Nicaragua: Daniel Ortega Continues Oppressing Catholic Church, Confiscates Prestigious Jesuit-Run University

The repression of the Roman Catholic Church in Nicaragua continues as the government under President Daniel Ortega confiscated a prestigious university from the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuit order.

The Catholic News Agency, which called Ortega a dictator, reported that the government of Nicaragua froze the bank accounts and assets of the Central American University, one of the country's most prestigious universities. The action was widely condemned, with the auxiliary bishop of Managua and UCA alumni Bishop Silvio Baez blasting the government.

"As a former student of the Central American University of Managua, I repudiate the aggression of the dictatorship against this center of studies," said the bishop on social media. Baez has been living in the US since April 2019 because of the Nicaraguan government's persecution of the Catholic Church, despite a vast majority of Nicaraguans being Catholic.

University officials also spoke with local Spanish-speaking media and revealed that the Ortega administration is also blocking the educational institution from making any kind of real estate transactions.

Nicaragua Government Accuses Jesuit University as a 'Center of Terrorism'

The Daniel Ortega government confiscated UCA because it accused the university of being a "center of terrorism." The university acted as a hub for the 2018 anti-Daniel Ortega protests, which ended up being bloodily repressed by the government.

Ortega started going after the church following the 2018 protests, as the church provided a safe haven for several protesters running away from government authorities.

The Jesuits stated that they received a judicial order that notified them that the university was confiscated by the government. Not only that, but it also seized all the university's property, buildings, and bank accounts. The Associated Press noted that the government has yet to confirm or comment on the confiscation or the statement from the Jesuits.

"With this confiscation, the Ortega government has buried freedom of thought in Nicaragua," said exiled UCA professor María Asunción Moreno. She fled Nicaragua in 2021.

Meanwhile, the Society of Jesus of Central America released a statement that said, "This is a government policy that systematically violates human rights and appears to be aimed at consolidating a totalitarian state."

US and UN Denounce Nicaragua Seizing Jesuit University

The US government also condemned the seizure, with Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Brian A. Nichols, stating that the Nicaraguan government's actions "represented further erosion of democratic norms and a stifling of civic space by Ortega-Murillo." Nicaragua is said to be under a conjugal dictatorship between Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President and First Lady Rosario Murillo.

Meanwhile, the United Nations also reacted to the events happening in Nicaragua.

"The impact of this measure with the suspension of classes seriously affects the right to education, which is essential for the fulfillment of other human rights," the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement.

The UN agency also called on Nicaragua to "respect its obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which protects the right to education," according to Al Jazeera News.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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