In a move to further suppress opposition, the Nicaraguan government, led by President Daniel Ortega, has ordered churches and religious entities to pay income tax and forced the closure of over 150 non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
This decision, published in the official La Gaceta newspaper, requires these organizations to pay taxes of up to 30% of their annual income.
The government’s crackdown on civil society has resulted in the shuttering of 151 NGOs, bringing the total number of dissolved civil organizations to over 5,200 since 2018. This move has been widely condemned by the international community, including the United States, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and the United Nations.
The Ortega regime has been criticized for its systematic repression of opponents, including the jailing of hundreds of critics, real and perceived, since the 2018 protests.
The latest crackdown marks a dark new chapter in the regime’s efforts to quash pluralism and civic space.
The international community has expressed outrage over the developments, with the US State Department’s assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs, Brian Nichols, tweeting that the closures are “unjust.”
Former Nicaraguan presidential candidate Felix Maradiaga, in exile in the US, described the move as a “relentless onslaught against pluralism and the deliberate closure of civic and democratic space.”
The IACHR condemned the action, stating that it “intensifies the repression in Nicaragua, demonstrating the relentless onslaught against pluralism and the deliberate closure of civic and democratic space in the country.” The United Nations termed the development “deeply alarming.”
