US Sanctions Daniel Ortega's Sons and Nicaraguan Gold Mining Sector

The US Treasury Department (OFAC) on April 16, 2026 sanctioned Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo's two sons — Maurice Facundo Ortega Murillo and Daniel Edmundo Ortega Murillo — along with seven Nicaraguan gold mining companies including Zhong Fu Development S.A. and Santa Rita Mining Company S.A. The gold firms were linked to the forcible seizure of a US-owned gold processing plant (BHMB Mining Nicaragua) in 2025. The State Department described the action as targeting the 'Murillo-Ortega dictatorship-linked gold sector' that funds the regime's repression. The sanctions followed a February 26 OFAC action targeting five Nicaraguan government officials including the Director of the Financial Analysis Unit. Nicaragua's gold sector is the country's primary hard currency earner; targeting it represented the most significant escalation of US economic pressure on Managua since the 2018 NICA Act, which had frozen multilateral development bank loans to Nicaragua.