Nicaragua Freezes
Assets of U.S.-Owned Oil
Company
The Associated Press
-MANAGUA, Nicaragua:
Nicaragua's vice
president on Wednesday
ordered U.S.-owned Esso
Standard Oil to pay US$3
million in taxes on
undeclared oil imports
and a judge embargoed
the company's assets.
Jaime Morales Carazo
said transnational
companies are not exempt
from paying taxes and
sometimes "act
arrogantly but later
they become more
reasonable."
Texas-based ExxonMobil,
which owns Esso Standard
Oil, was not immediately
available for comment.
But Esso spokesman
Alfredo Fernandez denied
the company owes taxes,
saying "by national law,
the import of oil in
Nicaragua is exempt from
taxes."
On Saturday, authorities
embargoed Exxon Mobil
Corp.'s fuel-storage
terminal in the port of
Corinto because of the
alleged tax debt.
Cesar Zamora, president
of the American Chamber
of Commerce in
Nicaragua, said talks
between the government
and the company were
going well and that the
matter would be resolved
soon.
The Superior Council of
Private Business sent a
letter to President
Daniel Ortega on
Wednesday warning him
that the move "could
damage the image of his
government and the
nation, which needs so
much investment."
The U.S. Embassy in
Nicaragua also warned in
a statement that the
move "has the potential
to seriously damage
economic relations
between the United
States and Nicaragua."
It said it could also
damage Nicaragua's
foreign investment
climate.
Ortega, a former Marxist
who spent the 1980s
fighting off the
U.S.-backed Contra rebel
insurgency, has promised
to maintain ties to
Washington and respect
private property after
returning to power in
January.
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