Nicaragua forces 1,500 church and civil society groups to close
CNN
Nicaragua has revoked the registration of 1,500 civil society organizations, the latest in a years-long crackdown in the small Central American nation.
Nicaragua has revoked the registration of 1,500 civil society organizations, the latest in a years-long crackdown in the small Central American nation. The organizations, which include hundreds of religious groups, are accused of failing to report their financial statements for a period of between one and 35 years, according to a notice published Monday in the government gazette, La Gaceta. Some associations effectively shuttered by the announcement were sports oriented, hosting basketball, tennis and soccer teams. There were groups for health, womens’ rights, LGBTQ rights, legal associations and veterans’ clubs. Over 400 of the groups were religiously-tied organizations, most of them Christian. CNN has reached out to the Vatican and Pontifical Commission for Latin America for comment. Earlier this month, Nicaragua canceled the legal status of the Diocese of Matagalpa’s Caritas for alleged bureaucratic reasons, according to Vatican News. The diocese is headed by Bishop Rolando Alvarez, a vocal critic of the government who lives in exile after being convicted of charges including conspiracy and treason. Civil liberties in Nicaragua have shrunk dramatically under the longtime leadership of authoritarian President Daniel Ortega, who claimed a fifth term in 2021.
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