MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nicaragua’s government has shut down the country’s scouting organization and seven other nongovernmental organizations, state media La Gaceta reported Friday, the latest in an ongoing crackdown that has seen the government toss out religious orders, charities and civic groups.
The Interior Minister, which regulates the operations of NGOs in the Central American country, said the Scouts Association of Nicaragua allegedly failed to report financial statements and accused them of having an “expired” board of directors the government had not renewed since September 2021.
The assets of the eight organizations — four of them religious — will be confiscated by Nicaragua’s government, La Gaceta said.
Since mass social protests erupted in 2018, Daniel Ortega’s government has shut down or outlawed more than 3,500 NGOs, most of which have been closed in the past two years.
Mounting restrictions have spurred the flight of hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans from their country, with many landing in the United States and neighboring Costa Rica.
Hours after the closures were announced, the U.S. State Department announced a new round of sanctions on “more than 100 municipal officials” in Nicaragua, which are controlled by the ruling party, the Sandinista National Liberation Front.
Although he did not identify those sanctioned, State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller said on X, formerly Twitter, that their entry visas to the United States are restricted “for their role in the Ortega-Murillo regime, which represses Nicaraguan voices and unjustly detains courageous individuals who support a free civil society.”
The Scouts have been operating in the country since 1979, the year of the Sandinista revolution. The organization’s directors have not commented on the closure.
Under the slogan “Building a better world”, they dedicated special efforts to promote scouting, a youth movement that advocates a comprehensive education and encourages contact with nature.
The other organizations included Catholic, Evangelical and Jesuit groups, a health and science university group and a rotary club.
The Interior Ministry said the groups failed to file financial statements and “did not promote policies of transparency in their use of funds, making it unclear if their projects were in accordance with their objectives and purposes.”
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