Nicaragua Seizes Borderlands: 15-Kilometer Strip Becomes State Property Under Army Control

On August 5, 2025, Nicaragua’s National Assembly approved Law No. 1258, declaring all land within fifteen kilometers of its borders State property.

The law, published the next day in the official gazette, puts the entire strip under military custody and cancels the previous system that left private and communal property rights in most of the zone.

The measure covers roughly 1,259 kilometers of borderland. Along Honduras, a 950-kilometer frontier crosses cattle ranches, forests, and indigenous territories.

Along Costa Rica, 309 kilometers include citrus plantations, rural communities, indigenous lands, protected areas, and coastal sites with tourism potential.

Under the old 2010 law, only five kilometers from the border were inalienable State land. Now the full fifteen kilometers are. This change affects private farms, communal lands, and indigenous communities.

A network of local defenders says about one hundred indigenous and Afro-descendant communities risk losing legal security without proper consultation.

Nicaragua’s Border Law and Its Impact on Mining

The timing links closely to new mining concessions. Between late July and early August 2025, the government granted Chinese company Thomas Metal about 83,523 hectares across six lots, including 39,172 hectares near Costa Rica’s border.

Environmental groups argue the new border law clears the way to normalize such projects by giving the State full control. Officials also plan to open four new border posts at San Juan de Nicaragua, El Delta, Sarapiquí, and Papaturro, which would facilitate cross-border logistics.

International reaction followed quickly. The United States issued an advisory warning investors about risks to land, towns, and businesses in the affected areas.

Concerns are compounded by the government’s recent record of confiscations, including the takeover of the San José School in Jinotepe on August 12, 2025.

Behind the language of sovereignty and security, the law represents a shift in economic power. By turning borderlands into State property and placing them under the Army, Nicaragua centralizes control of agriculture, tourism zones, natural resources, and logistics corridors.

For residents and investors alike, the rules of ownership have changed overnight, leaving uncertainty about how this new regime will unfold.

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