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U.S Pushes for Regime Change Over Gold in Nicaragua

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U.S Pushes for Regime Change Over Gold in Nicaragua

The Biden administration is increasing pressure on the President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, after he imposed a ban on Americans doing business in the country’s US$1bn gold industry.

Ortega’s actions result from an executive order signed by President Joe Biden on Monday in an attempt by the United States to hold the President of Nicaragua accountable for his alleged attacks on human rights and democracy in Central America as his continued security cooperation with Russia.

Previous penalties targeted Ortega, his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo, and members of their family and personal circle. But none of these initiatives have weakened Ortega’s grip on power.

Despite global outrage over President Daniel Ortega’s tyranny, Nicaragua’s gold mining industry is expected to hit a key milestone next year, with exports expected to reach $1 billion.

The new executive order expands on a Trump-era edict that declared Ortega’s hijacking of democratic principles, undermining the rule of law, and using political violence against opponents to threaten U.S. national security.

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Nicaragua’s gold industry and Americans

With the Treasury Department’s concurrent suspension of Nicaragua’s General Directorate of Mines, the ruling effectively makes doing business with Nicaragua’s gold industry illegal for Americans.

It’s the first time the United States has designated a specific sector of the economy as potentially off-limits, and it could be expanded in the future to cover other industries seen to fill the government’s coffers.

The executive order also prepared the way for the United States to restrict investment and trade with Nicaragua, a move reminiscent of the severe embargo imposed by the United States in the 1980s following the country’s terrible civil war.

“The Ortega-Murillo regime’s ongoing attacks on democratic actors and members of civil society, as well as the illegal incarceration of political prisoners,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.

“We have the ability and will utilize every weapon at our disposal to deny the Ortega-Murillo government the resources it needs to dismantle democratic institutions.”

Murillo did not specifically reference the extended U.S. sanctions in her daily statements to official media on Monday, but she did say that Nicaraguans are “defenders of national sovereignty.”

She also read a letter from Ortega congratulating China President Xi Jinping on his re-election as leader of the ruling Communist Party on Sunday, in which Ortega questioned the West’s “aggressive imperial aspirations.”

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Nicaraguans flooding Over US Border

Monday’s action might herald the start of a fresh offensive aimed at the broader economy, which the Biden administration has been hesitant to embrace for fear of exacerbating the country’s problems and sparking more migration.

U.S. border officials encountered Nicaraguans over 164,000 times at the southwest border during the fiscal year that ended in September, more than tripling the previous year’s total.

Simultaneously, frustrations in Washington have grown over Nicaragua’s business elites’ mainly muted response to Ortega’s crackdown.

The Biden administration’s targeting of the gold industry might deprive Ortega’s government of one of its most important funding sources. Gold was the country’s greatest export in 2020, and the country, which is currently Central America’s top producer of gold, plans to increase output in the next five years.

According to the Central Bank of Nicaragua, the country exported a record 348,532 ounces of gold in 2021, and the country’s mining organization anticipates exports of 500,000 ounces in 2023.

Condor Gold, whose CEO, Mark Child, featured in a photo with Nicaragua’s president in a September presentation for investors made by the U.K.-based company, is one of the foreign investors active in the country.

“He is entirely supportive of the concept,” Child said during a 90-minute discussion with Ortega in March. “That meeting… effectively offers a big green light for project finance construction and considerably de-risks the project.”

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Canadian-US Gold Mines in Nicaragua

Condor, listed in Toronto and London, has permission to build and manage three open pit mines, the most advanced of which is thought to contain 602,000 ounces of gold worth approximately $900 million at current rates.

Condor is partly held by a corporation run by an American mining engineer who has worked in the country for decades.

Condor shares were up 2 cents, or 3.8%, following the announcement in the United States. Calibre Gold Mining Corp, a Toronto-listed junior mining company with interests in Nicaragua, had its share price fall 17 cents, or 17%.

The Vancouver-based company has numerous mining sites in Nicaragua that are estimated to hold 2.9 million ounces of gold.

As part of Monday’s steps, the Treasury Department blocked Reinaldo Lenin Cerna’s assets in the United States, describing him as a close aide to Ortega. According to the Treasury Department, Cerna was the head of state security during Ortega’s first administration and reportedly assisted in the death of former dictator Anastasio Somoza’s chief of security.

Furthermore, the State Department will revoke the visas of more than 500 Nicaraguans and their family members who either work for the Ortega government or help formulate, implement, and benefit from policies that undermine democracy in the country, according to U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the action.

Previously, it froze the assets of the defence minister and other members of the security services linked to the closure of more than 1,000 nongovernmental groups in the United States.

The Biden administration had already sanctioned the state-owned mining business. It also reallocated the country’s sugar quota, removing a vital annual U.S. dollar subsidy worth millions.

Nicaraguans fled their country in 2018, first to neighbouring Costa Rica, after Ortega brutally suppressed major public protests.

Then, before the 2021 presidential elections, security forces began collecting major opposition figures, including seven possible opponents to Ortega. Without a credible opposition, Ortega cruised to a fourth consecutive five-year term, and Nicaraguans fled in greater numbers.

Source: Bnamericas, The Associated Press, VOR News

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It’s A Bittersweet Easter For Chocolate Lovers And African Cocoa Farmers But Big Brands See Profits

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easter

Accra, Ghana – This year, shoppers may receive an unpleasant surprise in their Easter baskets. Chocolate eggs and bunnies are more expensive than ever as changing climate patterns deplete global cocoa supplies and farmers’ profits in West Africa.

Cacao plants in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Cameroon provide almost three-quarters of the world’s cocoa used to make chocolate. However, dusty seasonal winds from the Sahara have been harsh in recent months, obscuring the sunlight required for bean pod growth. The season before, severe rainfall spread a rotting illness.

easter

It’s A Bittersweet Easter For Chocolate Lovers And African Cocoa Farmers But Big Brands See Profits

With shipments from the world’s largest producer, the Ivory Coast, falling by a third in recent months, the worldwide price of cocoa has climbed substantially. Cocoa futures have already doubled this year, trading at a record high of more than $10,000 a metric ton in New York on Tuesday, following a 60% increase the previous year. Farmers who harvest cocoa beans believe the raises need to be increased to offset reduced yields and increasing production costs.

However, the strong Easter demand for chocolate represents a potential treat for large confectionery producers. Major multinational manufacturers in Europe and the United States have more than passed on the increased cocoa prices to customers. The Hershey Company’s net profit margins climbed to 16.7% in 2023, up from 15.8% in 2022. Mondelez International, which owns the Toblerone and Cadbury trademarks, reported an increase to 13.8% in 2023 from 8.6% the previous year.

Wells Fargo stated in research this month that “it is likely that consumers will see a price spike on chocolate candy this Easter.”

Mondelez said it boosted chocolate prices by up to 15% last year and will consider further price increases to help reach revenue growth targets for 2024. “Pricing is clearly a key component of this plan,” CFO Luca Zaramella stated in January. “Its contribution will be a little bit less than we have seen in 2023, but it is higher than an average year.”

Hershey’s hiked pricing on its products last year and has not ruled out further rises. During a conference call with investors last month, Hershey Chairman, President, and CEO Michele Buck stated, “Given where cocoa prices are, we will be using every tool in our toolbox, including pricing, to manage the business.”

Consumers are keeping track in the United Kingdom?, a consumer research and services firm discovered that chocolate Easter eggs and bunnies from popular brands such as Lindt and Toblerone cost roughly 50% more this year. It also mentioned that certain candy eggs were smaller.

Cocoa trades on a regulated global market. Farmers sell to local dealers or processing firms, selling cocoa products to international chocolate makers. Prices are established up to one year in advance. Many farmers blame climate change for their bad harvests. Cacao plants only grow near the equator and are highly sensitive to weather fluctuations.

“The harmattan was severe at the time the pods were supposed to develop,” Fiifi Boafo, a spokesperson for the Ghana Cocoa Board, said. The cool trade winds carry enough dust to block the sunlight so the trees can flower and produce beans.

Months of rain have also been blamed for black pod disease, a fungal illness that thrives in cool, rainy, and overcast weather and causes pods to rot and harden.

“We have a wonderful deal today, but that isn’t it. Eloi Gnakomene, a cacao farmer on the Ivory Coast, claimed last month that cacao had not yet yielded any fruit. “People say that we’ve had a bit, but those living over that way, they’ve had nothing.”

Opanin Kofi Tutu, a cocoa farmer in Suhum, eastern Ghana, says the production gap and rising fertilizer expenses make it tough to live. “The exchange rate to the dollar is killing us,” he told reporters.

Tutu does not relate chocolate to any of the Easter festivities. “I’m looking forward to my wife’s kotomir and plantain, not chocolates,” he remarked, referring to a local sauce made from cocoyam leaves.

To boost output, officials are pushing education on farming methods that may reduce the consequences of climate change, such as the use of irrigation systems. The President of Ghana has also committed to intervening to help farmers receive a better deal.

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It’s A Bittersweet Easter For Chocolate Lovers And African Cocoa Farmers But Big Brands See Profits

“With the current trend of the world cocoa price, cocoa farmers can be assured that I will do right by them in the next cocoa season,” President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo stated last month.

The National Retail Federation, an American trade association, predicts that spending this Easter will remain high by historical standards despite increased candy prices. According to its most recent study, shoppers anticipated spending $3.1 billion on chocolate eggs, bunnies, and other sweets this Easter, a decrease from $3.3 billion the previous year.

According to the Chocosuisse industry group, domestic chocolate consumption in Switzerland, the world’s highest per capita, fell by 1% last year to 10.9kg per person. It connected the drop to an increase in retail chocolate pricing.

Lindt & Sprüngli, the country’s iconic chocolate company, reported increasing profitability, with margins jumping to 15.6% from 15% the year before.

“Lindt & Sprüngli Group’s business model once again proved to be very successful in the financial year 2023,” it said in a statement this month, noting that price rises accounted for most of the growth.

However, several smaller chocolate manufacturers need help to keep up with the rise in cocoa prices as sales fall.

easter

It’s A Bittersweet Easter For Chocolate Lovers And African Cocoa Farmers But Big Brands See Profits

Sandrine Chocolates, a London shop that sells handmade Belgian chocolates, is battling to stay open after decades in business. Niaz Mardan, the owner, stated that the United Kingdom’s cost-of-living issue and failing economy have made people more concerned about food than luxury chocolate, especially because cheaper alternatives are accessible at large grocery stores.

She has gotten rid of her two staff and relies on Easter and Christmas revenues to keep afloat. “Many, many times, I thought to close the shop, but because I love the shop, I don’t want to close it,” Mardan, the 57-year-old owner, said. “But there is no profit at all.”

SOURCE – (AP)

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Death Toll In Moscow Concert Hall Attack Rises To 140 After Another Victim Dies In Hospital

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MOSCOW — The death toll from last week’s music hall attack in Moscow increased to 140 on Wednesday, with another victim dying in a hospital, according to Russian officials.

That victim was one of five who remained hospitalized in “extremely grave condition,” and physicians “did everything they could” to rescue them, according to Russia’s Health Minister, Mikhail Murashko.

According to the official, 80 individuals were hurt in the attack and are hospitalized, while 205 others sought outpatient medical care.

moscow

Death Toll In Moscow Concert Hall Attack Rises To 140 After Another Victim Dies In Hospital

The Friday night shooting at Crocus City Hall, a huge shopping and entertainment complex on the northwestern outskirts of Moscow, was the bloodiest terrorist act on Russian soil in nearly two decades. Four attackers with automatic rifles targeted thousands of concertgoers and set fire to the arena.

An Islamic State affiliate claimed credit for the violence, while US intelligence confirmed the group’s involvement. French President Emmanuel Macron stated that France has intelligence pointing to “an IS entity” as responsible for the attack.

The day following the attack, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the arrest of 11 people, including four alleged gunmen. The four guys, all Tajik nationals, appeared in court in Moscow on Sunday on terrorist accusations and appeared to have been severely beaten. One person appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing.

Russian officials, meanwhile, have asserted that Ukraine and the West played a role, which Kyiv categorically rejects. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, of attempting to incite frenzy as his forces fight in Ukraine.

Alexander Bortnikov, the FSB chief, also said that Western intelligence services may have been involved. “We believe that radical Islamists planned the action, while Western special services assisted it, and Ukrainian special services had a direct role in it,” Bortnikov added without providing further information.

moscow

Death Toll In Moscow Concert Hall Attack Rises To 140 After Another Victim Dies In Hospital

He echoed Putin’s claim that the four gunmen were attempting to flee to Ukraine when they were apprehended, citing it as evidence of Kyiv’s claimed involvement.

However, Belarus’ autocratic President Alexander Lukashenko, who stated on Tuesday that the suspects were on their way to Ukraine because they were concerned about tight border controls, called this allegation into question.

The Islamic State organization, which lost much of its territory after Russia’s military intervention in Syria in 2015, has long targeted Russia. In October 2015, IS bombed a Russian airplane over the Sinai desert, killing all 224 persons on board, the majority of them were Russian vacationers returning from Egypt.

The group, which primarily works in Syria and Iraq but also Afghanistan and Africa, has claimed multiple strikes in Russia’s dangerous Caucasus and other areas in recent years. It has recruited fighters from Russia and other former Soviet republics.

On Monday, Putin warned that similar strikes could occur, citing probable Western participation. He made no mention of the United States classified warning to Moscow about a probable imminent terrorist strike two weeks before the raid.

moscow

Death Toll In Moscow Concert Hall Attack Rises To 140 After Another Victim Dies In Hospital

Three days before the incident, Putin condemned the US Embassy’s March 7 notification urging Americans to avoid crowds in Moscow, particularly concerts, as an attempt to intimidate Russians and “blackmail” the Kremlin ahead of the presidential election.

Bortnikov said Russia appreciated the warning, but it was quite vague.

SOURCE – (AP)

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Baltimore Bridge Collapses After Powerless Cargo Ship Rams Into Support Column; 6 Presumed Dead

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bridge

BALTIMORE — A cargo ship lost power and slammed into a major bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, demolishing it in seconds and dumping it into the river in a horrifying collapse that might shut down a vital maritime port for months. Six persons were missing, probably dead.

Maryland’s governor said the ship’s crew issued a mayday call moments before the collapse that brought down the Francis Scott Key Bridge, allowing officials to restrict car traffic on the span.

The spacecraft hit one of the bridge’s supports, causing the structure to fall like a doll. A part of the span came to rest on the vessel’s bow, which caught fire and emitted dense, black smoke.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said that with the ship approaching the bridge at “a very, very rapid speed,” officials had barely enough time to prevent automobiles from crossing.

“These people are heroes,” Moore remarked. “They saved lives last night.”

On the 1.6-mile (2.6-kilometer) bridge, which 12 million vehicles used last year, the incident happened in the middle of the night, well before the hectic morning commute.

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Baltimore Bridge Collapses After Powerless Cargo Ship Rams Into Support Column; 6 Presumed Dead

According to Paul Wiedefeld, the state’s transportation secretary, the six unaccounted-for persons were part of a construction crew fixing potholes on the bridge.

A top executive at the company that employed the workers stated Tuesday afternoon that they were considered dead due to the depth of the water and the time since the collision.

Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders, said the crew was working in the middle of the bridge when it collapsed. No bodies have been found, and rescue workers resumed their search into the late afternoon.

“This was completely unexpected,” Pritzker remarked. “We do not know what more to say. We take great satisfaction in our safety measures, which include cones, signs, lights, barriers, and flaggers. But we never expected the bridge to collapse.”

Jesus Campos, who has worked on the bridge for Brawner Builders and knows several of the team, said he was told they were on break and some were sitting in their vehicles when it collapsed.

“I was there a month ago, and I know what it feels like when the trailers pass,” he said. Imagine being aware that you are falling. It is so difficult that one doesn’t know what to do.”

Rescuers plucked two persons from the water. One person was treated in a hospital and released several hours later. Although authorities believed no one was inside, multiple automobiles also entered the river.

“It looked like something out of an action movie,” said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, who described it as “an unthinkable tragedy.”

According to Maryland Transportation Authority first responder radio communications acquired from the Broadcastify.com archive, a police dispatcher called immediately before the collapse to inform officers that a ship had lost its steering and requested that all traffic be stopped.

One cop who had stopped traffic said he would drive onto the bridge to notify the construction crew. But seconds later, a frightened cop exclaimed, “The entire bridge just collapsed. “Start, whoever, everybody… the entire bridge just collapsed.”

On a second radio channel for maintenance and construction personnel, someone reported that cops were blocking traffic because a ship had lost steering. There was no follow-up evacuation order, and the bridge collapsed 30 seconds later, leaving the waterway silent.

The World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure reports that between 1960 and 2015, ship or barge collisions led to 35 significant bridge collapses.

The collapse is expected to cause a logistical nightmare for months, if not years, throughout the East Coast. It will halt ship movement at the Port of Baltimore, a major shipping hub. The accident will also cause congestion in cargo and commuter traffic.

bridge

Baltimore Bridge Collapses After Powerless Cargo Ship Rams Into Support Column; 6 Presumed Dead

“Losing this bridge will devastate the entire area and the entire East Coast,” Maryland State Sen. Johnny Ray Salling said.

Speaking at a news conference near the site, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said it was too early to determine how long it would take to clear the channel, approximately 50 feet (15 meters) deep.

“I do not know of a bridge that has been constructed to withstand a direct impact from a vessel of this size,” he said.

Synergy Marine Group, which runs the Dali, said that the ship collided with a bridge pillar around 1:30 a.m. while piloted by one or more local specialists who assist in securely guiding vessels into ports. Grace Ocean Private Ltd. owns the ship.

Synergy said all crew members and the two pilots were safe, and no injuries were reported.

The governor said the ship was going at 8 knots, or around 9 mph (14.8 kph).

Jagged portions of the bridge could be seen protruding from the water’s surface. The on-ramp abruptly halted where the span had begun.

Donald Heinbuch, a former Baltimore fire chief, claimed he awoke to a powerful rumble that shook his house for several seconds. “It felt like an earthquake,” he explained.

bridge

Baltimore Bridge Collapses After Powerless Cargo Ship Rams Into Support Column; 6 Presumed Dead

He drove to the river’s edge and could not believe what he saw.

“The ship was there, and the bridge was in the water, like it was blown up,” he said.

The bridge, which opened in 1977, crosses the Patapsco River at the entrance to a thriving harbor that connects to the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. It is named for the author of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Wiedefeld stated that all vessels that travel into and out of the port will be suspended until further notice. However, the facility would remain available to trucks.

President Joe Biden said he plans to visit Baltimore and that the federal government will cover the entire cost of reconstruction.

“This is going to take some time,” Biden explained. “The people of Baltimore can count on us, though, to stick with them at every step of the way until the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt.”

According to Marine Traffic, the Dali was on its way from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and was flying the Singapore flag. According to the website, the container ship is around 985 feet (300 meters) long and 157 feet (48 meters) broad.

bridge

Baltimore Bridge Collapses After Powerless Cargo Ship Rams Into Support Column; 6 Presumed Dead

Inspectors discovered a fault with Dali’s machinery in June, but a more recent inspection revealed no deficiencies, according to the maritime tracking system Equasis.

The Danish shipping company Maersk said it had rented the vessel.

According to the state, the Port of Baltimore handled a record 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo worth $80 billion last year.

The president of a supply chain management firm said Americans can expect commodity shortages due to the fall in ocean container shipping and East Coast transportation.

“It’s not just the Baltimore port that will be affected,” said Ryan Petersen, Flexport’s CEO.

The collapse, however, is unlikely to impact global trade because Baltimore is not a significant container port, but its facilities are more vital for products such as farm equipment and automobiles, according to Judah Levine, head of research for global freight booking platform Freightos.

SOURCE – (AP)

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