The Ministry of the Interior (Migob) closed another 26 non-governmental organizations, six of these due to the “voluntary dissolution” of their Boards of Directors, according to ministerial agreements. published this Wednesday, March 8 in the official gazette, La Gaceta.
The 20 organizations were forced to close because they allegedly failed to comply with Nicaraguan law. Among these are social, medical, religious and union NGOs.
Some of those affected are: the Association of Cardiologists of Nicaragua, the Apostles of Christ Association, the Swiss Association of Nicaragua, the Association of Women with Cancer, the “31st Anniversary National Movement of Retirees of the Sandinista Popular Army” “Sandino Vive” Association, among others.
With these 26 NGOs, the Ortega regime accumulates 3,290 associations, foundations, organizations, closed from the end of 2018 to date. Of these, 19 have been closed by voluntary dissolution.
The Migob has indicated to all Non-Profit Organizations (OSFL) not to report —for periods of between three to twenty years— their financial statements, according to fiscal periods, with detailed breakdowns of income and expenses. Nor have they reported on the constitution of their boards of directors.
The NGOs “have hindered the control and surveillance of the General Directorate of Registration and Control of OSFL”, it is repeated in the ministerial agreements.
This Tuesday, the Migob also closed two universities and admitted the voluntary dissolution of the organization Nicaraguan Caritas, the social assistance arm of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua. Monday closed the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (Cosep)and after 18 more business chambers.
The Fundación de Ayuda al Niño, Niña y Adolescente con Cáncer y Leukemia (Funanca), inactive since 2014; Merced Foundation, inactive since 2008; Association Center for the Rehabilitation of Drugs and Alcoholism, San Vicente de Paul (CERSAVP), in 2019 they closed their offices due to lack of financial resources; the Association for Nephropathic Children (ANNEF), the Pentecostal Power of God Ministry Association (AMPPD) and the Roca de Salvación Pentecostal Organization, originally from the United States, are the NGOs that requested their “voluntary dissolution” from Migob.
GHREN: Migob forced closure of OSFL
In the report submitted by the Group of Experts on Human Rights on Nicaragua (GHREN)at the Human Rights Council this week, highlighted that in 2021 the Ortega regime began a “dynamics of massive cancellations of the legal personality of organizations”.
The Group documented how the Government stopped receiving the documentation or constantly requested additional documents from the organizations, forcing them to fail to comply with their legal obligations. In this way, the authorities justified the cancellations, intervention and subsequent liquidation of the assets of many of them in favor of the State, the text indicates.
The GHREN concluded that “The cancellation of civil society organizations by the Government is arbitrary, and is aimed at reconfiguring civic space and guaranteeing the State’s monopoly of community, development and social assistance activities”.
For the experts, these actions were part of a strategy to reinforce the bonds of dependency and the vulnerability of citizens in the face of clientelist policies.
