Amid U.S. pressure against Cuba and Nicaragua, the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo eliminated visa-free travel for Cuban citizens earlier this week. These citizens typically arrive in Managua or cross the southern border of Nicaragua on foot as part of their migration route to the United States. The decision, announced discreetly by the Nicaraguan Interior Ministry after the official statement was leaked to the media, comes as Cuba faces its worst crisis in decades, marked by the oil embargo imposed by the Republican administration.
“From this date forward, all citizens and national citizens of the Republic of Cuba, with ordinary passports, changed their immigration category from A, visa exempt, to category C, visa consulted at no cost,” the official provision states.
The elimination of visa-free travel is part of a series of concessions Nicaragua has had to make in the face of the regional realignment imposed by Trump after the arrest of Nicolás Maduro, Managua’s main political ally along with Cuba. In addition to the release of political prisoners, cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking, and the acceptance of migrants deported by the United States, the cancellation of visa exemptions for Cubans has now been added.
It is unclear whether this move was a direct request from the Trump administration — particularly through Secretary of State Marco Rubio — or a unilateral decision by the Ortega-Murillo regime to avoid potential sanctions from the White House. Weeks earlier, the news outlet Politico revealed that the Sandinista administration, following Maduro’s fall, is trying to present itself as compliant with Trump’s agenda and remain in power. These concessions, in any case, do not jeopardize the dynastic succession headed by co-president Murillo.
“Murillo believes she can calm the situation by changing the visa policy. However, Cuban migration hasn’t changed, even with the worsening energy crisis in June and the protests in Cuba in September. It’s a muted approach and, in any case, a bit belated,” Manuel Orozco, a researcher at the Inter-American Dialogue, tells EL PAÍS. “But in reality, they aren’t thinking clearly or out of ‘necessity’; it’s more of a ‘just in case’ scenario,” he adds, referring to Ortega’s waning power in the face of Murillo’s all-powerful figure.
The pressure on Murillo
Washington has begun to personalize its pressure on Murillo, whom it identifies as the regime’s effective power in the face of an increasingly waning Ortega. On January 30, the State Department openly questioned the concept of “co-presidency,” calling it an “invented” mechanism to consolidate control without electoral legitimacy, in a message that marked an explicit shift in its stance.
This shift in approach is also reflected in the U.S. Congress, where Republican lawmakers have leveled direct criticism against Murillo and pushed for initiatives to expand sanctions and review the financial flows that sustain the regime. The argument in Washington is that pressuring the true power base — and not just the historical figure of Ortega — could erode the cohesion of the ruling circle at a time of regional realignment.
That’s why analysts consulted by Politico and a White House source suggest that the Ortega-Murillo couple are in survival mode, trying to keep a low profile, unlike Cuba and Venezuela. Another indication is that, since Maduro’s fall, the couple has silenced their usual fierce criticism of the United States. They haven’t even mentioned President Trump. Meanwhile, in January, they sent Foreign Minister Dennis Moncada to Washington as chargé d’affaires to try to open a channel of dialogue with the new administration. The official returned to Managua without it being revealed whether his mission had yielded any results.
Nicaragua, the Cuban springboard
The Ortega-Murillo regime instituted visa-free entry for Cuban citizens in November 2021, arguing that it was a humanitarian measure following the COVID-19 pandemic. The effect was immediate: in December of that year, 6,178 Cubans entered Nicaragua, according to official figures from the Immigration and Foreign Affairs Department. From then on, the Central American country consolidated its position as a strategic entry point for Cubans seeking to migrate to the United States.
During the years the visa waiver was in effect, thousands of Cubans used Managua as a stepping stone for migration. Washington viewed this policy as indirectly facilitating irregular migration and began responding with sanctions against officials and entities linked to the Sandinista regime. The message was clear: the air route to Nicaragua was part of the mechanism fueling migration pressure on the U.S. southern border under the Joe Biden administration.
The pressure escalated. In February 2024, the United States expanded visa restrictions to air, land, and sea transport operators that facilitated migrant flights to Nicaragua. In March 2024, it imposed measures against executives of charter flight companies linked to this activity. And in November 2025, the State Department announced the revocation of visas and new restrictions against Nicaraguan businesspeople accused of facilitating irregular immigration to the United States. This springboard has now been dismantled by a co-presidential duo seeking to circumvent Trump and Marco Rubio.
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