The Nicaraguan government closed the order of the Franciscan Friars Minor and 16 other NGOs.

Daniel Ortega’s regime in Nicaragua confiscated legal personality and assets this Tuesday. Order of Franciscan Friars Minor And 16 NGOs, most of them Christian, argued that they did not disclose the origin of their funding.

The order of the Franciscan Friars Minor of the Seraphim Province of Assisi and 16 associations and foundations failed to comply with laws regarding their financial statements, boards of directors, details of their donations and the identity and origin of their donors. Resolution of the Ministry of Home Affairs (Inside).

The decision was published in the official gazette newspaperEstablishes that movable and immovable assets of dissolved companies shall pass into the hands of the State in accordance with law.

In August, the Sandinista regime abolished legal personality Society of Jesus And the Jesuit University of Managua was seized under the charges “Terrorism”as well as a residence for priests adjacent to the campus.

Ortega has closed more than 3,500 NGOs since tightening the laws after the 2018 protests, which killed more than 300 people in three months of street blockades and clashes between opponents and government supporters, according to the UN.

Relations between the Catholic Church and the regime have deteriorated amid these protests, which Ortega views as a coup attempt encouraged by the United States, which, along with the European Union and other countries, has condemned the violent crackdown on opponents.

Many religions have been ordered to leave the country And 12 priests were sent to Rome after his release last week, but he remains in prison Bishop Rolando AlvarezA fierce critic of the government, he was sentenced to more than 26 years in prison in February on charges of misinformation and contempt.

Opposition Media Ministry of Education and Police officers raided the San Francisco de Asis on Tuesday afternoon. Located in the town of Madagalpa, north of Managua, and administered by the Franciscans.

The order of Franciscan Friars Minor of the Seraphim Province of Assisi is about 58 years old in Nicaragua.

Among the NGOs that were left without legal personality this Tuesday International Church of Christ, Las Colandrinas Women’s Association, Comprehensive Care Center for Boys and Girls with Autism, Youth Impact Evangelism Association of Nicaragua and Nicaragua Association of Churches of Christ.

Also San Francisco Association of Medical Professionals, La Vit Verdatera Christian Ministry Association, Foundation for Indigenous Development and Pentecostal Ministry Foundation Ancion y Fuego.

The Ortega regime says some Onegés funded the 2018 protests.

As the opposition media pointed out Since 2018, more than 30 priests of various denominations have been exiled20 have been deported and 24 have been denied re-entry.

In May, the government revoked the legal personality of the order of the Franciscan Poor Clare Sisters and the Franciscan confraternity, and in July, four nuns from the Poor Brothers and Sisters of Jesus Christ fled the country because their immigration was not recognized. Extension of their visa.

Three other nuns from the Dominican Sisters of the Anunciata congregation, which runs a nursing home in the town of Rivas, south of Managua, fled the country in April.

(With information from AFP and EFE)