The Fons Català de Cooperació al Desenvolupament (Catalan Fund for Development Cooperation) denounced this Wednesday that it was expelled de facto from Nicaragua -where it had its regional office and 20 active projects-, by the regime of Daniel Ortega.
The Government of Nicaragua, through the Ministry of the Interior, canceled the registration of the regional office of the Fons Català de Cooperació al Desenvolupament in Managua, which had been in force since 2002, according to the official newspaper La Gaceta the day before.
“In an irreversible way and with implausible arguments, the Fons Català is urged to proceed with the liquidation of its assets and assets, which means de facto an expulsion from Nicaragua and the closure of our municipal cooperation in this country,” the agency said. in a statement.
The municipal entity moved the Central American regional office to Costa Rica last June, after 26 years of work in Nicaragua, where it had 20 active projects that are now at risk.
The Catalan Fund explained that they decided to move their regional headquarters to Costa Rica, after “the approval of restrictive laws” in Nicaragua that put development aid at risk both for the work of local NGOs and international cooperation.
“Precisely last June, after communicating the decision of this transfer to the Government of Nicaragua, clarifying that the process did not imply in any case the closure of projects in this country, the representative of the Fons Català (Xavier Ruiz) received an official call ordering him leave the country within a margin of 72 hours,” the agency said.
Since then, the office in Managua has been left “without representation and without any possibility of making an adequate and orderly closure to this day,” he added.
Cooperation with municipalities at risk
“The expulsion of its representative and the cancellation of the legal registration of the entity makes it impossible to directly monitor some twenty active projects in Nicaragua, many of them the result of twinning with municipalities in Catalonia,” he warned.
“This situation can put at risk the very existence of municipal cooperation in Nicaragua, a fact completely beyond our control,” he added.
Likewise, the entity indicated that “the authoritarian drift that the Nicaraguan regime has taken has meant a transfer for the Fons Català, which has been forced to leave the office without being able to take the necessary steps to make an orderly transfer of its regional headquarters. ”.
In its resolution, the Nicaraguan Ministry of the Interior argued that it canceled the registration and perpetual number assigned to the Catalan Fund because “it failed to comply with its obligations by not promoting policies of transparency, integrity and public trust in the administration and management of all its financial operations.” and for hindering state “control and surveillance”.
In addition, he gave him a period of 72 hours, starting Tuesday, to deliver to the Interior portfolio all the documents related to the liquidation of goods and assets, as well as accounting books.
The commitment to Nicaragua
The Catalan Fund highlighted that they have “forged a bond with the population of Nicaragua since 1996, which will not disappear with this expulsion order.”
“The commitment to Nicaragua is still alive and from now on, all necessary efforts will be undertaken to continue working with Nicaraguan society from abroad,” he said.
“From the Fons Català we will continue to cooperate in different parts of the planet, despite the difficulties,” said the organization, which “deeply regretted these events” after 26 years with a stable presence in Nicaragua.
