US officials to investigate labor and human rights abuses in Nicaragua

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is opening an investigation into labor and human rights abuses in Nicaragua, impacting relations with a country the U.S. has a free trade deal with amid growing concerns over President Daniel Ortega’s increasingly authoritarian rule.

The investigation being opened by the U.S. Trade Representative must be completed within a year.

“Numerous reports recommend the Government of Nicaragua is engaging in repressive acts that damage Nicaragua’s own workers and people, undermine fair competition, and destabilize our region,” U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said in a statement.

The investigation, authorized under section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, will look into not only allegations of abuse but also the extent to which they affect commerce with the U.S. Only after that determination is made will retaliatory actions, if any, be taken.

The U.S. trade representative, in her statement, cited credible reports by several watchdog groups against Ortega’s government, including politically-motivated arrests, forced labor, human trafficking and repression of liberty of association and collective bargaining.

“Such actions exacerbate worker exploitation and diminish financial expansion and trade opportunities,” the agency said, adding that its selection to open the probe was part of a range of actions taken Tuesday to mark International Human Rights Day.

Nicaragua Vice President and government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo did not immediately respond to an emailed request seeking comment.

In May, the U.S. government imposed Section 301 tariffs on an array of Chinese goods, including electric vehicles, advanced batteries, solar cells, steel and aluminum. Those tariffs largely reflected the government’s conclusion that China was unfairly subsidizing those industries.

“For years, the Chinese government has poured state money into Chinese companies,” President Joe Biden said about those tariffs. “It’s not competition, it’s cheating.”

In Nicaragua’s case, any retaliatory action would be complicated by its membership in a regional free trade pact, the Central America Free Trade Agreement.

Of the five members of the trade pact, Nicaragua is one of only two to run a trade overage with the U.S., about $3 billion in 2022, or almost 20% of its gross domestic product.

Ortega last month proposed a constitutional reform that would officially make him and his wife, Murillo, “copresidents” of the Central American country and extend the presidential term to six years from five.

The proposals arrive amid an ongoing crackdown by the Ortega government that has resulted in the mass imprisonment and forced exile of adversaries including religious leaders and journalists. Since 2018, the government has shuttered more than 5,000 organizations, largely religious, and forced thousands to flee the country.

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AP Writer Christopher Sherman in Mexico City contributed to this update.