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The Nicaraguan government on Monday (August 19, 2024) revoked the legal status of 1,500 non-profit organizations, including Catholic organizations, organizations that defend gender diversity, educational, social and retired military organizations, and ordered their assets to be transferred to the state. This is the largest closure of non-governmental organizations ordered by the regime since the protests in April 2018.
With the closure of these 1,500 NGOs, more than 5,200 such organizations have been dissolved in the Central American country. This measure is unprecedented, as it is the first time that 1,500 NGOs have been banned at one time, and comes three days after the Sandinista Executive announced that it would reform the functioning of NGOs, which will now have to form “alliances” with the bodies of the State to implement their projects in the country.
“From now on, non-governmental organizations operating in Nicaragua will be governed by a new operating model that we call the ‘Union of Associations,'” Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo said last Friday. Entities affected include chess clubs, Rotary clubs, associations of small business owners, rural enterprises and retirees, and the Nicaraguan Red Cross.
A profound political crisis
The Ministry of the Interior, led by María Amelia Coronel, said it closed 1,500 NGOs for non-compliance with regulatory laws “because they did not report their financial statements in accordance with fiscal regulations for periods between 1 and 35 years, detailing income and expenses, trial balances, details of donations and their boards of directors. “
Some representatives of the Sandinista National Liberation Front, such as Filiberto Rodríguez, say that the NGOs affected since 2018 have used the resources of donations received during the demonstrations six years ago to try to overthrow President Daniel Ortega. The Sandinista National Liberation Front also argues that the illegalization of these NGOs is part of the order procedure, since not all of the 7,227 NGOs registered in Nicaragua as of 2018 are operating.
Nicaragua has been experiencing a political and social crisis since April 2018, which worsened after the disputed elections in November 2021, in which Ortega was re-elected for a fifth term (and fourth consecutive term) while his main challengers were jailed. He later accused them of “plotting a coup” and “treason”, expelled them from the country, and stripped them of their nationality and political rights.
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