U.S. freezes aid disbursements to Nicaragua

By Tim Rogers

Nica Times Staff trogers@ticotimes.net
Published: 4:50 p.m.

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Citing concerns over Nicaragua's democratic process, the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) announced today it will not approve disbursements for any new projects or activities not already contracted in Nicaragua.

Ambassador John Danilovich, CEO of the government aid organization, has expressed his “deep concern and disappointment” over the Nov. 9 municipal elections in Nicaragua and has ordered the MCC to re-evaluate its $175 million aid package, according to a press release.

“We had hoped, for the sake of the Nicaraguan people, that the government would continue the country's trend towards peaceful, democratic and credible elections,” Ambassador Danilovich said in the release. “I am afraid recent evidence shows that this is not the case.”

César Zamora, president of the Nicaraguan-American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM), told The Nica Times yesterday that a suspension of MCC funding for Nicaragua would be a “nuclear bomb for the economy.”