Caribbean & Central America - July 2026

A Nicaraguan delegation headed up by Laureano Ortega Murillo, a son of authoritarian co-presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo and a presidential adviser on investment, paid a recent visit to Russia where various bilateral cooperation agreements were signed. The visit is the latest sign of burgeoning ties between Moscow and Managua, which, in the wake of Washington’s military incursion in Venezuela in January, and amid pressure on Nicaragua’s other key regional ally, Cuba, appears increasingly out on a limb.

The Nicaraguan delegation visited Russia to attend the 3-6 June St Petersburg International Economic Forum. According to both governments, they inked various agreements, spanning areas such as health, biotechnology, nuclear medicine, trade, investment, science, education, communications, and technology, as well as a memorandum of understanding on biological security, an extradition treaty, and a treaty on the transfer of convicted prisoners. The previous month, on 2 May, Russia’s state news agency Tass announced that President Vladimir Putin had signed a comprehensive military cooperation agreement with Nicaragua, formalising an initial deal inked on 22 September 2025 at a meeting in Moscow between Russia’s Defence Minister Andrei Belousov and Nicaragua’s army commander, General Julio César Avilés. According to Tass, the agreement provides for “the joint training of troops; exchange of experience and information in countering the ideology of extremism and international terrorism; cooperation between military educational institutions; and cooperation in research on military issues.”

A Tass report released on 22 October 2025 provided more details. It said that “in particular, the parties agreed to share experiences in implementing national military doctrines, building, reforming and manning their armed forces, and combating international terrorism and piracy”. It added that they would “also cooperate in the field of radiological, chemical and biological protection” while “joint work will be carried out in the field of cybersecurity and mutual assistance in dealing with the aftermath of natural and man-made disasters [while] the two counties’ relevant agencies will establish a working group in order to implement the agreement”. It added that “a military cooperation program will be developed annually.”

The prospect of closer military cooperation between Russia and Nicaragua continues to attract attention, particularly following the March 2024 decision by Nicaragua’s legislature to authorise Russia to finance and build a police training centre in Managua. While a Russia-Nicaragua anti-narcotics training centre had already been inaugurated in Managua in 2017, in line with a bilateral agreement inked in February 2012 to combat drug trafficking and organised crime, the training centre inaugurated in 2024 proved controversial. A March 2024 report by Costa Rica-based Nicaraguan investigative outlet Confidencial cites experts as warning that its scope was much broader. They questioned the fact that it would carry out its activity under the “general direction of the head of the diplomatic representation of the Russian Federation in Nicaragua” – seemingly ceding authority to the Russian government [SSR-24-06].

Costa Rican concerns

Addressing the 56^th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) which Panama hosted from 22-24 June, Costa Rica’s foreign minister, Manuel Tovar, was cited by the media as saying that “Costa Rica views with great concern the persistent and recent presence of Russian military forces in Nicaragua”. This prompted a response on 24 June from Russia’s embassy in Costa Rica which said that it believes his words “do not fully reflect the reality of the facts….and the concerns expressed are unfounded”.

• Russian response to Costa Rica’s concerns

In its statement in response to Tovar’s claims, the Russian embassy cited “reliable information” as indicating that “there is currently a group of Russian military advisers and specialists in Nicaragua whose activities are related to the exchange of experience, personnel training, and assistance in carrying out humanitarian tasks, as well as search-and-rescue operations in cases of emergencies and natural disasters”. It adds that “a Russian military contingent may be invited to… Nicaragua on the same legal basis as military contingents from the US, Mexico, Cuba, and Central American countries…. As is well known, the corresponding authorisation is issued twice a year by presidential decree and approved by Nicaragua’s national assembly”. It said that, as with the other aforementioned countries, the authorisation is aimed at facilitating “international cooperation programmes of a humanitarian, educational, rescue, and other nature.”