The authorities of the Juan Pablo II University issued a statement this morning in which they state that they are “deeply sad” at the cancellation of the legal status of the house of higher studies, guided by the Daniel Ortega regime on March 7.
The letter states that, “on behalf of our higher authorities we communicate that, with great surprise and deep sadness, we received the news of the cancellation of our legal status, published in La Gaceta, Official Gazette”, which was issued by the Ministry of Government through the minister, María Amelia Coronel Kinloch.
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They affirm that they will be at the will of the guidelines of the regime to deliver the facilities and academic record. The university “remains attentive to the guidelines for the transition to the corresponding government authorities and initiate the processes as established. We will be in permanent communication with our educational community, reporting the procedures to follow in the orderly transfer of our house of study to the authorities.
The university was run by Father Ramiro Tijerino, a priest from Matagalpa who was exiled to the United States by the Nicaraguan regime on February 9, along with 221 political prisoners. The priest spent several months detained in “El Chipote” since he was captured by the Police on August 19, 2021.
The regime pointed out to the house of studies of not being accredited in the quality indicators, not reporting their financial statements and boards of directors; do not present clarifications on the patrimony, fixed assets, income, expenses, execution of funds; increases and decreases in unjustified accounts, in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 1115 «General Law for the Regulation and Control of Non-Profit Organizations» and Law No. 704 «Creative Law of the National System for the Assurance of the Quality of Education and Regulator of the National Evaluation and Accreditation Council».
They also point out among their justifications for canceling the house of studies that they offered him an extension from January 13, 2022, “so that he could catch up according to the Law” and would not have complied with what was required. However, it affirms that it “ignored it, since it did not comply with its obligations as established in article 34 numerals 3, 7, 24, 25, 26, 26.1, 26.3 and 27 of Law No. 1115, by not reporting its financial statements for more than two years according to fiscal periods, with detailed breakdowns of income and expenses, verification balance, detail of donations (origin, provenance and final beneficiary)”.
The dictatorship’s relationship with the Catholic Church was fractured when the bishops of the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference (CEN) mediated a failed National Dialogue in 2018. Ortega accused the bishops of “coup plotters” because they “read the primer” to him, a road map that proposed the resignation of the Sandinista caudillo and the holding of new presidential elections as a way out of the socio-political crisis.
