Nicaragua: in three days the government closes almost 180 NGOs

In a new attack against the opposition, the Parliament of Nicaraguacontrolled by the ruling Sandinista Front, closed almost 180 non-profit organizations in just three days, a measure that the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders seeks to “eliminate any possibility of an independent civil society in the country”.

On Thursday it was the turn of 96 non-governmental organizations whose closure was approved by the vote of 75 Sandinista deputies and their allies, while 14 legislators abstained.

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With this cancellation, there are 179 organizations closed this week by the government of Daniel Ortega and more than 400 since the social revolt that put his administration in check in 2018.

As in other cases, the closure decree indicates that they failed to comply with their “registration as foreign agents”, a requirement imposed on independent entities since 2020. “They also did not present their financial statements as established by the General Law of Regulation of non-profit organizations”, argued the ruling deputy Filiberto Núñez.

Some of the organizations that have been closed were linked to opposition figures to Ortegabut many more were sports entities such as the Cocibolca Equestrian Center, or philanthropic and cultural entities, such as the Rotary Club of the city of León, the Padre Fabretto educational foundation and the Nicaraguan Academy of Language, with 94 years of work.

Among the groups whose legal status was canceled this Thursday are entities as disparate as the Pediatric Society, the Nicaraguan Development Institute, the Confederation of Professional Associations of Nicaragua and the Nicaraguan Internet Association.

The Center for International Studies, an organization founded and directed by Zoilamérica, was also banned. Ortega Murillo, the president’s stepdaughter who in 1998 accused him in court of sexual abuse and rape in a trial that did not prosper and who since 2013 has been in exile with her children in Costa Rica. Zoilamérica is the biological daughter of Vice President Rosario Murillo.

In a statement, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders warned that the space for civil society in Nicaragua “continues to shrink” with the arbitrary closure of these organizations.

“These cancellations are intended to eliminate any possible social and political vision that differs from that established by the regime,” since “it does not concern only political or human rights defense organizations, but also artistic, journalistic, educational, scientific, environmental and social are also victims of the persecution”.

In March, the government closed the Operation Smile Association, which financed free surgeries for children with cleft lip and which since 2016 has managed seven clinics in the country equipped for general medicine, plastic surgery, dental specialties, radiology, psychology and speech therapy. The association was linked to businessman Piero Coen, who participated in protest marches in 2018.

After reporting the “systematic harassment (of civil society), characteristic of a totalitarian state”, the Observatory urged the Nicaraguan authorities “to revoke this decision and to guarantee, in all circumstances, the right to freedom of association”.

The Observatory is a program created in 1997 by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) to help prevent or remedy specific situations of repression against human rights defenders.

Non-governmental organizations began to emerge in Nicaragua during the Sandinista revolution (1979-1990) and had their peak after the coming to power of Violeta Chamorro (1990-1997), successor to the first government of Ortega. Hundreds of non-governmental associations began to promote development projects with international cooperation funds.

Consulted by The Associated Press, sociologist Elvira Cuadra said that Ortega seeks, on the one hand, to retaliate against social groups that, according to the government, participated in a “coup d’état” in 2018 and which, on the other hand, aims to “destroy the social fabric in order to eliminate the ability to control the exercise of power.”

“The weaker society is, the more an authoritarian state is consolidated”he pointed.

Cuadra acknowledged that among the closed organizations there are some that are old and have little activity, but denied that the government intends to “order” the spectrum of civil associations, since “it did not give them the opportunity to order their situation or update their financial statements.”

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.