The Nicaraguan government on Wednesday canceled the legal status of a foundation of demobilized Sandinistas and 19 other NGOs, including eight that have called for their voluntary dissolution, such as Doctors Without Borders of Belgium.
At the same time, Daniel Ortega’s regime, through the Interior Ministry, dissolved the legal personality of a television channel directed by former deputy Guillermo Osorno, presidential candidate of the Nicaraguan Christian Way (CCN) party in the November 2021 elections , in which denounced electoral fraud.
The banning of the Enlace Christian Television Foundation (Enlace Channel 21), which takes place as part of the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day, was approved by Interior Minister, María Amelia Coronel, according to ministerial agreement published in the Official Journal La Gaceta, of Nicaragua.
According to that portfolio, Enlace Canal 21, with a Christian religious profile and which had been operating since October 29, 2008, was banned for “default”.
“They did not report financial statements for 2021 through 2022,” the governor’s office said.
Osorno, who was a national deputy and before the Central American Parliament (Parlacen), had denounced in November 2021, after the general elections of that year, that the authorities had canceled the license of that television channel and a radio station owned by him.
TV channel 21 and Radio Nexo were canceled on November 9, 2021, the same day the CCN party took place denounced an alleged electoral fraud in favor of the Sandinista rulersthat the number of voters was adulterated, that the participation was 25% and that the “no vote” won.
The decision not to continue operating since then, according to the media concerned, had been sent by the Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Posts (Telcor), the sector’s regulatory body, which has never officially referred to it.
Despite the concerned media’s statement, both the TV channel and the radio station have continued to broadcast their programming as normal until now.
Former MP Osorno was allied with the Sandinistas in the 2011 and 2016 elections.
The closure of 20 social organizations
Meanwhile, the Minister of the Interior has also signed the dissolution of the Foundation for Demobilized and War Victims of the 80s SMP – Patriotic Military Service -, registered since 2006.
According to the ministry, that foundation of former Sandinista fighters was outlawed for “non-compliance” because it “failed to submit budgets for 2010-2022” and its board of directors had expired since May 2013.
With the closure of those 20 NGOs, number at least 3,400 organizations of this type disbanded following the popular protests that erupted in April 2018.
The Interior claimed that it unilaterally closed 12 NGOs “because they had been abandoned and had between 1 and 12 years of non-fulfillment of their obligations under the laws that govern them”, and the rest for “voluntary dissolution”.
Among the outlawed NGOs are the Western Association of Self-Help Group Living with HIV, the Nicaragua International Foundation for Community Care, the Nicaragua Dry Corridor Association, the Foundation for the Development of micro-enterprise, the Association of Friends of the José de la Cruz Mena Municipal Theater, the Rubén Darío Cultural Institute Association, among others.
they will confiscate the assets
As regards the liquidation of the organisations’ assets, the Interior Ministry explained that it will be up to the Attorney General’s Office to proceed ex officio with the transfer of movable or immovable assets in the name of the State of Nicaragua, with the exception of those who have requested voluntary dissolution.
Sandinista lawmakers such as Filiberto Rodríguez said affected NGOs used resources from the donations they received to try to overthrow Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega in demonstrations that erupted in 2018.
The Sandinistas also argue that the illegalization of these NGOs is part of an ordering process, because not all of the 7,227 registered in Nicaragua as of 2018 were operational.
The 2018 rebellion
Thousands of Nicaraguans took to the streets in April 2018 to protest controversial social security reforms, which later escalated into a call for Ortega’s resignation which he responded with force. The protests left hundreds dead, thousands injured and tens of thousands in exile.
Since then Nicaragua has been going through a political and social crisis, which was accentuated after the controversial general elections of November 7, 2021, in which Ortega was re-elected for a fifth term, fourth in a row and second together with his wife, Rosario Murillo, as deputy president. , with its main contenders in prison or in exile.
Source: EFE
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.