Richard Grenell, a close ally of Donald Trump who served until October 2025 as his envoy for Venezuela, described as “outrageous” the September 2025 seizure by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo of a mining processing facility owned by the U.S.-based company BHMB Mining. The plant was later handed over to the Chinese firm Zhong Fu Development. The assets were valued at more than $80 million.
Grenell’s remarks mark the first known reaction within Trump’s inner circle concerning a sector central to Nicaragua’s economy. In 2025, gold exports generated more than $1.9 billion for the country. The industry is under the direct control of the Ortega-Murillo family, which has favored inexperienced Chinese concessionaires — as well as their representatives — while discreetly maintaining its own participation in the business.
Posting on X, Grenell was responding to comments by attorney Jason Poblete, who denounced the seizure of the American company as an act that goes beyond corruption. He said such developments “should not surprise anyone doing business” in Nicaragua.
“When a generally lawless socialist regime crosses the line and confiscates American investment, consequences usually follow,” Poblete wrote.
Read also: Ortega Regime Seized $80 Million U.S. Mining Facility, Handed Assets to Chinese Firm
BHMB Mining is owned by BHMB Inc., a U.S.- and British-capital company incorporated in Florida. Poblete suggested the case will not go unnoticed by the Trump administration, which has kept the Nicaraguan regime under scrutiny for months.
The controversy appears to have prompted an unusual statement on Saturday, February 21, from the Attorney General’s Office, asserting that mining concessions are granted following “due process and transparency.” Critics argue that the BHMB Mining case directly contradicts that claim. Former deputy finance minister Juan Sebastián Chamorro recently said the statement reveals the dictatorship’s concern “because there is an ongoing investigation and they know the consequences.”
Chinese Companies Involved
The formal takeover occurred on September 18, 2025, though the company’s ordeal began a month earlier. In August, officials from the Energy and Mines Ministry ordered the plant’s manager to cease operations.
Baruch Rapoport recently told LA PRENSA that two companies orchestrated the confiscation: Zhong Fu and Santa Rita Mining. Both firms have received state concessions.
“In our case, a U.S.-based company with registered investment and lawful operations was shut down, its assets confiscated, and de facto control of its facilities transferred to entities linked to Chinese companies that also received significant concessions,” Rapoport said.
The action against the American company involved attorney Aníbal Vladimir Matus Buitrago and Chinese nationals Feiwu Bian and Chunqing Sun, who are linked to Zhong Fu and Santa Rita Mining. The entire episode was recorded on video.
Matus, Bian, and Sun are also members of the Nicaragua-China Chamber of Industry and Commerce, established in January 2024 as part of investment promotion efforts three years after Managua restored diplomatic relations with Beijing.
Investigations by LA PRENSA have found that the Ortega-Murillo family holds direct interests in the mining sector. According to those reports, they operate an extortion scheme that allows them to maintain control of the business. Key to this structure are Capital Mining Investment Nicaragua, S.A.; the processing plant of Grupo Minero Xiloá (Grumixsa); and Suministro y Montaje Electromecánico.
Capital Mining Investment allegedly acts as an intermediary, charging small-scale miners a five percent fee for materials sent to Grumixsa. The latter, part of the Ortega-Murillo family consortium, also charges for processing the material. The third company reportedly receives commissions from established firms.
In May 2024, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Capital Mining Investment Nicaragua, S.A., and Compañía Minera Internacional (Comintsa). In its statement, the department said Capital was controlled by the dictators’ son, Laureano Ortega Murillo, who serves as the regime’s liaison to China, Iran and Russia. U.S. authorities have also linked Energy Minister Salvador Mansell to the mining operation.
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Mounting Pressure on Ortega and His Allies
In recent months, Nicaragua’s gold industry has come under increasing scrutiny in the United States, as political pressure intensifies against authoritarian governments in the region. The State Department has described the power exercised by Ortega and Murillo as “illegitimate,” demanded the release of political prisoners, and sanctioned officials involved in repression.
The regime has also seen its international alliances weaken following the capture of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores in Venezuela and the recent removal of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while Cuba faces a severe crisis and has entered talks with Washington.
Grenell, Trump’s envoy for Venezuela, has long been considered one of the former president’s closest diplomatic confidants and was at one point floated as a possible candidate for secretary of state, according to CNN. Ultimately, the position went to Marco Rubio.
