The administration of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, through the Ministry of the Interior (Migob), canceled the legal status of two more universities. These are the Pan American University of Nicaragua (UPAN) and the Universidad del Pacífico (UNIP).
The ministerial agreements 32-2023-OSFL and 33-2023-OSFL published in The Gazette of this March 14, they indicate that both university centers failed to comply with their obligations in accordance with the laws that regulate higher education: Law 1114, Law of Reform to Law 582, General Law of Education and of Reform and Addition to Law 89, Law of Autonomy of institutions of Higher Education and Law 1087, Law of Reform and Additions to Law 704, Law Creating the National System for the assurance of the quality of Education and Regulating the National Council of Evaluation and Accreditation.
In addition, they indicate that the two universities also failed to comply with their obligations under the Law before the General Directorate of Registration and Control of Non-Profit Organizations of Migob, “since they did not report their financial statements for the 2022 period, in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 1115 (…), hindering the control and surveillance of the General Directorate of Registration and Control of Non-Profit Organizations of Migob, since by not reporting their financial statements according to the fiscal period, with detailed breakdowns of income and expenses, they did not promote policies of transparency in the administration of the funds.
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According to the statement of reasons for the cancellation decrees, the National Council of Universities (CNU) and the National Council for Evaluation and Accreditation (CNE) asked Migob to cancel the legal personality of UPAN and UNIP for failing to comply with its obligations before the Law.
«The CNU and the CNEA, on March 2, 2023, evaluated the Pan-American University of Nicaragua (UPAN), at the central headquarters, located in Managua, as well as the Matagalpa headquarters, with the purpose of verifying compliance with the career curriculum, according to the regulatory framework”, reads the agreement 32-2023-OSFL.
Likewise, he pointed out that “UPAN does not have a consistent academic offer in terms of its minimum elements that the study plans required by the CNEA and the CNU must have. It does not have authorization from the CNU and CNEA to offer careers abroad, falsifying information on the offer of postgraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees offered to foreign students; and they do not have an adequate infrastructure to teach their academic offer”.
«The CNU has not authorized the execution of 09 master’s degrees and 02 doctorates, these were not reported to the CNU. Five of the master’s curricular designs are outdated. The offer of master’s and doctorate, does not have methodological support to be taught. The academic offer that UPAN makes through social networks does not have the authorization of the CNU and of the 20 careers declared to the CNU, UPAN only presented a list of teachers of 02 careers, “he added.
In the case of the Universidad del Pacífico (UNIP), the CNU and CNEA argued that the university campus “failed to comply with the minimum elements in its academic offer, which are necessary to obtain the corresponding accreditation according to the study required by the CNEA and the CNU; and it does not comply with the minimums related to scientific research, full-time contracted teachers and institutional structure”.
“UNIP also does not have authorization from the CNU and CNEA to offer careers abroad, likewise it does not have technological support to offer virtual distance education services, it has also ignored information regarding the performance of academic and degree activities in the abroad, granting academic titles, which violates the sense of integrity and academic rigor to which higher education institutions are obliged, “says agreement 33-2023-OSFL.
The resolution also indicates that for “what refers to the liquidation of the goods and assets” of the eliminated organizations “the provisions of Law 1115 and its reform will be applied.”
Since 2018, the Government of Daniel Ortega has canceled the legal personality of more than three thousand NGOs, the arguments it has used since 2020 have been based on the laws it invented to control all organisms.
On the list of non-governmental organizations there are human rights, universities, religious and humanitarian entities, in addition, he has added others close to his regime.
