The regime’s crusade against higher education centers continues. This Thursday the Ministry of the Interior (Migob) published a resolution in La Gaceta, the official State newspaper, announcing the cancellation of the legal status of seven companies linked to foreign private universities.
According to the Migob resolution, the canceled companies were: Thomas More University Association (UTM), Central American University Association of Business Sciences (UCEM), Florida International University, Michigan State University, Mobile University Corporation, Private University Foundation for Market Sciences and Wake Forest University.
“The seven universities mentioned failed to comply with their obligations under the laws that regulate non-profit organizations, in Nicaraguan territory (Law 147, Law 977 and its regulations), by not reporting financial statements for more than 10 years according to fiscal periods, with detailed breakdowns of income, expenses, trial balance, detail of donations (origin, provenance and final beneficiary), violating article 14 subsection b) of the regulations of Law 977”, cites the Migob resolution.
The government entity, established as the portfolio in charge of regulating the activities of non-profit associations and non-governmental organizations, also points out in its resolution that these entities allegedly did not report the formation of their boards of directors in the country of origin, the donations they received from abroad and the identity documents of directors, legal representatives and fund providers.
All these universities are subsidiaries of companies originating from abroad. The Thomas More University Association (UTM) and the Central American University Association of Business Sciences (UCEM) come from Costa Rica; Florida International University, Michigan State University, Wake Forest University and the Mobile University Corporation are from the United States, and the Private University Foundation for Market Sciences is of Panamanian origin.
“The registrations and perpetual numbers assigned to the seven universities originating from abroad, referred to above, are canceled for having failed to comply with the laws of Nicaragua that regulate non-profit organizations. What refers to the liquidation of the goods and assets of the seven universities, as appropriate, will have prior liquidation, according to the destination foreseen in the constitutive act or in the statutes of each organization. The seven universities originating from abroad, within 72 hours, must deliver all the documents related to the liquidation of goods and assets, as well as accounting books, minute books and member registration book, for their safekeeping, “adds the resolution. of Migob.
This resolution is published one day after the National Assembly, controlled by the deputies of the dictatorship and their collaborating political allies, canceled the legal status of the Polytechnic University (Upoli), the Catholic Agricultural University of the Tropics (Ucatse), the Association of Humanitarian Studies (Uneh), the Popular Association of Nicaragua (Uponic) and the Paulo Freire University Association (UPF).
The Upoli was taken over by students who were protesting against the regime of Daniel Ortega during the citizen protests of April 2018 and was the victim of attacks by paramilitaries and police of the regime. The cancellation of these organizations was requested by the head of the department of registration and control of non-profit civil associations of the Ministry of the Interior (Migob), Franya Urey Blandón, who points out that they are “not very transparent in the administration of funds.” , since the Migob allegedly does not know “the way in which they executed them and if it was in accordance with their objectives and purposes for which the National Assembly will grant them legal personality.”
In addition, the Migob points out that the canceled organizations have their boards of directors headless. A situation that “has made it impossible for the regulatory body, preventing it from identifying who the representatives and associates of the body are, violating the laws that regulate non-profit civil associations in Nicaragua,” says Blandón.
