Four days before the Day of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is commemorated in Nicaragua, the dictator Daniel Ortega ordered, through the Ministry of the Interior, to cancel eight non-profit organizations, among them the Asociación Nuestra Señora Inmaculada Concepción de María (Our Lady Immaculate Conception of Mary Association) ASICOM), which for more than eight years dedicated itself to “sponsoring boys and girls of age to perform the sacrament of first communion.”
The Ministry of the Interior, controlled by the Sandinista regime, argued, through ministerial agreement 47-2024, that ASICOM — like the other seven NGOs — was in “non-compliance” for not reporting “financial statements in the periods 2018- 2023, and board of directors expired since February 11, 2020.
The Nuestra Señora Inmaculada Concepción de María Association, according to the statement of reasons that that organization made in 2015, when it requested its legal status before the National Assembly, which at that time was headed by the Sandinista René Núñez, specified that its main objectives included “sponsor boys and girls of age to perform the Sacrament of their First Communion and whose parents have financial problems in acquiring clothing and ornaments.”
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They also indicated that they would dedicate themselves to supporting “humanitarian and social assistance to boys and girls from the poorest sectors, as well as those who are in a precarious economic situation, donating clothing, footwear, groceries, medicines, teaching materials and/or school supplies, among others.
More than 5,400 NGOs canceled
The other seven non-profit organizations canceled by Sandinism were: Fundación López Carazo; Great Commission Church Association; Water, Health, Organization and Training Program Foundation; Church Ministries Jesus Christ is Lord of El Salvador; Association of Residents of the Communities of El Coyolar, Pochotillo and San Diego; Quetzaltrekkers León Association; and the El Alfarero Evangelistic Ministry Association.
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The Ministry of the Interior, through ministerial agreement 48-2024, also indicated that the legal personalities of Population Services International and the Association of Organized Entrepreneurial Women of Estelí were cancelled, “due to voluntary dissolution.”
The Central American Association for Development and Democracy estimates that from 2018 to 2024, more than 5,400 nonprofit organizations have been canceled by the Ortega-Murillo regime. In the majority of these cancellations, the Ministry of the Interior has argued alleged non-compliance, despite the fact that several of these NGOs have indicated that although they try to comply, they are sabotaged by the same ministry, which hinders them from receiving the documents.
