El Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos confirmó la continuidad de la alerta de viaje nivel 3 para Nicaragua, recomendando a los ciudadanos norteamericanos reconsiderar cualquier desplazamiento a ese país centroamericano por riesgos de detenciones injustificadas, aplicación arbitraria de la ley y limitaciones en los servicios de salud. La actualización se hizo pública el 14 de mayo, según detalló la Embajada de Estados Unidos en Managua, e incluyó nuevas advertencias sobre las condiciones de seguridad y restricciones legales vigentes en Nicaragua, de acuerdo con un comunicado revisado por Reuters.

Estados Unidos advirtió que los viajeros estadounidenses pueden enfrentar un grave riesgo de detención indebida por parte del Gobierno nicaragüense, y alertó que algunos ciudadanos han permanecido años encarcelados sin acceso regular a familiares ni a funcionarios consulares de su país.

De acuerdo con la información oficial, se han reportado casos de confiscación de bienes, prohibiciones de salida del territorio y revisiones a dispositivos electrónicos y redes sociales.

La alerta de viaje incorpora la reciente reforma constitucional aprobada el 16 de enero de 2026 en Nicaragua, que prohibió la doble nacionalidad.

Según el documento del Departamento de Estado, algunos ciudadanos estadounidenses con ascendencia nicaragüense han perdido su nacionalidad local tras la entrada en vigor de esta normativa.

El Departamento de Estado en su página web travel.state.gov reportó que las autoridades estadounidenses consideran que la ley podría afectar a personas previamente reconocidas como nicaragüenses y estadounidenses por igual.

También estableció restricciones estrictas para los empleados del gobierno norteamericano destacados en Nicaragua. A estos funcionarios se les prohíbe utilizar transporte público y conducir fuera de Managua durante la noche, debido a condiciones inseguras en las carreteras y ausencia de iluminación.

El acceso a lugares definidos como de alto riesgo, como el Mercado Oriental, el Estadio Nacional de Béisbol y clubes nocturnos, también está vedado para el personal diplomático, según reportó el Departamento.

En materia sanitaria, la Embajada de Estados Unidos en Managua reiteró que, aunque la capital dispone de un hospital certificado internacionalmente, la atención médica de emergencia y especializada resulta insuficiente fuera de esa ciudad. El agua potable no se considera segura en la mayor parte del país.

Además, el territorio nicaragüense permanece expuesto a fenómenos naturales como huracanes, tormentas tropicales, terremotos y erupciones volcánicas, según detalló el comunicado.

La alerta recomienda a los ciudadanos estadounidenses evitar manifestaciones, mantener un perfil bajo y preparar alternativas de comunicación y evacuación. También sugiere eliminar información sensible de teléfonos y redes sociales antes de ingresar a Nicaragua.

Este refuerzo de advertencias ocurre en medio de un contexto marcado por tensiones diplomáticas sostenidas entre Washington y el Gobierno de Daniel Ortega y Rosario Murillo, caracterizadas por sanciones, denuncias internacionales sobre derechos humanos y medidas internas más restrictivas.

El Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos utiliza un sistema de alertas para informar a sus ciudadanos sobre los riesgos de viajar al extranjero. El Nivel 3, denominado “Reconsiderar el viaje”, es el penúltimo en una escala de cuatro niveles y representa una advertencia significativa.

Esta designación se emite cuando existen riesgos graves para la seguridad, la salud o la estabilidad en un país o región específica. Entre los motivos más frecuentes figuran altos índices de criminalidad, actividad terrorista, disturbios civiles, brotes de enfermedades o limitaciones en la infraestructura médica.

La recomendación asociada al Nivel 3 sugiere que los ciudadanos estadounidenses eviten viajar al destino afectado, a menos que sea estrictamente necesario. El aviso oficial detalla los riesgos presentes y ofrece medidas preventivas para quienes deban viajar por motivos esenciales.

Las alertas de viaje buscan proteger a los viajeros estadounidenses y se actualizan según la evolución de la situación en cada país.

The commander of U.S. Africa Command warned lawmakers that Africa has become Russian President Vladimir Putin’s «purse» for fueling the war in Ukraine, as a shrinking American military footprint leaves the U.S. facing an «intelligence black hole» across the continent.

Gen. Dagvin Anderson told the House Armed Services Committee Tuesday that Russia, China and terrorist groups are rapidly expanding their influence in Africa while the U.S. and allied drawdowns have weakened America’s ability to monitor emerging threats. 

Anderson warned that Africa has become the «epicenter of global terrorism,» with ISIS leadership now concentrated on the continent and al Qaeda affiliates threatening to seize territory and destabilize governments.

«With a 75% reduction in our regional posture over the past decade, compounded by the drawdown of our allies, we struggle with an intelligence black hole,» Anderson said.

The commander of U.S. Africa Command warned lawmakers Tuesday that Africa has become Russian President Vladimir Putin’s «purse» for fueling the war in Ukraine.  (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

«You cannot surge trust,» he added, arguing that reduced U.S. presence has damaged long-term relationships and crisis response capabilities across the continent.

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Anderson’s testimony painted a picture of adversarial powers and extremist groups exploiting the same instability and governance vacuums across parts of the continent.

«Africa also serves as Putin’s purse, where Russia exploits instability to extract resources, including human lives, to fuel its war machine,» Anderson said.

Russia has framed its growing presence in Africa as a security and anti-terrorism partnership with regional governments, particularly in countries where Western and French forces have withdrawn. Moscow’s Africa Corps, the Kremlin-controlled successor to the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary organization that expanded Moscow’s influence across Africa through military operations and security partnerships, has increasingly filled security vacuums left after Western and French drawdowns in countries including Mali and Niger.

The Russian embassy in the U.S. could not immediately be reached for comment. 

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Lawmakers also pressed Anderson on reports that Russia has recruited African nationals through networks promising jobs and economic opportunities before transporting some recruits to fight in Ukraine. 

Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, cited reports that as many as 1,000 Kenyans had been recruited and transported to the front lines in Ukraine through Russian-linked recruitment pipelines.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said he thinks the war with Ukraine could end soon. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP)

«It is disturbing how many Africans from across the continent are being recruited by Russia to fight in Ukraine,» Anderson said.

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Anderson warned that terrorist organizations are capitalizing on weakened governance and shrinking Western presence across parts of Africa, particularly in the Sahel region.

«Today, the epicenter of global terrorism is in Africa,» Anderson told lawmakers. «ISIS leadership is African. Al Qaeda’s economic engine is in Africa.»

«Both groups share the will and intent to strike our homeland,» he went on.

Members of the al Shabaab Islamist rebel group parade through the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia, on Jan. 1, 2010. Gen. Michael Langley, commander of U.S. Africa Command, warned that terror groups in Africa are increasing their capability to conduct attacks in the U.S. (Feisal Omar/Reuters)

Anderson also warned that al Qaeda affiliates are increasingly capable of controlling territory and disrupting governments in the region.

«The capture of a capital city would provide al Qaeda with all the trappings of a nation state,» he said.

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Anderson also warned that China views Africa as a «second continent,» pointing to Beijing’s growing efforts to secure critical minerals and infrastructure across the region.

He said China is aggressively expanding its influence across Africa through investments tied to critical minerals, infrastructure and transportation networks. Beijing has spent years securing access to cobalt, lithium, copper and rare earth minerals used in advanced defense systems, batteries and other strategic technologies.

The U.S.-designated Lebanon-based terrorist movement Hezbollah exploits children from its version of the scout movement to carry out jihadi missions that result in their deaths, according to a recent report on Lebanon’s MTV television network.

The Lebanese network’s report — translated by the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) — comes amid U.S.-brokered peace talks between Israel and Beirut.

The report claims that Hezbollah gives child fighters heroes’ funerals and publicly glorifies them before their peers in order to encourage other children to follow in their footsteps. The MTV report said Hezbollah believes that every drop of bloodshed by child soldiers brings victory closer.

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It also claimed that Hezbollah uses its scout movements to cultivate an entire generation of obedient children prepared to die, through rhetoric that glorifies death and martyrdom. The MTV report, according to the MEMRI translation, said that «Hezbollah child soldiers have been used since the 1980s by this outlaw armed group. Not just as armed fighters but as Khomeini-loyal scouts.»

The late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, reportedly exploited the use of Iranian children during the country’s 1980-1988 war against Iraq.

Matthew Levitt, a leading scholar on Hezbollah from the Washington Institute, said that «Hezbollah’s recruitment and radicalization of youth through its Mahdi Scouts is long documented,» other experts talking to Fox News Digital concurred.

«Hezbollah has boy scouts, and they have been taught jihad, and it is a well-known thing in Lebanon,» Mideast expert Walid Phares told Fox News Digital.

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The Lebanon expert said they could be termed «children jihadists» who are preparing to become full Hezbollah fighters. Phares said they mostly assign them [the children of Hezbollah fighters] to spying and transporting ammunition. He argued if the scouts are getting funding from a ministry or national boy scouts association in Lebanon, they should be sanctioned if they have the evidence.

Multiple Fox News Digital Emails and phone calls to the World Organization of the Scouting Movement (WOSM) were not immediately returned. The U.S. branch of WOSM referred Fox News Digital to WOSM, which is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

A Hezbollah expert from the Israel Alma Research and Education Center, Sarit Zehavi, called for action against the exploitation of children by the terror group.

«The only way to bring a change is to designate all of these allegedly civilian activities of Hezbollah and close the movement of its scouts, and enable the Shiites of Lebanon to have a different source of services, whether it is educational, formal or informal, which will be part of the Lebanese state, and not part of Hezbollah. The loyalty will be to the Lebanese state and not to Khomeini and the Islamic Republic.»

She added, «This is only something Lebanon can do with a lot of international pressure, of course, led by the United States.»

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An Israeli diplomat, Tammy Rahamimoff-Honig, posted on X: «Hezbollah sacrifices Lebanese children to further the ambitions of the Iranian regime. This isn’t ‘resistance’. It’s child abuse.»

Lebanon’s Ambassador to the U.S. declined to provide comment for this article.