US mulls booting Nicaragua from trade pact over crackdown

The Biden administration is considering trying to expel Nicaragua from a lucrative regional free trade pact to retaliate against President Daniel Ortega’s crackdown on his opponents

MIAMI -- The Biden administration is considering trying to expel Nicaragua from a lucrative regional free trade pact — or allocate its valuable sugar quota to another country in Central America — to retaliate against President Daniel Ortega's crackdown on his opponents, according to a U.S. official.

The economic impact of the action is still under analysis and no decision has been made, according to a U.S. official speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations.

But any action affecting billions in annual trade with the U.S. could inflict serious economic pain on the country’s business elite, who have mostly stood by silently as Ortega’s repressive tactics have grown, said the official.

“The Nicaraguan private sector has a choice to make,” said Eddy Acevedo, the son of Nicaraguan immigrants and chief of staff at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington. “They either continue aiding and abetting this tyrannical regime with blood on its hands or stand alongside the people of Nicaragua who yearn for freedom and democracy.”