If you want to read fascinating history about random countries, just Google “countries that produce gold.” From there, pick any nation on the list that populates and start reading material about the historical control of its gold mines… 

I can almost guarantee the country’s history will involve war(s), espionage, invasion, theft, betrayal, or murder — potentially all of them combined. Large gold discoveries and their subplots have a way of making it into the history books.

The Crazy History of Nicaragua’s Gold

Like many other South and Central American countries, Nicaragua has a fascinating and dramatic history. From political assassinations to guerrilla warfare, how Nicaragua came to be reads like a Hollywood script. 

Not surprisingly, the US has had its finger on the country’s pulse, and it has been involved in the politics of the small Central American nation (on and off), for nearly two hundred years… 

Nicaragua’s gold has garnered the attention of world powers dating back to the Spaniards roughly 500 years ago and the Americans today. Just recently, the Biden Administration sanctioned aspects of Nicaragua’s gold mining industry because, as the Treasury Department stated,

“The Ortega-Murillo regime’s continued attacks on democratic actors and members of civil society and unjust detention of political prisoners demonstrate that the regime feels it is not bound by the rule of law,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “With President Biden’s new Executive Order, we can and will use every tool at our disposal to deny the Ortega-Murillo regime the resources they need to continue to undermine democratic institutions in Nicaragua.”

Read the full sanction release from The U.S. Department of the Treasury here.

Becoming What They Fought

One of the head-scratchers of politics, as explained in our video about Nicaragua, is that leadership regularly evolves into the people they were inspired to fight/compete against when they were young and full of piss and vinegar. Ortega is merely one example of this…

Enjoy our latest podcast about the history of Nicaragua, its gold, politics, and foreign relations.