Venezuela to Establish ‘New Map of Cooperation’ with Nicaragua

Caracas, January 12, 2022 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro pledged to reactivate a high-level cooperation commission with Nicaragua.

During a televised address on Tuesday, Maduro argued it was a “good moment” to reactivate the mixed commission and strengthen bilateral ties.

“In the coming weeks we will have working sessions to set up a new map for economic, agricultural, energy, cultural and political cooperation,” he said. In December, Maduro had likewise called for deeper trade relations within the ALBA alliance in which both Venezuela and Nicaragua are members.

The Venezuelan leader reportedly lined up the latest plans with his Nicaraguan counterpart Daniel Ortega during the latter’s swearing-in ceremony on Monday in Managua.

Maduro called the inauguration of Ortega alongside his vice president and wife Rosario Murillo a “celebration for Latin America” as part of a shared history of “heroism and struggle.”

The event featured numerous international guests from solidarity movements as well as diplomatic representatives. China sent a delegation led by new ambassador Yu Bo after Managua and Beijing established diplomatic relations for the first time last year. The two countries later signed a number of economic agreements.

Ortega won reelection for a fourth consecutive five-year presidential mandate on November 7 with 76 percent of the vote, while his Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) secured an overwhelming majority in the country’s National Assembly.

The United States and its allies were quick to reject the presidential contest as illegitimate, with Washington enacting the so-called RENACER Act which paves the way for economic sanctions against the Central American nation.

Ahead of Ortega’s swearing-in, the US Treasury Department blacklisted the Nicaraguan state-owned mining and telecommunications companies as well as the country’s defense minister and five other high-ranking officials.

In his inauguration speech, the Nicaraguan president blasted the US and its allies for “not respecting international law.”

“We must be brave in upholding international law,” he said in his inauguration speech. “We are not asking for charity, we are asking for justice,” he added before going on to condemn wide-reaching economic blockades against allies Cuba and Venezuela.

In recent years, Washington has levied harsh sanctions against Caracas as part of efforts to oust the Maduro administration. The Treasury Department has targeted a number of economic sectors, including mining, banking, food imports and especially the oil industry.

The measures have been widely condemned by multilateral agencies and human rights organizations for their impact on the civilian population. For its part, the Venezuelan government has filed a lawsuit at the International Criminal Court (ICC) to have US unilateral sanctions classified as crimes against humanity