(FILES) A view of the offices of NGO Save the Children during a raid in Guatemala City on April 25, 2024. –(Photo by JOHAN ORDONEZ / AFP)
Save The Children International closes operations in Nicaragua
By AFP - Agence France Presse
Updates with Save the Children statement
Save the Children International said Wednesday it was shutting down its operations in Nicaragua, where President Daniel Ortega has overseen a crackdown on religious, rights, and non-profit groups.
The British-based charity, which works in more than 100 countries, told AFP it had requested “the voluntary closure” of its operations in the Central American nation, “mainly due to insufficient funding”.
Save the Children said it had worked in Nicaragua for more than 50 years in areas such as education and health.
“However, the current financial challenges have prevented us from continuing our programming effectively and sustainably,” it said.
The closure was announced on Wednesday by the Nicaraguan authorities, who said the group was one of around a dozen that had requested their own dissolution.
More than 5,000 NGOs have ceased operating in Nicaragua since the 2018 crackdown on anti-government protests that Ortega branded a US-backed coup attempt.
More than 300 people were killed during the unrest.
Ortega, a 79-year-old former guerrilla who overthrew a US-backed dictatorship in 1979 and then led the country for a decade, has shown increasingly authoritarian tendencies since returning to power in 2007.
He and his wife, Vice-President Rosario Murillo, have persecuted NGOs and the Catholic Church for what they see as their support for the protests.
The government had already closed down the Canadian branch of Save the Children in August 2024.
It also expelled three bishops, including the head of Nicaragua's episcopal conference, last year.
Ortega was initially praised for defending a moderate line when he regained power in the country of seven million inhabitants.
But in recent years, he has taken control of all branches of government and cracked down on anyone he considers a threat to his rule.
Around 450 politicians, businessmen, journalists, intellectuals, human rights activists, and religious figures have been expelled from Nicaragua and stripped of their nationality since February 2023, accused of treason.
mis/cb-dr
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