UN Experts Decry Ortega’s Policy of Confiscating Pensions
The dictatorship’s cruelty has no limits
The Ortega-Murillo dictatorship has intensified its economic repression through the confiscation of pensions and Social Security benefits earned by opponents. The UN Group of Experts reports that this policy especially affects the elderly and those in exile.
HAVANA TIMES – Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have utilized multiple forms of economic repression to punish people who oppose their regime. One of their methods is to deny their political opponents the pensions due them, while expunging from the records their years of social security contributions. This measure directly affects the subsistence of the defrauded beneficiaries.
The practice, which mainly affects senior citizens, political opponents, and workers dismissed from State institutions, is being carried out through opaque administrative mechanisms, without any judicial oversight, and in violation of previously acquired labor rights.
According to the latest report of the UN Group of Experts investigating the repression in Nicaragua, Roberto José Lopez, executive president of the Nicaraguan Social Security Institute, ordered the confiscation of pensions and social security contributions of senior citizens who have been arbitrarily deprived of their nationality. This measure also affects persons who, due to their opposition to the regime, were expelled from the country or forced to seek political asylum outside Nicaragua.
In testimonies collected by the Group of Experts, they documented how the INSS stopped requesting that those who retired outside the country provide “life certificates”, then used the “lack of proof of life” as a pretext to suspend the payment of pensions to opponents. Previously, proof of life was certified through video calls; however, for the exiled dissenters, this practice was discontinued.
The denial of their earned pensions has directly affected these victims’ livelihood, and in many cases the impact of this confiscation has been devastating. For many elderly people, especially those who are disabled or in shelters, the pension represented their only source of income. The loss of this benefit has left them in an extremely precarious situation.
Among the documented cases is that of a relative of one of the 222 people expelled by the regime to the United States, who suffers from severe disability. Another case involves the mother of an opposition member who is currently a refugee. These cases illustrate how the confiscation of pensions has been used as a tool to punish and isolate dissidents.
In addition, the Group of Experts corroborated the elimination of birth certificates belonging to judiciary employees dismissed since October 2023, leading to the deprivation of their nationality and, consequently, the confiscation of their social security and pension rights. This extreme measure is a reflection of the systematic persecution faced by the opposition in Nicaragua, along with anyone who falls out of favor with the despotic regime.
The confiscation of pensions has had drastic repercussions on the lives of thousands of people. By denying them access to resources needed for their subsistence, the government has exacerbated the vulnerability of those who are elderly and has created a climate of insecurity and fear among the population.
This pattern of violations not only denies these citizens their fundamental rights, but also reflects a strategy of repression aimed at weakening and punishing political opponents through their material living conditions.
According to the report, these practices are part of a policy of systematic exclusion. In this context, the confiscation of pensions represents not only a serious violation of human rights, but also an attempt to destroy the support networks that allow people in vulnerable situations to survive.