Nicaraguan academics reacted with concern and sadness on Thursday to the closure and confiscation of two other private universities, both religiously oriented, amid growing pressure on the Catholic Church and dissent in general.
“This is part of a plan by the government of Daniel Ortega to extend its political control over the universities,” Professor Ernesto Medina, former rector of the American University (UAM), told The Associated Press, referring to the closure of the Juan Pablo University. II and the Autonomous Christian University of Nicaragua (UCAN), announced on Wednesday.
According to Medina, who left the country more than a year ago after receiving threats from the government, the measure reveals “an ideological component and political revenge,” given that the universities were the main focus of the 2018 social uprising, initially led by students. .
The repression of these protests left at least 355 dead, more than 2,000 injured and some 100,000 exiled, according to human rights organizations.
“Daniel Ortega will never forgive the young people and the universities that have been the protagonists of the rebellion” in which the resignation of the president was demanded, he affirmed.
With the disappearance of these two study centers, there have been 19 universities closed in Nicaragua since December 2021, of which seven were foreign.
The legal status of both centers was canceled by the Ministry of the Interior, which also ordered them to carry out an “orderly delivery” of all their movable and immovable property to now be registered in the name of the State.
In a statement, the management of the Juan Pablo II University expressed its “surprise and deep sadness” at the measure and announced that it awaits instructions to “begin the transition to government authorities.”
This week the closure of another 26 non-governmental organizations was also announced, bringing the total number of non-profit associations outlawed by the government to more than 3,300, mostly during the last year.
These organizations include the Association of Women with Cancer and the religious associations Cáritas Nicaragua and Cáritas Jinotega.
In all cases, the government argued that they “failed to comply” with the legal requirements established to operate.
According to the resolution published in the official newspaper La Gaceta, the students of the Juan Pablo II University and the UCAN will be relocated to other higher education centers. Both had been founded in 2002 and had several branches in the country.
Medina said that he is concerned about the future of the students deprived of their universities, because the public centers “do not have the capacity to receive more students” and an over-demand affects the already questionable quality of Nicaraguan education.
The official measure came days after the government outlawed 19 business chambers grouped in the Higher Council for Private Enterprise (COSEP).
Ortega has accused businessmen and the Catholic Church of participating in a “failed coup d’état”, as he describes the 2018 protests, while keeping the Bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, in prison, who was sentenced to 26 years in prison. last month.
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