The United States imposes sanctions on Nicaraguan officials involved in the gold sector.

The US Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on several individuals and companies operating in the gold sector in Nicaragua, including the two sons of the country's co-president. In a statement, the Treasury Department said that another individual sanctioned is Santiago Hernan Bermudez Tapia, the Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines in Nicaragua. In addition, several companies have also been sanctioned, with the US accusing these companies of profiting from gold in collaboration with the Nicaraguan government and maintaining its political control. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen declared that the Nicaraguan government led by Rosario Murillo and her husband Daniel Ortega has been trying to "confiscate American investments in Nicaragua" to fill their own coffers. "The United States will not allow illegal confiscation of American assets and will continue to target those providing income streams to corrupt regimes," she said. Since the large-scale protests in April 2018 led to violent repression, Washington has been pressuring Managua through economic and diplomatic means under both the current and previous Republican Trump administrations as well as the previous Democratic Biden administration, demanding reforms.