Government Nicaragua This Tuesday (06/11/2024) it canceled the legal status of 15 associations that were operating as non-profit organizations, bringing the number of non-governmental organizations banned since December 2018 to more than 3,600, and most of their assets were transferred to the state.
The dissolution of these organizations in Managua was approved by the Minister of the Interior, María Amelia Coronel, under two ministerial agreements published in the official newspaper La Gazeta of Nicaragua.
The Ministry of Interior explained that it had unilaterally closed 11 NGOs for not complying with the laws regulating them, and the other four for requesting their voluntary dissolution.
The technological institute that offers scholarships is closed
Among the 15 canceled NGOs is the Victoria Technological Institute Association, which belongs to the Nicaraguan brewing company and is defined as an institution of higher education that trains successful, highly trained professionals.
This educational institution, which annually offers more than 100 scholarships to low-income high school graduates to pursue the technical professions it offers, has been licensed to operate since 2013 by the National Council of State Universities (CNU).
The Ministry of the Interior indicated that it closed this educational institute “to obstruct oversight and oversight of the General Administration of Registration and Monitoring of Non-Profit Organizations because there were inconsistencies in the balances of financial statements and did not report donations,” nor did it enhance “transparency policies in money management.”
Moreover, he added, in implementation of the joint decision issued by the CNU and the National Council for Evaluation and Accreditation (CNEA), which confirmed that the authorities of this institute were summoned to a meeting starting from 2022 and they did not appear in the said call.
Among the disbanded NGOs are the Chamber of Musaceae Producers of the South, the Canoeing Association of the Province of León, the Cattlemen's Association of Villa Sandino, the Archery Association of the Province of Managua, the Foundation for the Promotion of Responsible Consumption and Healthy Lifestyles, and the Family Support Foundation for People with Spectrum Disorder. Autism, among others.
The Nicaraguan state holds the assets of NGOs
Regarding the liquidation of the assets of the organizations, the Ministry of the Interior indicated that it is up to the Public Prosecutor’s Office to proceed ex officio with the transfer of movable or immovable property in the name of the Nicaraguan State, with the exception of organizations that have requested their voluntary dissolution.
With the closure of these 15 NGOs, there are more than 3,600 such organizations that were dissolved after the popular protests that broke out in April 2018.
Some Sandinista representatives, such as Filiberto Rodríguez, said the affected NGOs used resources from donations they received to try to oust the president. Daniel Ortega In the demonstrations six years ago.
The Sandinistas also claimed that the legalization of these NGOs is part of the reorganization process because not all of the 7,227 organizations registered in Nicaragua as of 2018 were operational.
Nicaragua It has been going through a political and social crisis since April 2018, which worsened after the controversial general elections that took place on November 7, 2021, in which Ortega was re-elected for a fifth and fourth term in a row, with his main rivals in prison, whom he later expelled from the country, depriving them of their citizenship and political rights. After he accused them of “coup plotters” and “betraying the nation.”
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