Nicaragua - May 2023

Nicaragua’s National Assembly, controlled by the ruling Sandinista party, has passed legislation to shut down the Nicaraguan Red Cross and to have its property seized. The bill will establish a “New Nicaraguan Red Cross” under the Health Ministry. Ortega’s government and the legislature has accused the Red Cross as a destabilizing agent for the aid it provided throughout the 2018 demonstrations, alleging that the organization did not act in a neutral or impartial way as its statutes required. Since 2018, the Ortega regime has ordered the closure or dissolution of over three thousand non-governmental organizations. 

Sources: Al Jazeera, La Tribuna, El Pais