Nicaragua’s government has outlawed 1,500 non-governmental organizations, part of a longstanding crackdown on civil society groups viewed as hostile by President Daniel Ortega.
Ortega became the leader of Nicaragua first as the head of a military government in 1979, after fighting as a guerrilla in the Sandinista movement that toppled the United States-backed Somoza family dictatorship.
The move also involves the confiscation of assets belonging to the mostly religious groups by the state. The Nicaraguan Red Cross and several Catholic charities are among the NGOs shuttered to date. Other targets include rotary and chess clubs, sports associations and groupings of small traders, rural people and pensioners, as well as Catholic radio stations and universities.
“They have not fulfilled their obligations,” according to the Interior Ministry resolution published in the gazette, which claimed the groups have failed to disclose a range of financial information including donations.
Ortega’s crackdown on civil society, as well as the Catholic Church, has intensified since anti-government protests erupted in 2018.
In total, authorities have shut down more than 5,000 civil society groups, private universities and media outlets.
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