After the deputies in the National Assembly approved with 75 votes to cancel the personality of 50 non-profit organizations, including the feminist organization La Corriente, its director, Maria Theresa Blandon said to Article 66 that they were already waiting for the decision by the Daniel Ortega regime.
According to the human rights defender, the Ortega dictatorship has “beheaded” more than 10 women’s and feminist organizations, so they did not rule out the same thing happening with this entity that promotes women’s rights in the country.
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“We know that this is part of a strategy to dismantle civil society and to silence human rights organizations. Unfortunately, we knew that this was going to happen at any moment,” said Blandón.
Faced with this new action by art of the regime, the feminist pointed out that despite the fact that legal status is an important factor for organizations, because it allows for recognition by the State and access to cooperation resources, they will nevertheless continue working, although she argues that it will be more limited.
“We are going to continue working on the promotion of democratic values that allow us to promote ideas for non-discrimination and inclusion, although in a lesser projection…”, he affirmed.
Building would pass into the hands of the State
As for the building where the NGO worked and which is owned by María Teresa Blandón herself, she explained that the organization’s statutes indicate that once the current ceases operations, it can donate the premises to an organization that has a similar purpose. that is to say, to defend the rights of women, of young people and the rights of groups of sexual diversity».
“But unfortunately there is a law that authorizes the State to expropriate these assets, so we assume that the same will happen with our organization,” said the director of the Corriente.
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This organization is one of the many NGOs that did not register as foreign agents (Law invented in 2020 by the dictatorship), because according to Blandón said regulations have no legality and “because we are not foreign agents and it did not seem correct to classify ourselves in a certain way. that does not correspond to our naturalness; We are a national organization.”
La Corriente has existed in Nicaragua for 28 years (it was founded in 1994). It was one of the few organizations that worked within the country to promote human rights.
Nicaragua Human Rights Collective Never Again condemns cancellation of 50 NGOs
For its part, the Nicaraguan Human Rights Collective Never Again condemned the cancellation of the 50 NGOs in less than a week, considering that the regime’s action is “arbitrary and unconstitutional.”
«The National Assembly together with the Ministry of the Interior indicate that the organizations “have failed to comply with their obligations” under the laws of the country, such as not reporting financial statements according to fiscal periods; expired boards of directors; they do not report previous donations from abroad, among others, ”said the Collective.
“Since April 2018, during four years of systematic repression, the Ortega Murillo regime has canceled more than 210 organizations, in its desire for absolute control and to establish a single thought, violating the human rights of the Nicaraguan people,” he added.
The defense organization expressed its solidarity with all the victims and beneficiaries “and we demand freedom for all political prisoners, as well as the repeal of all repressive laws in Nicaragua.
Related news: Fundación Apapachoa closed operations in December, before it was canceled
From 2018 to date, the Ortega dictatorship has outlawed around 150 Nicaraguan NGOs, eight months after a popular revolt broke out over controversial social security reforms described as an attempted coup by Ortega.
Universities, associations that support children, among others, have been the NGOs that have been annulled by the dictatorship, under the excuse that they have breached Nicaraguan law.
After the annulment of the legal personality of the organizations, it is established that the assets and shares that belong, «will have, after liquidation, the destination foreseen in the Constitutive act or in its Statute. If nothing has been arranged in this regard, these will become the property of the State in accordance with the Law of the matter.
