Nicaragua takes possession of 6 nationalized private universities for rising up against Ortega

The state of Nicaragua took possession this Thursday of six private universities that were outlawed for alleged breaches and that later passed into state hands at the request of the President’s government Daniel Ortega.

The new university authorities were sworn in in a solemn ceremony at the new National Polytechnic University (UNP), formerly the Polytechnic University of Nicaragua (Upoli), led by the state National Council of Universities (CNU), the highest authority for higher education in Nicaragua.

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Together with the UNP board, the leaders of the new Ricardo Morales Avilés National Multidisciplinary University were sworn in, which absorbed the Paulo Freire University (UPF), the Popular University of Nicaragua (Uponic), the Hispano-American University (Uhispam) and the Universidad Nicaraguan Humanitarian Studies (Uneh).

The new authorities of the Francisco Luis Espinoza Pineda National University were also sworn in, which before the presidential claim was called the Catholic University of the Dry Tropics (Ucatse) and belonged to the Diocese of Estelí (north).

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“We are going to dedicate this ordinary session number five of 2022 to the success of the National Polytechnic University. Also to the success of the Ricardo Morales Avilés National Multidisciplinary University and the success of the Francisco Luis Espinoza National University”affirmed the president of the CNU, Ramona Rodríguez, during the inauguration.

The nationalization of six universities after the cancellation of the legal status of 14 higher education centers, which affected more than 14,000 students, has been the subject of criticism from the student sector, academics and legal expertsdue to the arguments, the procedure and the results.

The University Coordinator for Democracy and Justice (CUDJ) said that what the State is looking for is the “political control” of the universities, and warned of “serious consequences” for the quality of education.

Legal specialists, such as the lawyer María Asunción Moreno, have pointed out that nationalization is illegal because the Constitution of Nicaragua defends the autonomy of universities, whose properties “cannot be subject to intervention or expropriation.”

The deputies of the National Assembly (Parliament), made up of the Sandinistas and their allies, argued that they made the decision in response to an emergency request from the Executive because the universities had not submitted their financial statements to the Ministry of the Interior.

The rector of the former UFP, Adrián Meza, affirmed, from exile, that before his university was canceled the Ministry of the Interior refused to receive its financial statements on several occasions.

Universities played a relevant role in the 2018 anti-government demonstrationssince his students led the protests that became massive throughout Nicaragua and that were reduced with armed attacks that, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), left at least 355 dead, of which Ortega has admitted 200.

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Source: Elcomercio

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