(Unofficial translation provided by BHRC)

"Chinese mining threatens ancestral Indigenous territories and Afro-descendant communities in Nicaragua", 8 July 2026.

At least 29 mining blocks have been granted by Nicaragua's regime to companies of Chinese origin within Indigenous and Afro-descendant territories, according to the latest report by Fundación del Río, published this year...

...with direct impacts on 17 ancestral territories across Nicaragua's Pacific, North Central and Caribbean regions, where concessions have been awarded through opaque processes and without the consent of the communities, in breach of Law 445 on communal property.

Fundación del Río states that the mining concessions violate international standards on Free, Prior and Informed Consent, which are required to protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples...

...there is a complete lack of transparency and, in many cases, the affected communities are unaware that their territories have been granted as mining concessions...

..."some communities do not even know that their territory has been granted as a concession", and the report warns of the risk of forced displacement in areas such as the municipality of Rosita, in the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, where Santa Rita Mining Company is already operating and has caused the displacement of Indigenous populations, according to the report officially published in March 2026...

...reports of deforestation and impacts on species in areas of high biodiversity...