U.S. Urges Americans to Steer Clear of Nicaragua
The U.S. State Department is warning Americans thinking of booking trips to Nicaragua to reconsider their travel plans because the country is sinking deeper into authoritarianism, making it more perilous for tourists.
Nicaragua has been on a Level 3 travel advisory since December, which means people are urged to avoid traveling there because of an arbitrary enforcement of laws, the risk of wrongful detention and the limited health care. (Level 4 — 'do not travel' — is the highest advisory level.)
U.S. officials, alarmed by a flurry of positive press about Nicaragua in travel publications took the unusual step Friday of holding a briefing to reiterate the warning. The officials spoke on the condition that their names not be published so U.S. officials can continue working in Nicaragua.
Nicaragua, the officials stressed, has much going for it, including low prices, pristine beaches, plus excellent surfing conditions and bird watching. It started emerging more than a decade ago as a low-cost alternative to other nearby countries, like Costa Rica, which had become crowded with tourists.
'It does have the potential to be a great holiday destination, but crosscutting that are very severe human rights violations and a very strict authoritarian system of governance,' one of the U.S. officials said. 'And we see these having knock-on effects for U.S. citizens and really all sorts of travelers.'
Nicaragua has been in the throes of political upheaval since 2018, when people around the country took to the streets to protest the increasingly dictatorial rule of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, who was vice president then but is now co-president.
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