Nicaragua under the Ortega Murillo Regime

The biggest exodus in history:

As a result of the political crisis, between 2018 and 2023, some 346,000 Nicaraguans were received in at least three countries as refugees or political asylees. In addition, between 2018 and February 2024, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detained 423,052 Nicaraguans who illegally crossed the U.S. border. About 14% of the population left the country, which is the largest exodus ever recorded in our history.

Without freedom of association:

According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), between December 2018 and November 2023, the regime canceled the legal status of 3,390 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) out of almost 5 thousand that existed. The closures have not ceased; even the Red Cross is among those affected. These closures imply the loss of some 250 million dollars a year in aid that these NGOs used to bring to the neediest population.

Without democracy:

The legal status of all political parties that have never aligned themselves with the government was canceled. The prominent opposition leaders were imprisoned in 2021, and almost two years later, they were banished, denationalized, and their assets confiscated. There is no freedom of expression, and they do not allow any type of independent political activity. There are no free elections, and to date, there are more than 100 political prisoners.

Without freedom of the press:

More than 50 independent media outlets, including newspapers, television channels, and radio stations, were closed, and 16 of them had their assets confiscated. 246 journalists were forced into exile to preserve their freedom and continue reporting. Nicaragua has become the only country in the world without printed newspapers or independent journalism.

Religious Persecution

More than 200 Catholic leaders, nuns, and priests have been expelled from the country, affecting the functioning of the 322 parishes in the country. Dozens of priests were imprisoned, among them two of the nine bishops of the Catholic hierarchy. More than 380 religious organizations, both evangelical and Catholic, were canceled, their assets confiscated, and many of their members expelled. It is currently forbidden to officiate masses and carry out Catholic processions or evangelical services outside the temples.

Without union organizations:

They have closed and confiscated the assets of the Consejo Superior de la Empresa Privada (Superior Council of Private Enterprise–COSEP), the leading business organization, along with the 20 chambers that made it up. They imprisoned three of its directors for almost two years, then banished, denationalized, and confiscated them. Since then, departmental and municipal associations have continued to be closed. In addition, local and foreign companies suffer from tax extortion without the possibility of defending themselves.

Without autonomous universities

In the last three years, 38 private higher education institutions have been closed and their assets confiscated. The best-known cases are the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA), which the Jesuit Order administrated, and the Central American Institute of Business Administration (INCAE). Hundreds of professors were left unemployed, and more than 37,000 students with their careers cut short and with only two options: to resume them in one of the eleven state or subsidized universities, where political indoctrination predominates, or to have to resort to migration in search of opportunities.

Without autonomy in the Caribbean Coast:

As part of the State’s control over the inhabitants of the communities of the Autonomous Regions of the Caribbean Coast, more than one hundred indigenous and Afro-descendant organizations were closed, including the Yatama party, the leading political association in that area of the country, and its directors have been held hostage since November 2023.