For several years now, the Nicaraguan government has been cracking down on non-governmental organizations. Hundreds of NGOs have now been banned – especially religious organizations.
The authoritarian government of Nicaragua has dissolved another 1,500 non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Most of the associations affected are religious organizations. The organizations had not disclosed their financial circumstances “for a period of one to 35 years,” the Interior Ministry announced in the official gazette on Monday. Their assets would be confiscated by the government.
Last week, the parliament in Nicaragua passed a law according to which associations are only allowed to carry out their work in “partnerships” with state organizations.
More than 5,000 organizations banned
Since the bloodily suppressed mass protests in 2018 against the left-wing President Daniel Ortega, more than 5,000 organizations have been banned and their assets confiscated in the Central American country. The Nicaraguan Red Cross was among those affected.
The former Sandinista guerrilla Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, are taking massive action against opposition members, church representatives, private universities and journalists. According to UN figures, more than 300 people were killed in the protests six years ago. Hundreds of government critics, including the renowned writer Sergio Ramírez, have been expatriated and are living abroad.
Tense relationship with Catholicism
Some demonstrators found refuge in churches during the mass protests. The relationship between the Nicaraguan government and the Catholic Church in particular has been strained since then. Ortega accuses the clergy of plotting with the US government to overthrow him.
In July, the United Nations denounced “systematic and widespread violations of international human rights law” in Nicaragua.
From guerrilla to long-time ruler
Ortega has been in power in the Central American country without interruption since 2007. After the overthrow of dictator Anastasio Somoza by the Sandinistas in 1979, he was initially a member of a five-member government junta. In 1984, he was elected head of state and government. Five years later, he lost the presidential election.
He has been president again since 2007. Before his controversial re-election in 2021, he had several opposing candidates arrested.
