Taiwan Aid to Nicaragua Amid Worsening Democracy

While many countries have stopped or limited their financial help to the Nicaraguan government and related institutions due to the ongoing socio-political crisis in Nicaragua, Taiwan has donated 3 million dollars to the National Nicaraguan Police last month.

Situation in Nicaragua

In Nicaragua, what started as protests against changes made to the national Social Security system has developed into eight months of civic unrest with 325 people dead and more than 2,000 injured, more than 550 people detained and prosecuted, the dismissal of 300 health professionals and the expulsion of at least 80 students from the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN), according to the latest report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

The government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega had been blamed for violating the human rights and freedom of speech of the Nicaraguan citizens. In a recent emergency meeting of the OAS (Organization of American States), an organization consisting of independent states of the Americas that monitors the development of democracy and human rights across all its members, pointed to the government to be responsible for the crisis. This organization has invoked the Inter-American Democratic Charter against Nicaragua; if 24 out of the 35 members of this organization support this measure the Nicaraguan government will face additional diplomatic sanctions, including being expelled from the organization until democracy’s been restored.

International sanctions

Nicaragua receives economic help from many countries around the world to boost its development. Due to the ongoing crisis and lack of willingness from the government to resolve this issue, major economies around the world have decided to impose sanctions on important political figures that have played a critical role in this crisis.

The United States under the Trump administration have imposed several sanctions on Nicaragua, targeting Rosario Murillo, the vice president and wife of president Daniel Ortega, a deputy chief of the National police, among other officials. According to a press release made by the US Department of The Treasury, the reasons why vice president Murillo and other officials were sanctioned were because Ms. Murillo and her political operators have “systematically sought to dismantle democratic institutions and loot the wealth of Nicaragua to consolidate their grip on power… the Treasury Department intents to ensure that Ortega regime insiders are not able to access the U.S. financial system to profit at the expense of the Nicaraguan people.” The US has also approved legislation known such as “Magnitsky Nica Law” to put pressure on foreign officials, which is a way to show “the United States will expose and hold accountable those responsible for the Nicaraguan government’s ongoing violence and intimidation campaign against its people,” according to the website of the US embassy in Nicaragua.

Other countries have also cut back on its aid to the Nicaraguan government. Spain, for instance, announced that while its government will still assist with social development projects, will suspend aid to the security forces of Nicaragua.

What about Taiwan?

Even though western democracies have taken measures to condemn or reject the actions of the Daniel Ortega government in Nicaragua, the Taiwanese government, on the other hand, seems to have continued its support for the Nicaraguan government during this socio-political crisis.

Recently, Taiwan’s ambassador to Nicaragua Jaime Wu appeared with the deputy chief of the National Nicaraguan Police in one of the most important newspapers in Nicaragua, El Nuevo Diario, for the financial aid to a hospital administered by the National Police. The deputy chief, Francisco Díaz, has been sanctioned by the US government under corruption charges through the Magnitsky Law.

Before the El Salvadoran and Taiwanese government severed relations, there were six aid projects to be started in El Salvador, which were all relocated to Nicaragua on an official announcement made by the president of Nicaragua in October 2018. Not long after this announcement the Minister of foreign relations of Nicaragua visited Taiwan with the purpose of strengthen relations between Taiwan and Nicaragua.

Nicaraguan Foreign Minister and Taiwan’s VP (Official Photo by Makoto Lin / Office of the President)

In November 2018 military exchanges had also been requested from the Nicaraguan government to various nations including Taiwan.

Taiwan in Nicaraguan media

The Nicaraguan media, as well as news coverage from the United States, have noticed this support from the Taiwanese government to the Nicaragua. La Prensa, one of the most important newspapers in Nicaragua, published a news articles titled “Taiwan, an ally or hostage of Daniel Ortega’s regime?” in which a former congressman, Eliseo Núñez, talked about Taiwan as being a “hostage of the (different Nicaraguan) governments.

“Even though [Taiwan] knows the money could be misused, they don’t say anything to avoid conflict…Ortega needs to realize Taiwan’s donations aren’t enough…Besides, recent sanctions from the US not only block loans and donations, but also send a message to other countries to stop engaging with the current regime.”

The congressman said the collapse in the economy of Nicaragua since the unrest started cannot be fixed by Taiwan’s financial aid alone, since many countries have stopped cooperating with the government of Daniel Ortega.

Another news outlets mentioned Taiwan needs to keep supporting the government of Daniel Ortega in order to keep strong relations and avoid the government breaking official diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of China.

Radio Television Marti, an American radio and television international broadcaster that transmits in Spanish, on a special New Year’s program, invited Tanya Amador, Civil Society Representative to the OAS When asked how Social Media had taken an important role in the current situation, she encouraged all Nicaraguans to continue using online media as a defense tool against the censorship and a way to protest against countries that keep supporting the regime such as Taiwan “There is a lot of work to do about Taiwan. Taiwan keeps on supporting Ortega’s government and we should protest against the financial help that can be used, or has been used, to suppress the people.”

Not the first time

Nicaragua is one of only 17 nations in the world that still officially recognizes the Republic of China government on Taiwan, as opposed to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Within the last two years Taiwan has lost four diplomatic allies, namely Panama, the Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso and El Salvador. The dwindling number of formal allies for Taiwan lessens Taiwan’s claim as an independent state.  

This is not the first time Taiwan has supported a Nicaraguan government categorized as a “dictatorship” by the international community. Forty years ago Nicaragua was ruled by a dictatorship led by the Somoza family. During the Cold War, Somoza had strong relations with the United States as an ally against the communist bloc of The Soviet Union. In order to keep geographically strategic allies close to the American side, the American government backed the Somoza dictatorship by donating money and weapons to the “Contras,” a military group fighting anti-Somoza revolutionaries. The government of Taiwan at the time also donated US$2 million dollars to the Somoza dictatorship, because Taiwan wished to “cherish good ties with the United States.”

Is Taiwan hurting its reputation?

The current government of Nicaragua has steadily lost the support of many western democracies, including the United States. In contrast, Taiwan seems to be staying its course in helping a regime that has demonstrated a willingness to backslide on democracy and human rights. What is the Taiwanese government planning to do about this situation? Or will it keep the same strategy as it had done before?

If Taiwan is still supporting de facto authoritarian regimes, then what about the “values of democracy and way of life that Taiwanese people cherish” that President Tsai Ing-wen expressed in her response to the threats from China? It might be time for Taiwan to set a clearer strategy on supporting democracies and calling out anti-democratic behavior, especially by states that it claims as friends. This is a necessary step for Taiwan if it wants to break out of being a hostage to dollar diplomacy with China and be taken seriously as an international player.

(Feature photo taken from the Office of the President, CC BY 2.0)