No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeTopicsLatin AmericaNicaragua parliament shutters 24 NGOs

Nicaragua parliament shutters 24 NGOs

Nicaragua’s parliament on Wednesday shuttered 24 non-governmental organizations, operating mainly in the medical field, in a move they said amounted to reprisal for criticizing the government’s management of the coronavirus pandemic.

The measure, at the request of the government, was adopted by 70 ‘yes’ votes to 16 against, and will see the associations’ assets become “state property,” according to the resolution put before lawmakers.

The government of President Daniel Ortega has clamped down on opponents in recent weeks, ahead of elections in November, arresting 29 people including seven presidential hopefuls and other opposition figures.

“There is no desire to persecute or harm any NGO — it is simply the law being applied,” lawmaker Wilfredo Navarro told Wednesday’s session.

The NGOs shuttered had helped people with a variety of health problems, from kidney failure or diabetes to pain relief and menopause.

Health workers decried the move, saying in a statement that it was an attempt by the government to “silence accusations of poor management of the pandemic and health care.”

Nicaragua, one of few countries to not have applied any virus containment measures, has officially reported 9,651 Covid-19 cases and 194 deaths, but experts and observers say the numbers are much higher.

The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) said Wednesday’s parliamentary vote amounted to a violation of the right to free association.

In 2018, in the midst of widespread anti-government protests, parliament stripped 10 other NGOs, including CENIDH, of their legal status for alleged “terrorist” activities.

Ortega, 75, will be the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front’s candidate in the November election, an ally has announced.

The president accuses those arrested in a series of house and nighttime raids since June 2 of seeking to overthrow him with US backing.

The detainees face charges of threatening Nicaragua’s sovereignty under a law passed last December to bar “those who ask for, celebrate and applaud the imposition of sanctions against the Nicaraguan state” from seeking public office.

Trending Now

El Salvador at Center of Controversial U.S.-Venezuela Detainee Exchange

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele received the 10 Americans exchanged on Friday between Washington and Caracas for 252 Venezuelans who had spent four months in...

Costa Rica’s Religious Culture Through the Eyes of a Non-Religious Expat

Costa Rica is the only country in the Americas that has an official religion—Catholicism—enshrined in its constitution. While the Constitution recognizes freedom of worship,...

Algal Bloom Detected in Costa Rica’s Gulf of Nicoya

A noticeable change in watercolor has been reported across several zones of the Gulf of Nicoya and coastal areas adjacent to the Nicoya Peninsula....

Costa Rica Opens New Pedestrian Bridge at Guayabo National Monument

Costa Rica has added a new attraction to its archaeological sites with the opening of a pedestrian bridge at Guayabo National Monument. The structure...

El Salvador Sees Big Gains from Bitcoin Price Surge

El Salvador has gained $443 million from the rise in Bitcoin's value, a cryptocurrency the country began acquiring nearly four years ago under the...

Costa Rica Dismantles Human Trafficking Ring Linked to Tren de Aragua

Costa Rican authorities dismantled a human trafficking network linked to the criminal gang Tren de Aragua, which financed the travel of women from Venezuela...
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica