No loans were pledged to Nicaragua in the run-up to the Central American nation’s election on Nov. 7, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday following the cessation of bilateral ties.
The ministry made the comment after the London-based Financial Times cited reports that said Taipei had agreed to provide a new loan to Nicaragua ahead of the election, which saw Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega re-elected amid accusations by the US of voting irregularities.
Taiwanese banks refused to extend a loan pledged by Taiwanese authorities for fear of contravening US sanctions on Nicaragua, which were extended in the aftermath of Ortega’s re-election, the Financial Times reported.
Photo: Sarah Wu, Reuters
Taiwan in February 2019 had agreed to provide a loan of US$100 million to its former ally, but the funds were to help Nicaragua rebuild its infrastructure in the wake of social unrest beginning in 2018 sparked by opposition to Ortega’s continued rule, the ministry said.
The bank it partnered with ultimately never provided the loan, due to “allocation issues,” it said without elaborating.
The loan was for “humanitarian assistance” and was not related in any way to last month’s disputed presidential election, the ministry said.
The US imposed a series of sanctions on Nicaraguan officials in 2018 due to what it described as human rights abuses and rampant corruption in the country under Ortega’s government.
Washington rolled out new sanctions on Nov. 15, denouncing Ortega’s re-election a week prior as a “sham” and saying that the Nicaraguan government was suppressing dissent and jailing opposition leaders.
In other news, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said that a free-trade agreement between Taiwan and Nicaragua remains in effect, despite the severing of formal diplomatic ties.
The pact was signed on June 16, 2006, and took effect on Jan. 1, 2008.
Either party can withdraw from the agreement with the exit taking effect 180 days after notification has been submitted, the economic ministry said.
Nicaragua has not provided such notification, so the pact remains in effect, it said.
Whether Managua would make a move on the deal is unclear, but Taiwan’s free-trade deal with El Salvador and Honduras is still in place, even though El Salvador broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 2018.
Even if Nicaragua were to end the agreement, it would have little effect on Taiwan’s foreign trade, the economic ministry said.
Taiwan’s exports to Nicaragua last year totaled US$22.94 million, or 0.01 percent of overall exports, while it imported US$143.56 million in goods from the Central American country, it said.
Taiwanese businesses that have invested in Nicaragua should also not be affected by the change in diplomatic status, given that they are registered as local businesses, it said.
Most Taiwanese businesses in Nicaragua are in the textile and tourism sectors, it said.
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
COVID-19 infections have climbed for three consecutive weeks and are likely to reach another peak between next month and June, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Weekly hospital visits for the disease increased by 19 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. From Tuesday last week to yesterday, 21 cases of severe COVID-19 and seven deaths were confirmed, and from Sept. 1 last year to yesterday, there were 600 cases and 129 deaths, he said. From Oct. 1 last year to yesterday, 95.9 percent of the severe cases and 96.7 percent of the deaths
Restarting the No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant would take up to 18 months, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said today. Kuo was answering questions during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee, where legislators are considering amendments to the Renewable Energy Development Act (再生能源發展條) amid concerns about the consequences of the Pingtung County reactor’s decommissioning scheduled for May 17. Its decommissioning is to mark the end of Taiwan’s nuclear power production. However, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have proposed an amendment to the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act (核子反應器設施管制法) that would extend the life of existing
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday demanded that Somalia reverse its decision prohibiting Taiwanese passport holders from entering or transiting through the country. Somalia said it is following the “one China” principle based on UN Resolution 2758. The ministry said that Somalia is misinterpreting the resolution under China’s instigation, creating a false impression that Taiwan is subordinate to China. The Somali Civil Aviation Authority told airlines on Tuesday last week that starting today, any passengers with passports or travel documents issued from Taiwan or its affiliated institutions would not be allowed to enter or transit through Somalia. The decision comes as Taiwan is boosting
RSS