Electricity Bill Unpaid : Honduras Threatens to Pull Plug on Nicaragua

The government has threatened to cut off electricity to Nicaragua if its leftist neighbor does not pay its monthly bill of $500,000 this week.

Economy Minister Miguel Orellana Maldonado said Sunday that the Cabinet decided on the action over the weekend after analyzing the possibility that the debt could increase in the coming months.

“Nicaragua buys about half a million dollars (of electricity) from us monthly,” Orellana Maldonado said. “If it does not pay us for 12 months, the debt would increase to more than $6 million, an amount it would not be in a position to pay.”

The $500,000 bill was for the last 30 days, he said.

Nicaragua has accumulated a $40-million debt to Honduras for trade since 1979. It was not clear if that included any electricity debts.

“That money has not been paid despite our constant demands,” the economy minister said.

“Nicaragua has this week to pay for its electrical consumption,” he said. “If it does not, Honduras will cut the supply of electricity.”

Honduras has an ample electricity supply from thermal and hydroelectric installations. It is negotiating to sell electricity to Costa Rica and to Guatemala, which Honduras estimates could buy an estimated $25 million a year.

Honduran-Nicaraguan relations have become increasingly strained since the leftist Sandinista government took power at the end of Nicaragua’s 1978-79 revolution.