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Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order banning U.S. companies from doing business with gold mining companies based in the Central America country. At the same time, the U.S. Treasury Department announced in a statement that it was imposing sanctions on Nicaragua's mining authority and the nation's General Directorate of Mines.
The new economic sanctions are the U.S. government's attempt to hold President Daniel Ortega accountable for his continued attacks on human rights and democracy in Nicaragua and his continued security cooperation with Russia. In 2021, gold was Nicaragua's largest export last year, with total shipments abroad of the precious metal amounting to $867.6 million. Most of that gold was shipped to the United States, according to central bank data.