The Government of Nicaragua closes the branches of Cáritas in its country

MADRID, 8 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Nicaraguan government has proceeded to close the branches of the Catholic NGO Cáritas in Nicaragua, thus adding to the list of hundreds of non-governmental organizations closed in recent months and marking a new gap between the Government and the Catholic Church.

The Ministry of the Interior has canceled the legal personality of Cáritas Nicaragua and Cáritas Jinotega, through the "voluntary dissolution" agreed upon by their own members, according to 'La Prensa'.

This Tuesday, the legal status of two Nicaraguan Catholic universities, the Autonomous Christian University of Nicaragua (UCAN) and the Juan Pablo II University, both operating as associations and accused of failing to comply with a controversial law that limits the activity of NGOs in Nicaragua and that has already served as an instrument for the closure of hundreds of organizations.

These types of measures have increased as a result of the 2018 opposition protests and the 2020 electoral process, when dozens of dissidents were imprisoned. Last week a group of United Nations experts accused Ortega and his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo, of perpetrating abuses amounting to crimes against humanity.

It is one more of the frictions between the Catholic Church and the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, who previously demanded "democracy within the Catholic Church", describing it as an "organized mafia", after Pope Francis criticized the recent condemnation of 26 years in prison against the bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando Álvarez.

"They are a mafia, look at the crimes they have committed, how many crimes they have committed," Ortega asserted, ironizing the respect he may have for the bishops he has met in Nicaragua since, according to him, "they were Somocistas," followers of the Nicaraguan dictator Anatasio Somoza.