The crisis in Nicaragua continues after one month despite the initial attempts of a national peace dialogue that took place this week.

The confrontation between the Nicaraguan government and the protesters has left so far over 63 deaths.

Nicaragua is the fourth commercial partner of importance for Costa Rica, where exports reach close to $500 million a year. The repercussions of the crisis are beginning to affect the commerce in the region, as exporters, importers and transporters are reporting a decrease in the sales and a raise in the logistics costs.

The additional costs obey to additional storage fees, refrigeration and extra hours of labor, even the loss of contracts due to the delays in transportation of perishable goods since trucks cannot circulate in Nicaraguan roads after 6 p.m. due to the growing insecurity of traveling at night time.

Nicaragua is also the route for Costa Rica to reach the rest of the countries in the North of Central America and Mexico.

“The situation that Nicaragua is facing has forced export companies to implement logistic changes to enter the country since the containers are detained for approximately 4 hours on the road; changes are being made in internal distribution routes and schedules to transport the products”, commented Laura Bonilla, president of the Export Chamber.

The dialogue in Nicaragua is expected to resume on Monday.