Nicaragua’s Dictatorship Eliminates 1,500 More NGOs
The Attorney General’s Office will transfer the properties and other assets of the closed organizations to the State of Nicaragua.
HAVANA TIMES – In an unprecedented move, the Ministry of Interior has eliminated 1,500 Nicaraguan NGOs, accusing them of “failing to report” their financial statements for periods ranging from one to 35 years.
The majority of the eliminated NGOs are evangelical and Catholic, although there are also social, equestrian, business, educational, medical, indigenous, sports, ex-combatant, and legal organizations.
The mass cancellation was announced in the Official Gazette on Monday, August 19, 2024.
With the dissolution of these 1,500 organizations, the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has eliminated a total of 5,163 NGOs since the end of 2018.
The closures, signed by the Minister of Interior, María Amelia Coronel Kinloch, state that regarding any properties and other assets of the eliminated NGOs, “it will be up to the Office of the Attorney General to transfer them to the name of the State of Nicaragua.”
“New Operational Model” for NGOs
The announcement came the same day the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship formalized a “new operational model” for NGOs, which —according to analysts— strips them of the autonomy of their projects and aims to control the resources they receive.
According to the new model, NGOs must submit “partnership program and project” proposals to the Ministry of Interior or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The proposals will be evaluated by Ortega, Murillo, and the relevant state institutions, depending on the subject matter. They will decide whether to accept or reject the initiative.
This measure is part of the regime’s ongoing crackdown against civil society organizations, whom they accuse —without evidence— of receiving money from other governments “to carry out destabilizing terrorist activities.”