U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2006 - Nicaragua
| Publisher | United States Department of State |
| Author | Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism |
| Publication Date | 30 April 2007 |
| Cite as | United States Department of State, U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2006 - Nicaragua, 30 April 2007, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4681087fc.html [accessed 6 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The most pressing counterterrorism issue for the United States concerning Nicaragua was the stalled destruction of Nicaragua's stocks of man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS). While the Nicaraguan executive branch under outgoing President Enrique Bolanos, as well as the armed forces, recognized the danger of these weapons falling into the hands of terrorists and cooperated with the United States, the opposition-controlled legislature refused to allow the MANPADS destruction program to move forward. The Nicaraguan legislature also failed to act on a comprehensive counterterrorism law that would create a national counterterrorism operations unit and address deficiencies in existing criminal and money laundering statutes. The latter, coupled with both the lack of a Financial Intelligence Unit, and a Prosecutor General who refused to prosecute money laundering cases brought to him by the existing cash-starved Commission on Financial Analysis, amounted to an ineffective anti-money laundering and terror financing regime. Nicaragua's court system was politicized and mired in corruption that reached right up to the Nicaraguan Supreme Court. Nicaragua's immigration system suffered from corrupt practices and could be exploited by terrorist groups.
