In less than a year, the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega has granted 44,290 hectares in various parts of the country to the Chinese company Nicaragua Xinxin Linze Mining Group, represented by Edward Xiang Liu.
The dictatorship granted the first mining concession to the Xinxin company in April of this year, with three additional concessions awarded in June, August, and September.
On Monday, November 11, the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Nicaragua finalized the fifth mining concession to Xinxin in Chontales through Ministerial Agreement 04-DM-026-2024, published in the official newspaper La Gaceta to formalize the concession.
The Agreement specifies that the mining concession is “for the exploitation of metallic and non-metallic minerals in the area called Río Santo, covering an area of 1,490 hectares, located in the municipalities of La Libertad and Santo Domingo, in the department of Chontales.”
This Agreement is made under the provisions of the Special Law for the Exploration and Exploitation of Mines, Law 387.
The Other Concessions
The previous concessions are as follows:
A total of 4,111.71 hectares granted in the Río Dorado Sur area, located in the municipality of San Juan de Limay, in the department of Estelí. This extensive property was granted in two separate concessions: the first lot of 3,628.71 hectares, awarded in August, and the second lot of 483 hectares, awarded in September.
On June 17, Ortega also granted Xinxin Linze the mining concession for the area called Caribe, covering 2,091 hectares, located in the municipality of Puerto Cabezas, in the Autonomous Region of the North Caribbean Coast (RACCN).
Additionally, the area known as Nuevo Bijagual, covering 36,610.1 hectares and located in the municipalities of Siuna and Mulukukú, also in the North Caribbean, was granted in April 2024.
Three Chinese Companies in Nicaragua
Zhong Fu Development SA, Nicaraguan XinXin Linze Mining Group, and Thomas Metal SA are the three Chinese companies to which the Ortega dictatorship, led by Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo, has granted mining concessions in the past year.
The concessions granted in the past year to Asian companies total more than 272,000 hectares, according to a review conducted by LA PRENSA of each concession published in the official newspaper La Gaceta and data from the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM).
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in December 2021, China has accelerated its ties with Nicaragua in various areas, such as mining exploration, security training, technology, increased Chinese business presence, and trade exchanges.
Nicaragua and China officially established diplomatic relations in December 2021, at the expense of its relations with Taiwan.