Nicaragua to Strengthen Surveillance With Support From Russia and China

The Daniel Ortega-Rosario Murillo regime is strengthening “security” and surveillance ties with Russia and China. At the same time, Nicaragua has approved new reforms to the Code of Criminal Procedure that empower the police to request telephone information and freeze bank accounts without a court order.

The Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China committed itself to train Nicaraguan officers in police techniques and technologies to combat terrorism, drug trafficking and cybercrime, the National Police said in a September 9 statement. 

The training is part of an agreement reached during a meeting between Francisco Díaz, the general director and first commissioner of the Nicaraguan National Police and in-law of Ortega and Murillo, and the Chinese Minister of Public Security, Wan Xiaohong.

“In this important bilateral meeting [the parties involved] confirmed the continuity of cooperation and collaboration between our peoples and governments for the training of Nicaraguan National Police personnel in matters of citizen security, crime prevention and investigation, as well as in police techniques and technologies for the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking and cybercrime,” said the Nicaraguan Police in a press release.

The training agreement was announced during the Global Public Security Cooperation Forum in the city of Lianyungang, China, which was attended by a delegation of the Nicaraguan Police headed by the police chief and in-law of the presidential couple.

The Nicaraguan delegation also included police commissioners Esther María Muñoz and Julio César Sánchez, deputy chief of the Police Intelligence Directorate and deputy chief of the Transit Security Directorate, respectively.

Russia also pledges security support

Meanwhile, another governmental delegation, headed by Laureano Ortega Murillo – son of Nicaragua's ruling couple and presidential investment advisor– met in Moscow with the secretary of the Russian Security Council, General Sergey Shoygu, to “strengthen” security ties.

During the meeting, the Nicaraguan representatives and the Russian security secretary discussed “bilateral and multilateral cooperation in security matters, in the face of color revolutions and the importance of forming the new world order with Russia as an important axis of development”, stated Ortega-Murillo regime.

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The Nicaraguan delegation also included the deputy chief of the Defense Information Directorate of the Nicaraguan Army, Colonel Álvaro Peña; the chief of the Intelligence Directorate and deputy director of the National Police, Commissioner General Zhukov Serrano; the deputy director general of the Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Celia Reyes; and the Nicaraguan ambassador to Russia, Alba Azucena Torres.

In April, the same Nicaraguan delegation met with the then-Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev. They discussed “issues and projects of bilateral cooperation in security matters” and confirmed “mutual support in all areas.”

After that meeting, Nicaragua and Russia signed a declaration to “counteract, mitigate and compensate for the negative consequences” of the sanctions imposed by the United States against officials of both countries.

Increased internal surveillance in Nicaragua

On September 10, the Nicaraguan regime gave the National Police the authority to search and seize electronic and computer equipment and demand that telephone companies provide them with the digital information –calls, text and voice messages, and geolocation– of persons under investigation without the need for a court order, according to a reform to the Criminal Procedure Code.

The reform to Law 406 of the Criminal Procedure Code is the fourth legal reform sent to Parliament by Ortega in less than a week. It was approved by 89 of the body's 91 representatives.

Article 230 of Law 406, in paragraphs 9, 10, 12 and 13, gives the National Police the authority to request information from technological service providers. The reformed law gives the National Police the ability to: 

• Request from phone companies “information on the holders of mobile phones and landlines,  associated services, lists of calls, text and voice messages, geolocation, and location of transmitting and receiving antennas.” 
• “[C]onduct searches, raids, inspections and requisitions as necessary.” 
• Extract and access information from electronic and computer systems.
• Issue requests from the Police's Director General for information from public and private financial institutions about the transactions of individuals or legal entities under investigation. 
• “[S]eize, occupy or immobilize assets, securities, certificates of deposit, documents and bank accounts." 
• Suspend financial operations or transactions. 

All of these measures may be carried out without the person under investigation being informed.

This article was published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by our staff. To get the most relevant news from our English coverage delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Dispatch.