Ms Maria Jose Orozco Salgado

Occupation:

Country Conditions Expert on Nicaragua - Lawyer and Corporate Counsel

Summary

Nicaraguan lawyer with fifteen years of professional experience in legal practice, corporate counsel, regulatory compliance and academic research, with deep specialisation in Nicaraguan legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks. Law Degree in Economic Law from the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) Nicaragua and an Executive MBA from the Universidad Americana (UAM) Nicaragua, with a Master in Business Law from UAB Barcelona and an ongoing law degree homologation at the Universidad de La Rioja. Her career was built primarily in Nicaragua, where she served as in-house legal counsel to major telecommunications and renewable energy companies, practised as an authorised public notary and attorney, and taught commercial law at postgraduate level. Instructed by legal practitioners to prepare country-context analysis for asylum and international protection proceedings focused on Nicaragua.

Countries of Expertise

Nicaragua as the core, with regional legal and regulatory coverage of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama.

Details of Country Expertise

Country conditions knowledge of Nicaragua grounded in fifteen years of active legal practice inside the country's regulatory, judicial and institutional environment. As in-house counsel to telecommunications and renewable energy companies she engaged directly and regularly with the energy regulators MEM and ENL, the telecommunications regulator Telcor, the Customs Directorate (DGA), the Tax Directorate (DGI) and the civil and commercial courts. That sustained institutional engagement gives direct practical knowledge of how the Nicaraguan legal system works in practice, how regulatory bodies and courts operate, and how institutional processes changed under the current government.

The asylum-relevant issues covered include the suppression of political opposition, civil society and independent journalism; the criminalisation of dissent and the use of confiscation laws and asset seizures against people and organisations treated as opponents; the forced closure of non-governmental organisations; the treatment of the Catholic Church, whose bishops, priests and institutions have faced sustained repression; the position of former public figures, business professionals and university academics who became targets of state action; and the general absence of judicial independence and rule of law.

Direct knowledge of Nicaraguan corporate law, regulatory frameworks and judicial procedure gives particular insight into how legal mechanisms are used against perceived opponents, including through criminal proceedings without foundation, regulatory harassment and administrative pressure. Analysis draws on her own academic publications on Nicaraguan law, published in the Revista de Derecho of the Universidad Centroamericana, and on reporting by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and independent Nicaraguan investigative journalism working in exile.

Regional coverage of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama rests on cross-border corporate and regulatory work across Central America, including due diligence on transactions with a combined value of 600 million US dollars and contract work for regional operations.

Experience

Country conditions research and legal expert, Nicaragua, The Human Rights Experts. Instructed by legal practitioners to prepare country-context analysis for asylum and international protection proceedings focused on Nicaragua.

International Permitting and Regulatory Advisor, Blue Orb, New York, remote, 2025 to present. Legal due diligence and regulatory risk assessment for renewable energy projects, coordination of legal operations across jurisdictions.

Renewable Energy Legal Consultant, 70 MW power plant and sugarcane production, Nicaragua, 2018 to 2023. All legal matters for the plant, including civil, arbitration and criminal litigation with external counsel. Permit and authorisation applications with the energy regulators MEM and ENL. Over 100 commercial contracts negotiated and drafted. Due diligence on more than ten mergers and acquisitions. A panel of more than ten international law firms under management.

Corporate Counsel, SBA Communications Corporation, Nicaragua, 2017 to 2018. Permits with the telecommunications regulator Telcor, contract lifecycle management for over 500 contracts, legal and real estate due diligence on over 50 telecommunications tower acquisitions, more than 40 lease and land purchase agreements.

Specialist Legal Advisor, Telefonica Movistar, Nicaragua, 2011 to 2017. Audit strategies and administrative appeals before the Customs Regulator (DGA) and the Tax Directorate (DGI). Legal due diligence on five mergers and acquisitions across Central America with a combined value of 600 million US dollars. In-house adviser to an operation of more than 600 employees.

Public Notary and Attorney, Nicaragua, authorised, non-practising. KYC, KYB and UBO verification under the anti-money-laundering regime, risk-based client intake.

Commercial Law Professor, Universidad Americana (UAM), Managua, 2020 to 2023. Distribution contracts module at postgraduate level.

Education

Law Degree Homologation, Universidad de La Rioja, Spain, in progress. Master in Business Law, UAB Barcelona, Spain. Executive MBA, Universidad Americana (UAM), Nicaragua. Law Degree in Economic Law, Universidad Centroamericana (UCA), Nicaragua. Member of the Editorial Board, Paakat: Journal of Technology and Society, Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico. Member of academic evaluation committees, Universidad Centroamericana.

Publications

The Principle of Net Neutrality. Revista de Derecho, No. 18, pp. 87-118, Central American Journals Online, 2015.

Legal Nature of the Subject Matter of Law 451, a Special Law Authorising the Collection of a Special Contribution for Maintenance, Cleaning, Environmental Protection and Public Safety on the Beaches of Nicaragua. With Diana del Carmen Tellez Parrales. Undergraduate thesis, Universidad Centroamericana, 2010.

Languages

Spanish (native), English (C2, bilingual).