Nicaragua
Nicaragua exhibits low performance across all categories of the Global State of Democracy framework, and it is within the bottom 25 per cent of the world with regard to the majority of factors of democracy. Over the past five years, Nicaragua has declined further in several factors of Representation, Rights, Rule of Law and Participation. Nicaragua is classified as a lower middle income country, with an economy significantly dependent on tourism and exports of agricultural products and gold. The country ranks as the poorest country in Central America.
Democratic decline in Nicaragua dates to the 2000 ‘impunity pact’ pact between President Alemán (from the Partido Liberal Constitucionalista, PLC) and Daniel Ortega (from the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN), which allowed both parties to dominate public offices, undermining checks and balances. Ortega has increasingly consolidated his regime, with initial support from the army, the business sector, and international and transnational actors, including financial support from Venezuela, Russia and China. Since then, democracy has been under assault on three fronts. First, electoral reforms facilitated the FSLN’s hegemonic control of government institutions. Second, the undermining of the rule of law allowed stark violations of human rights by the government. Third, the legislative branch enacted laws that silence opposition and independent media outlets, while the judiciary has also issued undemocratic resolutions, including stripping over 300 members of the opposition of their citizenship. In 2022, “La Prensa,” the oldest newspaper in the country, was forced to close its offices. The regime has also targeted the Catholic Church, which it has accused of backing the 2018 protests and of promoting political dissent, as illustrated by the arrest of several priests and the closure of Catholic television and radio channels in 2022.
The Ortega regime’s actions have also had consequences for the government’s relations with indigenous groups and other minorities. Nicaragua is home to seven different indigenous peoples. However, these communities constantly face several challenges, from discrimination to the invasion of their lands and illegal exploitation of natural resources by mining, cattle and logging companies. Afro-descendants have also been affected by land grabbing and invasion, with the IACHR denouncing attacks and calling for justice and the respect of communal properties. The government has failed to protect these communities, and in some instances has promoted the purchase of these lands and access by private companies. The government has also targeted LGBTQIA+ advocates. Women currently hold over half of the seats in Congress. While the adoption of Law 1070 in 2021 led to some progress in strengthening women’s political equality by integrating gender parity in several public organs, it also severely restricted electoral competition. Furthermore, women’s access to health and education is impacted by the country’s absolute prohibition of abortion.
Looking ahead, it will be important to watch Nicaragua’s performance in Representation, particularly with regard to Credible Elections, given the FSLN’s domination in politics and the repression of opposition. Furthermore, it will be critical to observe developments in Rights, and the work that international and local human rights organizations – such as the OHCHR, IACHR and the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) – carry out to monitor the continued and grave human rights violations.
Monthly Event Reports
March 2024 | Government restricts political expression in concerts
Through a ministerial decree, the Ortega Government has issued new restrictions to musical and artistic performances, which effectively bans political expression in concerts. The decree, Ministerial Agreement 05-2004, impedes both national and foreign performers from expressing or promoting ideas related to politics. It establishes the obligation of performers and producers to enlist in a registry and grants the Ministry of the Interior the ability to authorize or deny any production. Both the artistic community and Nicaraguan human rights defenders have decried the measure, and fear authorizations may be denied arbitrarily.
January 2024 | Bishop Alvarez and others released and expelled from Nicaragua
Bishop Rolando Alvarez, a political prisoner, was expelled from Nicaragua along with Bishop Isidoro Mora and 17 other priests and seminarians who had been imprisoned in December. Bishop Alvarez was convicted a year ago for treason, dissemination of fake news and undermining national integrity, and sentenced to 26 years imprisonment. He had refused to leave Nicaragua a year ago along with over two hundred political prisoners who were released, expelled to the United States and stripped of their nationality by the judiciary. Last year, Congress also passed a reform by which those declared traitors would be stripped of their nationalities. After the release, the Ortega government issued a statement revealing the coordination and agreement with the Holy See, and Vatican News subsequently confirmed the arrival of the members of the Catholic Church to Vatican City.
December 2023 | Government expels the ICRC from Nicaragua
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced it was ending its humanitarian work in Nicaragua, at the request of the government. The government did not provide any reasoning regarding the expulsion publicly. The international organization’s mandate in the country was focused on “preventing and addressing the humanitarian consequences of deprivation of liberty”, providing training on international humanitarian law and human rights, and on providing support to the Nicaraguan Red Cross. The latter was dissolved in May by the Legislature and had its assets confiscated. The ICRC’s staff carried out visits to persons deprived of their liberty, including political prisoners, and also assisted in negotiations between government and opposition regarding the conditions and release of some of these political prisoners.
October 2023 | Indigenous political party is abolished
Nicaragua’s electoral authority (Consejo Supremo Electoral, CSE) has cancelled the legal personality of the Yatama political party, an Indigenous party that mainly represents the Miskito people. The CSE’s relevant resolution did not provide an explanation for the decision. Yatama’s leader and sole member of Congress, Brooklyn Rivera, had been detained in previous days, as had his alternate, Nancy Elizabeth Henriquez, who also holds a leadership position in Yatama. In April, Rivera had also been denied entry to Nicaragua after attending a UN forum in which he had called attention to the invasion of Indigenous lands, stating he had been forced to enter the country through informal crossings along the border with Honduras. In addition, two community radio stations owned by Yatama were confiscated after authorities argued they were operating without the necessary permits. According to Yatama, the Ortega government’s actions against the party aim to prevent it from participating in regional elections to be held in March, in Caribbean provinces where Yatama maintains considerable support.
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