The government of Nicaragua cancelled the legal status of the Society of Jesus, also known as the Order of Jesuits, on 22 August.
In a statement published in the Ministry of the Interior’s official gazette, and approved by Minister Maria Amelia Coronel, the government accused the order of not reporting its ‘financial statements’ for the fiscal years 2020, 2021 and 2022, and of having an ‘expired’ board of directors since 2020, violating the provisions of Articles 34 and 35 of Law No. 1115, which establishes the regulation and control of non-profit organisations.
The statement orders the transfer of the order’s bank accounts and movable and immovable property to the government of Nicaragua. It is expected that at least three schools administered by the society will be forced to close: Loyola, Centroamérica and Fe y Esperanza.
The cancellation comes just one week after the regime cancelled the legal status and froze the bank accounts of the Jesuit-run Central American University (UCA). At least 26 universities have been shut down in Nicaragua so far this year.
The government described the UCA as a ‘centre of terrorism’, blaming it for having ‘betrayed the trust of the Nicaraguan people.’ The Central American Province of the Society of Jesus issued a response on August 16, clarifying that the accusations against the UCA are ‘false and unfounded’ stating: ‘We hold the Government of Nicaragua responsible for all damages against the students, teaching and administrative staff, and other workers of the University and the cultural heritage of said country that derive from such an unjustified accusation and from the order to confiscate all the immovable, movable and economic assets of the University.’
On 19 August, the government also seized the homes of members of the Jesuit community in the capital, Managua. Another statement from the Central American Province of the Society of Jesus explained: ‘The police appeared together with members of the judiciary at the home of the Jesuits Villa del Carmen residence, to demand their eviction arguing that this house is also government property.’
In May 2023, Deutsche Welle news reported that the government of Nicaragua had dissolved almost 3,500 registered non-governmental organisations (NGOs) since protests spread across the country in April 2018. Groups that have been shut down include environmental and human rights organisations, and others that provide medical, social and educational services to areas in need.
CSW’s Head of Advocacy Anna Lee Stangl said: ‘The Nicaraguan government’s move to cancel the legal status of the Society of Jesus is alarming, if not surprising. The Ortega regime has repeatedly targeted religious institutions that have not allied with the dictatorship, and their efforts are intensifying. We call on the government to reverse the order targeting the Society of Jesus and all other civil society organisations who have been stripped of their legal status in recent years, to cease its harassment of religious leaders and institutions, and to release all those who have been arbitrarily detained or imprisoned. We urge international community to hold President Ortega and his regime to account for their ongoing crackdown on independent civil society and severe violations of human rights.’