More than two years ago, Convía won the contest to rehabilitate and operate the Escuintla-Puerto Quetzal highway in Guatemala. However, the Congress of the Republic, which is in chaos due to a new political crisis, has not yet defined whether to approve the PPP or not.
The fire of the Legislative Palace and the capture of more than 30 people, is the balance of the violent demonstrations that took place on November 21 in the capital of the country, after a discontent was generated due to the approval of the National Budget 2021.
During the early morning of November 18, the Congress of the Republic approved the Income and Expenditure Budget of the State, which amounted to approximately $12,815 million.
Arguing that the South American country is not safe, American Airlines decided to temporarily suspend flights to Caracas and Maracaibo.
"... The safety of our employees and customers is always our top priority and American will not operate to countries not considered safe," the airline explained in a statement.
After the political and social crisis that began in April, the Nicaraguan economy will lose more than $1.3 billion this year, and GDP could decline by 4%, together with the collateral effects suffered by the countries of the region.
Several indicators have reflected the weak performance of the country's economy since the crisis began. One of them is the IMAE, as the Central Bank of Nicaragua reported that following the trend that has been observed since May, in September the index reported a 4.3% decrease compared to the same month in 2017.
The complex economic and political situation that has affected Nicaragua since April continues to affect Central America, where exporters report losses of $45 million.
In the past months, cargo transport faced difficulties in moving goods along Nicaragua's highways due to demonstrators' blockades and insecurity, seriously affecting Central American companies.
Following the departure of US diplomatic staff from Nicaragua at the worst moment of the socio-political crisis, the US government has now announced that it has authorized the return of the embassy staff and their families to Managua.
The crisis in which Nicaragua has been immersed since last April has negatively affected the country in multiple ways, including the irregularity with which the US diplomatic corps works.This was evident when, in mid-May, the US Embassy reported that it would not be processing routine applications for nonimmigrant visas, and that due to unstable security conditions, it would reduce the hours of service provided to the public.See "Nicaragua: US suspends visa issuance"
In June, the consumer price indexes in all of the countries in the Central American region recorded year-on-year increases in the transport spending division.
According to a report from the Central American Monetary Council, in June of this year, Nicaragua was the country that reported the highest year-on-year increase in the price level of transportation services, registering an increase of 9.8% compared to the same month in 2018.
One of the decisions taken by Guatemalan businessmen with interests in Nicaragua is to suspend new investments until the situation in the country is normalized.
Due to the social and political situation that the country has been experiencing for more than three months, Guatemalan investors that operate companies in Nicaragua have been analyzing the situation closely, and are already taking measures to minimize the impact of the crisis on businesses. One of the decisions that some companies have taken is to reduce the cost of the operation to the lowest possible level, in order to maintain or reduce product inventories.
Guatemalan business leaders have denounced the fact that due to the crisis in Nicaragua that is now affecting the region, the cost of transporting goods by sea has increased between 30% and 40%.
Representatives from the Chamber of Industry in Guatemala (CIG) and the Guatemalan Chamber of Food and Beverages (CGAB), reported that due to the Nicaraguan crisis which started in mid-April and has deepened with every week that has passed, entrepreneurs have reported increases in their transportation costs caused by the difficulty of traveling through the territory under conflict.
The Mexican airline Volaris will be suspending its services as of July 1, and the luxury resort hotel Mukul, in Guacalito, has announced the indefinite closure of its operations.
The crisis that has been going on in the country for the last month continues to harm the tourism business sector.The airline Volaris reported that it will temporarily suspend services to Managua from next week, and the luxury hotel Mukul Auberge Resorts Collection, in the South Pacific, announced on Friday that it will close its operations indefinitely.
Costa Rican entrepreneurs are concerned about the impact of the crisis in the neighboring country on food exports, which between 2015 and 2017 grew at an average annual rate of 4%.
According to figures from the Promotora del Comercio Exterior (Procomer), last year Costa Rica's food industry exports amounted to $1.618 billion, which is equivalent to an increase of 4.7% compared to the amount reported in 2016.
To be able to ship cargo throughout the region, Central American business leaders are exploring options for moving goods using alternative methods, such as shipping.
Representatives from the Costa Rican government and the union of exporters met to address the issue of blockades in Nicaragua and the logistical drawbacks that they have caused, since Costa Rica transports by land about five thousand containers to the other Central American countries every month. As a result of this meeting, both parties concluded that the most viable option is to use maritime transport.
In response to the rupture of the dialogue on the part of the Ortega administration, companies and citizen organizations have called for a national strike on Thursday, June 14.
Demanding the cessation of repression by the Government and the resumption of the National Dialogue, social and business organizations, called for a general strike to take place tomorrow.
With the paralyzation of the cargo transport and the retention of about 6 thousand units in Nicaragua, the region is starting to feel the effects of a crisis with no potential solution in the short term.
The crisis in Nicaragua has created high costs in all countries in the region, as according to the latest report it is estimated that at least some 6,000 heavy cargo vehicles are trapped due to the violence and blockades that have intensified in the last weeks.
Since the beginning of the week at least 500 cargo trucks from Central American countries have been unable to get around a blockade in the department of Carazo.
Since the afternoon of last Monday, traffic has reportedly been totally shutdown in the area known as Dolores, near the municipality of Jinotepe, because protesters opposed to the Ortega administration are blocking roads.
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