20Nicaraguan%20Central%20Bank. (accessed June 5, 2024).} Still, it appears the Ortega-Murillo regime has made headway on its goal to decrease reliance on exports to the US, as this figure is down from over 96 percent in 2021 and 2022^{37Banco Central de Nicaragua. Exportaciones fob por país de destino de los 20 productos más importantes - 2021. 2021. https://www.bcn.gob.ni/system/files_force/documentos/5_3983.pdf?download=1 (accessed July 3, 2024); Banco Central de Nicaragua. Exportaciones fob por país de destino de los 20 productos más importantes - 2022. 2022. https://www.bcn.gob.ni/system/files_force/documentos/5_4304.pdf?download=1 (accessed July 3, 2024).} and 100 percent from 2016 to 2020.^{38Banco Central de Nicaragua. Exportaciones fob por país de destino de los 20 productos más importantes - 2016. 2016. https://www.bcn.gob.ni/system/files_force/documentos/5_3914.pdf?download=1 (accessed July 3, 2024); Banco Central de Nicaragua. Exportaciones fob por país de destino de los 20 productos más importantes - 2017. 2017. https://www.bcn.gob.ni/system/files_force/documentos/5_3915.pdf?download=1 (accessed July 3, 2024); Banco Central de Nicaragua. Exportaciones fob por país de destino de los 20 productos más importantes - 2018. 2018. https://www.bcn.gob.ni/system/files_force/documentos/5_3916.pdf?download=1 (accessed July 3, 2024); Banco Central de Nicaragua. Exportaciones fob por país de destino de los 20 productos más importantes - 2019. 2019. https://www.bcn.gob.ni/system/files_force/documentos/5_3917.pdf?download=1 (accessed July 3, 2024); Banco Central de Nicaragua. Exportaciones fob por país de destino de los 20 productos más importantes - 2020. 2020. https://www.bcn.gob.ni/system/files_force/documentos/5_3918.pdf?download=1 (accessed July 3, 2024).}

According to official records from MEM, COMINTSA now controls two 25-year concessions covering a combined 5,501 ha: La Reyna II (4,132 ha) and El Ocote, comprising 1,369 ha.^{39MEM. Solicitudes de concesión minera y concesiones mineras. Op. Cit.} Through the El Ocote concession, the Ortega-Murillo regime is supporting artisanal mining operations in the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region. As previously reported by the Oakland Institute and others, artisanal mining in that region is driving violent displacement of Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities and causing environmental ruin.^{40The Oakland Institute. Nicaragua’s Gold Rush. Op. Cit.}

CAPITAL MINING: Another Intermediary to Boost Profits for the Ortega-Murillo Regime

According to the US Treasury Department and Nicaraguan media, Capital Mining Investment Nicaragua (“Capital Mining”) is also controlled by MEM Minister Mansell as well as by Laureano Ortega Murillo,^{41U.S. Department of the Treasury. “Treasury Sanctions Nicaragua-Based Russian Institution and Gold Companies.” Op. Cit.} son of President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo. The company, according to its since-deleted Facebook page, extracts gold, silver, copper, zinc, iron, coal, oil, natural gas, and industrial minerals.^{42“Capital Mining: La compañía minera de Laureano Ortega Murillo, sancionada por realizar ‘operaciones corruptas.’” Op. Cit.} The company’s exploits in gold mining, however, are the most well-known. 

Similar to COMINTSA, Capital Mining became publicly known in 2022 due to its involvement in the Ortega-Murillo regime’s seizure of mining concessions from Randy Martin. In June 2022, MEM issued a resolution canceling a concession held by Martin’s Plantel Los Ángeles, S.A., which first began operating in Nicaragua in 2016,^{43“One Degree Removed.” The Oakland Institute. https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/one-degree-removed (accessed July 2, 2024).} to buy and process minerals.^{44Olivares, I. “Cancelan concesión a empresa minera Plantel Los Ángeles en La Libertad.” Confidencial. July 1, 2022. https://confidencial.digital/economia/cancelan-concesion-a-empresa-minera-plantel-los-angeles-en-la-libertad/ (accessed July 2, 2024).} This cancelation was ostensibly  linked to its purchase of minerals extracted by artisanal miners in protected areas.^{45Olivares, I. “Régimen estatiza concesión minera del Plantel Los Ángeles en el municipio de La Libertad.” Confidencial. March 25, 2023. https://confidencial.digital/economia/regimen-estatiza-concesion-minera-de-plantel-los-angeles-en-la-libertad/ (accessed July 2, 2024).} Plantel Los Ángeles, is the largest processor of illegally sourced artisanal gold in the country, extracted from the Indigenous and Afro-descendant Rama-Kriol Territory and the Indio Maíz Biological Reserve, among other protected areas,^{46Amaru Ruiz (@AmaruRuiz). “#Hilo 3/4. Capital Mining es una empresa intermediaria que tomó el control de Plantel Los Ángeles, el plantel mas grande que procesa mineria ilegal q viene de.,” Twitter, May 15, 2024, 9:42am, https://x.com/AmaruRuiz/status/1790784759053844833 (accessed July 2, 2024).} leading to the displacement of local Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities as well as environmental destruction.^{47“One Degree Removed.” Op. Cit.}

After the cancelation of Plantel Los Ángeles’ concession, local mining cooperatives sent a series of concerned letters and communiqués to MEM stressing the harms to artisanal miners’ earnings and to the cooperatives’ ability to organize.

In response to MEM’s decision, Plantel Los Ángeles’ American CEO, Randy Martin sent a letter to the President of the National Assembly, Gustavo Porras, requesting a meeting to discuss MEM’s decision.^48Ibid. While it is not clear if the two met, an industry source later said that “the concession was reinstated” and operations continued.^49Ibid.

In September 2022, Mines Director Henríquez ordered the closure of Plantel Los Ángeles’ operations in Río San Juan, again with the justification that Plantel Los Ángeles was purchasing material mined illegally by artisanal miners in protected areas. Henríquez reportedly then offered the concession to Capital Mining.^{50“Cooperativas mineras de Chontales se declaran en rebeldía y advierten que “defenderán” su derecho a la libre organización y al trabajo.” Artículo 66. September 7, 2022. https://www.articulo66.com/2022/09/07/cooperativas-mineras-de-chontales-se-declaran-en-rebeldia-y-advierten-que-defenderan-su-derecho-a-la-libre-organizacion-y-al-trabajo/ (accessed July 3, 2024).} In a Facebook post, cooperatives from La Libertad and Santo Domingo wrote, “we reject the company imposed by the Mines Director [Henríquez], Capital Mining, and we reiterate that we will not allow them to curtail and violate our rights as artisanal miners.”^{51“Cooperativas mineras de Chontales se declaran en rebeldía y advierten que “defenderán” su derecho a la libre organización y al trabajo.” Op. Cit.} A week later, the cooperatives reaffirmed “the complete rejection of the company Capital Mining, created by the Mines Director,” adding, “We ask that he respect the law [and] free organization, and we will not give up. We will continue fighting.”^{52Santo Domingo Comunica. “Las Cooperativas de la Libertad y Santo Domingo exigimos al Ministerio de Energía y Minas.” Facebook, September 13, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/SantoDomingoComunica2021/posts/pfbid02PVTiKR3Ccajke49j1U3xYvawhVHXeQEv5GE7mNnMHhdo5rVUbMX2n9dA7ntwk7fjl (accessed July 2, 2024).}

On March 23, 2023, MEM submitted a resolution ordering that the plant be placed under its control, with MEM official Anyela Fernández charged with controlling the plant’s assets and directing its operations.^{53“Mineras chinas afectadas por sanciones a negocios del oro de la dictadura de Nicaragua.” Centroamérica360. May 16, 2024. https://centroamerica360.com/region/mineras-chinas-afectadas-por-sanciones-a-negocios-del-oro-de-la-dictadura-de-nicaragua/ (accessed July 2, 2024).} Fernández then transferred the plant to Capital Mining.^{54“Mineras chinas afectadas por sanciones a negocios del oro de la dictadura de Nicaragua.” Op. Cit.} It has been reported that although Plantel Los Ángeles was indeed processing materials illegally mined by artisanal miners in protected areas – the justification provided by the government was not the real reason for the government’s closure and commandeering of the mill. Allegedly, concession transfer from Martin’s company to Capital Mining is part of a broader attempt by the regime to strip operations from companies it does not control and ensure industry dominance for those it does.^{55“Ejército reconoce minería ilegal en Indio Maíz, pero “hace poco” para detenerla.” Divergentes. May 4, 2023. https://www.divergentes.com/ejercito-reconoce-mineria-ilegal-en-indio-maiz-pero-hace-poco-para-detenerla/ (accessed July 2, 2024).} An anonymous source linked to the mining sector put the regime’s strategy more bluntly in an interview with media outlet Divergentes: “The message is clear: either you do business with me or I cancel and expropriate your concessions, like what happened with Plantel Los Ángeles.”^56Ibid. This ongoing reorganization of the gold sector to serve the regime’s interests has continued in 2024, with the cancelation of four mining concessions in June 2024 supposedly due to “inactivity,” building on the 20 concessions canceled by MEM in December 2023.^{57“El MEM cancela concesiones mineras en Chontales y Jinotega.” Despacho 505. June 12, 2024. https://www.despacho505.com/nacionales/20658-cancelacion-concesiones-mineras-nicaragua/ (accessed July 3, 2024).}

After receiving the concession formerly owned by Martin’s company, Capital Mining reportedly began processing material extracted from private lots belonging to other mining companies and selling it to Canadian companies, while also offering to process ore extracted by the new Chinese mining firms as they begin operations,^{58“Mineras chinas afectadas por sanciones a negocios del oro de la dictadura de Nicaragua.” Op. Cit.} thereby ensuring the regime benefits more from it.

FALSE PRIORITIES AND MISPLACED SANCTIONS

COMINTSA and Capital Mining can be seen as intermediaries in the Ortega-Murillo regime’s larger effort to exert greater control over the gold mining sector to enrich itself and the companies it favors, such as newcomer Chinese mining companies as well as companies directly controlled by the regime. In the US Treasury Department’s announcement of its May 2024 sanctions against the two companies, it argues that the Ortega-Murillo regime uses the revenues it draws from the gold sector to oppress the Nicaraguan people.^{59U.S. Department of the Treasury. “Treasury Sanctions Nicaragua-Based Russian Institution and Gold Companies.” Press Release. Op. Cit.} Purportedly, the sanctions on COMINTSA and Capital Mining seek to cut off the regime from this crucial revenue source. 

However, the Treasury’s decision to sanction these two companies, and not the North American mining giants that currently dominate Nicaragua’s gold sector, demonstrates that the US government is more interested in safeguarding North American financial and economic interests than choking off the Ortega-Murillo regime from gold revenues. Despite the minimal attention they have received from US policymakers, Western gold companies control at least 63 percent of all Nicaraguan metallic mining concession area – over 10 percent of the country’s total land area.^{60 This was calculated using data from MEM. Solicitudes de concesión minera y concesiones mineras. July 1, 2024. https://www.mem.gob.ni/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/LISTA-CONCESIONES-MINERAS-Julio-010724.pdf (accessed July 4, 2024) and well as through an analysis of the countries of origin of these firms’ parent companies.}

Nicaragua Concession Area Ownership
by Companies’ Country of Origin

(as of July 1, 2024)^{61Calculations conducted with data from MEM. Solicitudes de concesión minera y concesiones mineras. Op. Cit.}

Specifically, the US Treasury Department’s sanctions sidestep Canadian Calibre Mining Corp. (Calibre), which controls 57 concessions covering approximately 1.13 million ha,^{62Calculations conducted with data from MEM. Solicitudes de concesión minera y concesiones mineras. Op. Cit.} 58 percent of all land granted in metallic mining concessions in Nicaragua,^{63Calculations conducted with data from MEM. Solicitudes de concesión minera y concesiones mineras. Op. Cit. and MEM. Estadísticas catastrales mineras. July 1, 2024. https://www.mem.gob.ni/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ESTADISTICAS-CATASTRALES-MINERAS-Julio-010724.pdf (accessed July 4, 2024).} and nine percent of the country’s total land area.^{64 The Oakland Institute. Nicaragua’s Gold Rush. Op. Cit.} Calibre has requested additional concessions, which, if  granted, will give it control over 13.5 percent of Nicaragua’s land area.^{65MEM. Solicitudes de concesión minera y concesiones mineras. Op. Cit.} Calibre’s concession requests include three that were made on May 10, 2024, mere days before the US Treasury’s sanctions on COMINTSA and Capital Mining, and another on May 15, 2024. Weeks later, Calibre submitted another concession request for an area twice as large as COMINTSA and Capital Mining’s combined known holdings.^66Ibid. In 2023, Calibre mined 242,109 ounces of gold in Nicaragua,^{67Calibre Mining Corp. Calibre Exceeds the High-End of 2023 Production Guidance, Increasing Gold Production in 2024 to 275,000 – 300,000 Ounces With Significant Future Growth Coming From the Multi-Million Ounce Valentine Gold Mine in Canada. February 20, 2024. https://www.calibremining.com/site/assets/files/7522/20240220_calibre_q4_and_fy_2023_financial_results_new_r.pdf (accessed July 2, 2024).} worth over US$470.1 million.^{68Calculated by multiplying the total number of ounces of gold produced in Nicaragua in 2023 by the average realized gold price in 2023 of US$1,942 per ounce, both of which can be found in Calibre Mining Corp. Calibre Exceeds the High-End of 2023 Production Guidance, Increasing Gold Production in 2024 to 275,000 – 300,000 Ounces With Significant Future Growth Coming From the Multi-Million Ounce Valentine Gold Mine in Canada. Op. Cit.} It was responsible for 35 percent of all gold exports from Nicaragua in 2022^{69Calibre Mining Corp. Calibre Nicaragua Brief. October 25, 2022. https://www.calibremining.com/site/assets/files/5530/20221025-calibre-nicaragua-brief.pdf (accessed July 2, 2024).} and claims to comprise two percent of the country’s GDP.^70Ibid.

Not only is Calibre by far the largest mining company in Nicaragua, but it also has significant assets and financial ties to the United States, putting it squarely within the purview of sanctions against the Nicaraguan gold sector authorized by President Biden’s October 2022 Executive Order 14088. Calibre owns four gold mines in the United States: The Pan Mine, Gold Rock Property, and Illipah Property in Nevada and the Golden Eagle Property in Washington.^{71The Oakland Institute. Nicaragua’s Gold Rush. Op. Cit.} In 2023, Calibre extracted 41,385 ounces of gold,^{72Calibre Mining Corp. Calibre Exceeds the High-End of 2023 Production Guidance, Increasing Gold Production in 2024 to 275,000 – 300,000 Ounces With Significant Future Growth Coming From the Multi-Million Ounce Valentine Gold Mine in Canada. Op. Cit.} worth more than US$80.3 million, from its Pan Mine.^{73Calculated by multiplying the total number of ounces of gold produced at the Pan Mine in 2023 by the average realized gold price in 2023 of US$1,942, both of which can be found in Calibre Mining Corp. Calibre Exceeds the High-End of 2023 Production Guidance, Increasing Gold Production in 2024 to 275,000 – 300,000 Ounces With Significant Future Growth Coming From the Multi-Million Ounce Valentine Gold Mine in Canada. Op. Cit.}

Calibre also owns two companies in the United States – Calibre Mining (US) Corp. and Marathon Gold USA Corporation^{74 Calibre Mining Corp. Annual Information Form For the Year Ended December 31, 2023. March 7, 2024. https://www.calibremining.com/site/assets/files/7547/cxb_aif_december_31_2023_-_final.pdf (accessed July 3, 2024).} – and nine US-based subsidiaries: Calibre Pan LLC (Nevada), Calibre Gold Rock LLC (Nevada), Calibre Golden Eagle LLC (Washington), Calibre Illipah LLC (Nevada), Calibre Services LLC (Colorado), Calibre Real Estate LLC (Nevada), Calibre Eland LLC (Nevada), Calibre Pinyon LLC (Nevada), and Calibre Mining Services Inc. (Colorado).^{75The Oakland Institute. Nicaragua’s Gold Rush. Op. Cit.}

Calibre Mining Corp.’s subsidiaries, based in Canada, Nicaragua, the United States, and Barbados

Along with its US mines and subsidiaries, many of Calibre’s largest investors are US-based. Of the company’s five largest shareholders, three – Van Eck Associates Corp., Invesco Ltd., and Franklin Resources Inc. – with a combined US$134.3 million worth in shares are based in the United States.^{76Calculations conducted with data from private corporate database, Capital IQ, July 2024.} Calibre’s largest shareholder is the Canadian mining firm B2Gold Corp., whose seven largest institutional shareholders – which together own over 35 percent of the company’s shares – are headquartered in the United States and include US asset management giants such as BlackRock Inc., Fidelity Institutional Asset Management, and Vanguard Group Inc.^77Ibid.

Not only does Calibre own considerable US assets and have extensive ties to the US financial sector, but the company has also provided millions of dollars in gold revenue to the Ortega-Murillo regime and has been accused of being one of the regime’s biggest allies.^{78“Empresa china suma más de 39 mil hectáreas para explotación minera otorgadas por el régimen en solo tres meses.” Op. Cit.} From 2020 to 2023, the company paid US$117.7 million in taxes and royalties to the Nicaraguan government as well as nearly US$8.7 million to municipal governments in Nicaragua,^{79Calculations conducted with data from Calibre Mining Corp. Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act - Annual Report 2020. May 28, 2021. https://www.calibremining.com/site/assets/files/3559/2020_estma_report_-_final.pdf (accessed July 2, 2024); Calibre Mining Corp. Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act - Annual Report 2021. March 24, 2022. https://www.calibremining.com/site/assets/files/6724/2021_nicaragua_estma_report_20220530.pdf (accessed July 2, 2024); Calibre Mining Corp. Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act - Annual Report 2022. May 30, 2023. https://www.calibremining.com/site/assets/files/6724/20230705-estma-report-december-31-22022.pdf (accessed July 2, 2024); Calibre Mining Corp. Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act - Annual Report 2023. May 29, 2024. https://calibremining.cl1.adnetcms.com/site/assets/files/6724/20240607-estma-report-december-31-2023.pdf (accessed July 2, 2024). Figures are adjusted for inflation and are reflected in the report in 2024 USD.} most if not all of which are likely controlled by the central government as all 153 of Nicaragua’s municipal governments have been controlled by the Ortega-Murillo regime since the country’s 2022 municipal elections.^{80Associated Press. “Sandinistas complete their political domination of Nicaragua..” POLITICO. November 8, 2022. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/08/nicaragua-sandinistas-ortega-repression-00065603 (accessed July 28, 2024).} Calibre Mining Corp. has provided three times more direct revenue to Nicaraguan authorities as a proportion of total revenue produced than they have to US authorities. From 2020 to 2023, Calibre Mining Corp. produced over US$1.51 billion worth of gold in Nicaragua, paying more than US$126.4 million to Nicaraguan authorities over that period, some 8.37 percent of total revenue generated.^{81Calculations conducted with data from Calibre Mining Corp. Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act - Annual Report 2020. Op. Cit.; Calibre Mining Corp. Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act - Annual Report 2021 Op. Cit.; Calibre Mining Corp. Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act - Annual Report 2022. Op. Cit.; Calibre Mining Corp. Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act - Annual Report 2023. Op. Cit.; Calibre Mining Corp. Calibre Exceeds the High-End of 2023 Production Guidance, Increasing Gold Production in 2024 to 275,000 – 300,000 Ounces With Significant Future Growth Coming From the Multi-Million Ounce Valentine Gold Mine in Canada. Op. Cit; Calibre Mining Corp. Calibre Presents a Golden Opportunity: Breaking Records With Gold Production and Revenue in 2022; Gaining Momentum in 2023 With 20% Production Growth to 250,000 to 275,000 Ounces. February 22, 2023. https://www.calibremining.com/site/assets/files/7159/20230222_calibre_q4_and_fy_2022_financial_results_new_r.pdf (accessed July 2, 2024); Calibre Mining Corp. A Strong Finish to 2021 As Calibre Exceeds the High-End of Gold Production Guidance With 182,755 Ounces and Closes Fiore Deal to Expand Into Nevada. February 23, 2022. https://www.calibremining.com/site/assets/files/6995/20220223_calibre_q4_and_fy_2021_financial_results_new_r.pdf (accessed July 2, 2024); Calibre Mining Corp. Management Discussion & Analysis Year Ended December 31, 2020 and 2019. https://www.calibremining.com/site/assets/files/6009/2020-ye-mda-cxb.pdf (accessed July 2, 2024). Annual gold revenues calculated by multiplying the quantity of gold produced in a country in a given year by the average realized gold price for the same year. Taxes, royalties, and fees as a percent of revenue is calculated by adding the taxes, royalties, and fees paid in a country in a given time period by the sum of the annual gold revenues produced in a country in a given time period. Figures are adjusted for inflation and are reflected in the report in 2024 USD.} In 2022 and 2023, Calibre produced approximately US$163.4 million worth of gold in the United States, paying US$4.22 million, or 2.72 percent, in taxes and fees to US authorities.^{82Calculations conducted with data from Calibre Mining Corp. Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act - Annual Report 2022. Op. Cit.; Calibre Mining Corp. Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act - Annual Report 2023. Op. Cit.; Calibre Mining Corp. Calibre Exceeds the High-End of 2023 Production Guidance, Increasing Gold Production in 2024 to 275,000 – 300,000 Ounces With Significant Future Growth Coming From the Multi-Million Ounce Valentine Gold Mine in Canada. Op. Cit; Calibre Mining Corp. Calibre Presents a Golden Opportunity: Breaking Records With Gold Production and Revenue in 2022; Gaining Momentum in 2023 With 20% Production Growth to 250,000 to 275,000 Ounces. Annual gold revenues calculated by multiplying the quantity of gold produced in a country in a given year by the average realized gold price for the same year. Taxes, royalties, and fees as a percent of revenue is calculated by adding the taxes, royalties, and fees paid in a country in a given time period by the sum of the annual gold revenues produced in a country in a given time period. Figures are adjusted for inflation and are reflected in the report in 2024 USD.}

Despite Calibre receiving more than US$134 million in financing from US-based investment firms and close to US$120 million in direct revenue the company has provided to the Ortega-Murillo regime since 2020, the US Treasury Department opted to sanction two companies, COMINTSA and Capital Mining, which appear to collectively control three concessions with a total area of 5,513 ha – less than half of one percent of Calibre’s total holdings of 1.13 million ha.^{83Calculated by dividing the total area of COMINTSA’s El Ocote and La Reyna II concessions and Capital Mining’s Plantel Los Ángeles (5,513.27 ha) by the total area of Calibre’s concessions, all of which can be found in MEM. Solicitudes de concesión minera y concesiones mineras. Op. Cit.} Furthermore, while not much is known about the gold production at COMINTSA’s concessions, Plantel Los Ángeles, which is now owned by Capital Mining, produces 14,500 ounces of gold annually,^{84“Comintsa y Capital Mining, las dos mineras vinculadas al régimen que fueron sancionadas por EE.UU.” Despacho 505. May 16, 2024. https://www.despacho505.com/politica/20157-comintsa-capital-mining-mineras-sancionadas/ (accessed July 2, 2024).} less than six percent of Calibre’s gold production in Nicaragua in 2023^{85Calculation conducted with data from “Comintsa y Capital Mining, las dos mineras vinculadas al régimen que fueron sancionadas por EE.UU.” Op. Cit. and “Comintsa y Capital Mining, las dos mineras vinculadas al régimen que fueron sancionadas por EE.UU.” Despacho 505. Op. Cit. and Calibre Mining Corp. Calibre Exceeds the High-End of 2023 Production Guidance, Increasing Gold Production in 2024 to 275,000 – 300,000 Ounces With Significant Future Growth Coming From the Multi-Million Ounce Valentine Gold Mine in Canada. Op. Cit.} – 242,109 ounces.^{86Calibre Mining Corp. Calibre Exceeds the High-End of 2023 Production Guidance, Increasing Gold Production in 2024 to 275,000 – 300,000 Ounces With Significant Future Growth Coming From the Multi-Million Ounce Valentine Gold Mine in Canada. Op. Cit.} Plantel Los Ángeles claims to have paid US$4.25 million in taxes to the Nicaraguan government in 2020,^{87Olivares, I. “Cancelan concesión a empresa minera Plantel Los Ángeles en La Libertad.” Op. Cit. Figure was adjusted for inflation and is reflected in the report in 2024 USD.} compared to the over US$21.6 million paid in taxes and royalties by Calibre that same year.^{88Calibre Mining Corp. Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act - Annual Report 2020. Op. Cit. Note: Figure was adjusted for inflation and is reflected in the report in 2024 USD.} In 2023, Calibre paid nearly US$37.4 million in taxes and royalties to Nicaraguan authorities.^{89Calibre Mining Corp. Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act - Annual Report 2023. Op. Cit. Note: Figure was adjusted for inflation and is reflected in the report in 2024 USD.}

Aside from the lack of US sanctions, Calibre may be on the verge of even greater power and protection in Canada. David Splett, Calibre’s Chief Financial Officer,^{90Calibre Mining Corp. “Calibre announces proposed updates to its board of directors and change to senior management.” May 17, 2024. https://www.calibremining.com/news/calibre-announces-proposed-update-to-its-board-of-8909/ (accessed October 8, 2024).} resigned in July 2024 to run for the British Columbia Legislative Assembly as a Conservative Party candidate.^{91Kerr-Lazenby, Mina. “David Splett nominated as North Vancouver-Lonsdale candidate by B.C. Conservatives.” North Shore News. September 18, 2024. https://www.nsnews.com/highlights/david-splett-nominated-as-north-vancouver-lonsdale-candidate-by-bc-conservatives-9535386 (accessed October 8, 2024).} The election will be held on October 19, 2024, and the latest polls show an extremely close election between the Conservative Party and the incumbent New Democratic Party.^{92Polling Canada. “British Columbia provincial polling.” https://canadianpolling.ca/BC-2020 (accessed October 8, 2024).} Should Splett win and the Conservative Party form a government, it may be in a position to set provincial legislation and influence federal policymaking to shield Calibre from scrutiny for its business practices abroad.

Former Calibre Executive, with a Record of Devastating Latin American Communities, Seeks Elected Office in Canada

David Splett, Calibre Mining’s Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) from 2021 to 2024, has been nominated by the Conservative Party of British Columbia to run for the North Vancouver-Lonsdale seat in the British Columbia Legislative Assembly in the upcoming October 19, 2024, provincial elections. Splett credits his 25 years of senior level experience in the resource extraction industry working in Canada, Mexico, and Latin America for giving him “extensive experience in policy making, cost controls, infrastructure project management, taxation, and sustainable development.” His campaign page claims, “David’s commitment to community sustainability and operational excellence reflects his belief in the importance of giving back and making a tangible difference in the lives of others.”

However, examining the experiences of communities living near mining operations where Splett previously served in senior management roles reveals a drastically different reality. In addition to Calibre’s conduct in Nicaragua, Splett’s tenure at other major mining operations overlapped with serious abuses against local communities.

Splett served as the CFO of Latin America and the Mexico Country Manager for Vancouver-based Goldcorp^{93In 2019 Newmont acquired Goldcorp to create Newmont Goldcorp. Goldcorp owned the Peñasquito and employed Splett prior to the merger.} between 2016 and 2019. His tenure coincided with extreme hostility between communities and the company’s Peñasquito gold mine in Zacatecas, Mexico. Environmental and labor abuses led communities to hold several prolonged protests and blockades, disrupting operations at Mexico’s largest goldmine. In May 2019, residents from Cedros, Mazapil, marched to protest against the mine’s impact exhausting critical water supplies. As one protestor summarized, “They are going to leave us with a sinkhole with totally contaminated land, water, and soil that are useless, and what is left for Zacatecas?”

In April 2019, during a blockade by the company’s truckers, the company suspended all grants, productive projects, trusts and social investments for communities, which a representative justified by saying, “The blockade leaders are trying to extort us and our company will not give in to this extortion.” In 2021, two years after Splett departed the company, the body of José Ascensión Carrillo Vázquez, a local activist at the forefront of the trucking protests, was found along a highway after he was kidnapped, tortured, and killed. A group of community organizations issued a statement following his murder, demanding that the “mining company stop using armed groups as agents who are regularly trying to intimidate all social activists,” in the area.

From 2008 to 2013, Splett served as the VP of Finance and Administration for Antamina, one of the world’s largest copper and zinc mines located in the Andes Mountains of Peru. During this time, dust emitted from the mine negatively impacted the health of impoverished communities and their crops and livestock. Tests done from 2006-2009 by government health agencies found elevated levels of lead and cadmium in the blood and urine of villagers, a major health risk. The company was fined for a June 2009 leak of copper, zinc, and lead into a river. In 2012, a pipeline rupture exposed hundreds of villagers to toxic materials, resulting in the hospitalization of over 40 people. Despite “strong local opposition,” the mine proceeded with a US$1.29 billion expansion in 2010.

Splett’s track record managing mining companies responsible for serious abuses against local communities and environmental devastation in Latin America seriously undermines his stated commitment to ensuring sustainability and community well-being.

Conclusion

In its supposed attempt to cut off gold revenues to the Nicaraguan government, the US Treasury Department sanctioned two companies whose total concessions make up just over 5,500 ha – less than 0.3 percent of the more than 1.96 million ha of land granted as metallic mining concessions in Nicaragua. While COMINTSA and Capital Mining have direct ties to the Ortega-Murillo regime, they appear to be otherwise small actors in the Nicaraguan gold mining industry. Meanwhile, North American firm Calibre Mining Corp. has faced no consequences from the US Treasury Department despite owning 58 percent of all land granted in metallic mining concessions in Nicaragua; having over US$134 million in US-based financial backing; owning fifteen mines, companies, and subsidiaries in the United States; and providing an average of US$31.6 million annually in revenue to Nicaraguan authorities from 2020 to 2023.^{94Calculations conducted with data from the following: Calibre Mining Corp. Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act - Annual Report 2020. Op. Cit.; Calibre Mining Corp. Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act - Annual Report 2021. Op. Cit.; Calibre Mining Corp. Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act - Annual Report 2022. Op. Cit.; Calibre Mining Corp. Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act - Annual Report 2023. Op. Cit. Figures are adjusted for inflation and are reflected in the report in 2024 USD.} If Executive Order 14088’s authorized sanctions on the Nicaraguan gold sector are, in fact, targeting the actors doing the most to violate human rights and prop up the Ortega-Murillo regime, Calibre appears to be the model target.

The US Treasury Department’s sanctions on COMINTSA and Capital Mining do not demonstrate a commitment by the US government to defend democracy and human rights – contrary to official statements contending otherwise – but rather further prove Washington’s commitment to pursuing North American profit above all else. It is evident that the US government is more concerned with protecting the profits of Western corporations and US financiers than truly depriving the Ortega-Murillo regime of gold funds that the US Treasury Department claims are being used to stymie Nicaraguan self-determination and freedom. Until the US Treasury Department truly enforces its sanctions on all corporations driving violence against Nicaragua’s Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities and financing the dictatorial Ortega-Murillo regime, Executive Order 14088 will be nothing more than a smokescreen to punish individual competitors of the US mining and financial interests instead of serving as a tool to pursue the democracy and human rights that Washington claims to stand for. Meanwhile, Indigenous and Afro-descendant Peoples continue to suffer horrific violence, arbitrary detention, dispossession, displacement, and forced exile at the hands of gold miners and the Ortega-Murillo regime.

By Anuradha Mittal, Eric Heilmann, Josh Mayer with Andy Currier.

Endnotes