Venezuelan citizens, who had previously been exempt from Nicaraguan visa requirements, will now have to apply for a visa to travel to Nicaragua. The new rule is a marked shift in relations between the two countries. Since Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega began his term in 2007, Venezuela and Nicaragua have been staunch allies, and Nicaragua is a prominent member of Petrocaribe and the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), two alliances created by Venezuela as alternatives to U.S. energy sources. But as Venezuela's economic and political crisis worsens, its relationship with its allies also suffers. It is unclear exactly why Nicaragua has enacted these changes, but there are a couple of possibilities. For starters, Venezuela's dire economic and political circumstances will only worsen in the coming months.